---
title: Mein Kampf (German)
url: https://propagandaarchive.org/library/hitler-mein-kampf-german/
description: Mein Kampf (German) by Adolf Hitler (1925–1926), full text with provenance and rights.
section: FRAME
---

![Illustration: an interwar radio-and-newsreel intelligence collage with a 1930s map of Europe and propaganda poster proofs.](https://propagandaarchive.org/static/generated/detail/hero-interwar.jpg)

[Library](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/) · Book

# Mein Kampf (German)

![The author's name and title, Adolf Hitler, Mein Kampf, in the type of the 1943 title page](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/hitler-mein-kampf-german/thumb.jpg)

Author and title from the title page of the 1943 printing, from a copy digitised by the Internet Archive. Text only; the page's emblem and the portrait facing it are left out. Title lettering only; the work is in the public domain in the United States; Internet Archive. Cropped from a scan of the page. [Source](https://archive.org/details/isbn_0686732057)

At a glance

Hitler's two-volume book, written in 1924 and 1925 and published in 1925 and 1926: his life story, his ideology, and his views on propaganda, organisation and the party.

- **Author:** Adolf Hitler
- **Published:** 1925–1926
- **Origin:** Germany
- **Length:** 217,662 words, 30 chapters

Full details

- **Edition:** Mein Kampf, two volumes in one ("Ungekürzte Ausgabe"). Munich: Zentralverlag der NSDAP, Franz Eher Nachf., 1943, 851st to 855th printing; the text is that of the 855th. First published as volume 1, Eine Abrechnung (1925), and volume 2, Die nationalsozialistische Bewegung (1926, dated 1927 on the title page).
- **Language:** German
- **Text source:** [Internet Archive, item Mein-Kampf2 (855th printing, 1943)](https://archive.org/details/Mein-Kampf2)
- **Text basis:** Machine-read (OCR) text of a 1943 printing, not proofread and not compared with the 1925 and 1926 first editions.
- **Rights:** Volume 1 was first published in Munich in 1925 and volume 2 in 1926, so the work is in the public domain in the United States (published more than 95 years ago) and in Germany (Hitler died in 1945, so the term ran out at the end of 2015). The text here is from a 1943 printing. It descends from the one-volume popular edition of 7 May 1930, which reworked the first editions with editorial corrections (Historisches Lexikon Bayerns), and printings up to 1944 carry occasional further minor changes. Text published in 1930 or earlier is in the public domain in the United States; any wording added after 1930 was still protected in Germany in 1996 and could have had its United States copyright restored to 95 years from publication (to 2038 for a 1943 change). This text has not been collated with the first editions or with the 1930 edition, so the archive cannot say whether such changes exist here. The publisher's 1943 index and contents pages are left out.
- **Rights checked:** September 29, 2026

On this page

- [Read the text](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/hitler-mein-kampf-german/#read)
- [Provenance and rights](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/hitler-mein-kampf-german/#provenance)
- [Where it appears in the archive](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/hitler-mein-kampf-german/#cited)

**Content note:** Sets out an antisemitic and racist ideology, uses dehumanising language about Jews and other groups, and argues for war, conquest and the removal of political opponents. This object is shown as it was published. [Why](https://propagandaarchive.org/about/#as-it-was)

Adolf Hitler wrote the first volume in 1924 while serving a sentence at Landsberg for the failed Munich putsch of November 1923, and the second followed in 1925 and 1926. Volume 1 is part life story and part argument about Germany's defeat and the revolution of 1918 and the causes he assigned to them; volume 2 sets out the National Socialist programme and how the party should be organised. It includes his chapters on propaganda: on the war propaganda of the Allies (volume 1, chapter 6) and on propaganda and organisation (volume 2, chapter 11). The Reich Ministry page in the archive discusses how the party and the state later used those ideas, and the case studies on the early NSDAP and the Nuremberg rallies cite it for his own stated intent.

