---
title: Wer Kriegsanleihe zeichnet, macht mir die schönste Geburtstagsgabe! (Whoever Subscribes to the War Loan Gives Me the Finest Birthday Present!)
url: https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/hindenburg-geburtstagsgabe-1917/
description: 'A close-cropped portrait of Field Marshal Paul von Hindenburg sits above a facsimile of his handwriting: ''Whoever subscribes to the war loan gives me the…'
section: Collection
---

[Collection](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/)

[![Wer Kriegsanleihe zeichnet, macht mir die schönste Geburtstagsgabe! (Whoever Subscribes to the War Loan Gives Me the Finest Birthday Present!)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/hindenburg-geburtstagsgabe-1917.jpg)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/hindenburg-geburtstagsgabe-1917.jpg)

# Wer Kriegsanleihe zeichnet, macht mir die schönste Geburtstagsgabe! (Whoever Subscribes to the War Loan Gives Me the Finest Birthday Present!)

A close-cropped portrait of Field Marshal Paul von Hindenburg sits above a facsimile of his handwriting: 'Whoever subscribes to the war loan gives me the finest birthday present! von Hindenburg.' The ask rests on his personal vouch and signature; the poster gives no figures about the loan itself.

- **Date:** 1917
- **Period:** [First World War](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#era=wwi)
- **Made by:** Imperial German war-loan campaign; artist Louis Oppenheim (text signed by Paul von Hindenburg)
- **Region:** [Western and Central Europe](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#region=western-central-europe)
- **Country:** [German Empire](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#country=german-empire)
- **Medium:** [Poster](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#medium=poster)
- **Issuer type:** [State](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#actor=state)
- **Regime:** [German Empire](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#regime=german-empire)
- **Leader:** [Wilhelm II](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#leader=wilhelm-ii)
- **Audience:** [Domestic public](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#audience=domestic-public)
- **Purpose:** [Fundraise](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#purpose=fundraise)
- **Themes:** [Economy and finance](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#theme=economy-finance), [War and the military](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#theme=war-military)
- **Event:** [World War I](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#event=world-war-i)
- **Techniques:** [Testimonial](https://propagandaarchive.org/techniques/testimonial/)
- **Source:** Identified Openly sourced: the speaker is who they say they are
- **Source:** [Library of Congress](https://www.loc.gov/item/2004666139/), retrieved September 27, 2026
- **Rights:** Public domain in the U.S. (published before 1931) Oppenheim, Louis, artist. 1917. Library of Congress, LC-USZC4-11800.

## Text on the object

Original (German) · read from the image, not independently checked

```
Wer Kriegsanleihe zeichnet,
macht mir die schönste Geburts-
tagsgabe!

von Hindenburg.
```

English translation (machine translation by Claude, not verified by a fluent reader)

```
Whoever subscribes to the war loan
gives me the finest birth-
day present!

von Hindenburg.
```

The main text is a facsimile of Hindenburg's own handwriting in old German cursive (Kurrentschrift); letterforms are hard to verify with full confidence at this resolution, so line breaks are read from the image but wording follows the well-documented published text of this quotation. Small printer's credit lines in the mount's lower corners are too small to transcribe reliably in this scan.

[← Helft uns siegen! Zeichnet die Kriegsanleihe (Help Us Win! Subscribe to the War Loan)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/helft-uns-siegen-1917/) [I vy občané, vzhůru do boje! Upisujte 7. válečnou půjčku! (You too, citizens, on to the fight! Subscribe to the 7th War Loan!) →](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/i-vy-obcane-1917/)

## Using the same techniques

- [Bronze sestertius of Gaius (Caligula), reverse S P Q R P P OB CIVES SERVATOS in an oak wreath](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/sestertius-caligula-ob-cives-servatos-0037/) (0037 · Testimonial, Transfer)
- [Seljuq gold dinar of Sanjar, dated 493 AH, with the Abbasid caliph named on one face](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/seljuq-gold-dinar-sanjar-caliph-name-1099/) (1099 · Testimonial)
- [Bande Mataram (Paris), memorial page to Madan Lal Dhingra, 17 August 1909](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/bande-mataram-paris-dhingra-memorial-1909/) (Aug 17, 1909 · Testimonial, Transfer)
- [Australia's imperishable record. Australians! The empire needs you (Farmer's, Sydney)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/australias-imperishable-record-1915/) (1915 · Testimonial, Glittering generalities)
- [Ireland & Poland (recruiting appeal quoting the Rev. William P. Burke)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/ireland-and-poland-1915/) (1915 · Fear appeal, Testimonial)
- [Mr. John Dillon, M.P., on recruiting in Ireland. Join an Irish regiment to-day](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/john-dillon-on-recruiting-in-ireland-1915/) (1915 · Testimonial, Semantic hijacking)
- [Reinforcements. Our scrap of paper, honor it. Vote Yes. Referendum (Australia, 1917)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/reinforcements-referendum-vote-yes-1917/) (1917 · Testimonial, Transfer)
- [The Black Stork (cinema advertisement)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/black-stork-1917/) (Nov 1917 · Glittering generalities, Transfer, Testimonial, Fear appeal). Content note: Advertises a film arguing that disabled newborns should be left to die, and calls them "defective infants".