Content note: Cartoon caricature of a West German militarist figure marked with SS runes and an Iron Cross mace. This object is shown as it was published. Why
FRIEDENSVERTRAG: East Berlin street board on a German peace treaty
A freestanding street board on East Berlin's Unter den Linden pairs the word FRIEDENSVERTRAG (peace treaty) with a cartoon of a pot-bellied figure wearing rockets marked 'A' as horns, SS runes on his chest and a spiked mace bearing an Iron Cross. The text says a strong republic and the 'taming of militarism in West Germany' are the preconditions for a peaceful, united Germany. Nazi symbols are pasted onto West German militarism without naming anyone.
- Date
- 1961
- Period
- Cold War
- Made by
- East German (GDR) public display in East Berlin; no issuing body printed on the board
- Region
- Western and Central Europe
- Country
- East Germany
- Medium
- Signs and banners
- Issuer type
- Mixed
- Regime
- German Democratic Republic
- Leader
- Walter Ulbricht
- Audience
- Domestic public
- Purpose
- Persuade or win support
- Themes
- War and the military, Security and surveillance
- Event
- Berlin Crisis 1961
- Techniques
- Name-callingTransfer
- Source
- Unidentified Source blurred: contractors, cutouts, buried disclosure
- Source
- Fortepan (photo: Harrison Forman, UWM Libraries, American Geographical Society Library), retrieved September 29, 2026
- Rights
- CC BY-SA 3.0 (Fortepan site footer: photos published under CC-BY-SA-3.0)
Fortepan / UWM Libraries, American Geographical Society Library, photo by Harrison Forman, ID 259375 (CC BY-SA 3.0)
Text on the object
Eine starke Republik und die Bändigung des Militarismus in Westdeutschland sind die Voraussetzungen für ein einheitliches, friedliebendes, demokratisches Deutschland! FRIEDENSVERTRAG (the figure's chest and belly carry SS runes and an eagle emblem; the rockets on its head are marked 'A')
A strong republic and the taming of militarism in West Germany are the preconditions for a united, peace-loving, democratic Germany! PEACE TREATY
Handwritten upper text and printed lettering read from the 1600 px scan; no other lettering is visible on the board.