The book is hosted here because the archive's rule is to show the record as it was. It sets out an ideology of antisemitism and racial hierarchy and plans for war and conquest, and the wording is reproduced as printed, apart from the mechanical changes listed under provenance. The archive quotes the book in the write-ups for the historical record and does not endorse it.

**Which text this is.** The 1925 and 1926 first editions are the works in the public domain. The archive could not obtain a scan of them, so this text comes from the 1943 printing, machine-read and not compared with the first editions. The 1930 popular edition corrected the first editions, and later printings changed a little more; the Institut für Zeitgeschichte's critical edition (2016) collates seven printings, and its notes are the place to check what changed ([Historisches Lexikon Bayerns on the 1925/26 edition](https://www.historisches-lexikon-bayerns.de/Lexikon/EN:Mein_Kampf_(Adolf_Hitler,_1925/26)); [IfZ critical edition](https://www.ifz-muenchen.de/en/news/topics/hitler-mein-kampf-a-critical-edition)). The page says so instead of presenting it as the 1925 text. If a first-edition scan turns up, the archive will replace this text with it.

**English translations.** Two are in wide use, and neither is hosted here. James Murphy's 1939 translation (Hurst and Blackett) is out of copyright in Australia, and Project Gutenberg Australia carries it: [Murphy translation, plain text](https://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks02/0200601.txt). It is not hosted here because its United States copyright was probably restored until 2034, and that has not been checked further. Ralph Manheim's 1943 translation (Houghton Mifflin) is in copyright and is available from libraries and the publisher.

## Read the text

- [Vorwort](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/hitler-mein-kampf-german/01-vorwort/) 237 words
- [Widmung](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/hitler-mein-kampf-german/02-widmung/) 220 words
- Erster Band: Eine Abrechnung
- [Band I, Kapitel 1: Im Elternhaus](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/hitler-mein-kampf-german/03-band-i-kapitel-1-im-elternhaus/) 4,698 words
- [Band I, Kapitel 2: Wiener Lehr- und Leidensjahre](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/hitler-mein-kampf-german/04-band-i-kapitel-2-wiener-lehr-und-leidensjahre/) 15,098 words
- [Band I, Kapitel 3: Allgemeine politische Betrachtungen aus meiner Wiener Zeit](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/hitler-mein-kampf-german/05-band-i-kapitel-3-allgemeine-politische-betrachtu/) 19,133 words
- [Band I, Kapitel 4: München](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/hitler-mein-kampf-german/06-band-i-kapitel-4-m-nchen/) 9,797 words
- [Band I, Kapitel 5: Der Weltkrieg](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/hitler-mein-kampf-german/07-band-i-kapitel-5-der-weltkrieg/) 6,031 words
- [Band I, Kapitel 6: Kriegspropaganda](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/hitler-mein-kampf-german/08-band-i-kapitel-6-kriegspropaganda/) 3,277 words
- [Band I, Kapitel 7: Die Revolution](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/hitler-mein-kampf-german/09-band-i-kapitel-7-die-revolution/) 6,056 words
- [Band I, Kapitel 8: Beginn meiner politischen Tätigkeit](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/hitler-mein-kampf-german/10-band-i-kapitel-8-beginn-meiner-politischen-t-tig/) 2,797 words
- [Band I, Kapitel 9: Die „Deutsche Arbeiterpartei“](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/hitler-mein-kampf-german/11-band-i-kapitel-9-die-deutsche-arbeiterpartei/) 2,526 words
- [Band I, Kapitel 10: Ursachen des Zusammenbruchs](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/hitler-mein-kampf-german/12-band-i-kapitel-10-ursachen-des-zusammenbruchs/) 19,211 words
- [Band I, Kapitel 11: Volk und Rasse](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/hitler-mein-kampf-german/13-band-i-kapitel-11-volk-und-rasse/) 15,186 words
- [Band I, Kapitel 12: Die erste Entwicklungszeit der Nationalsozialistischen Deutschen Arbeiterpartei](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/hitler-mein-kampf-german/14-band-i-kapitel-12-die-erste-entwicklungszeit-der/) 12,197 words
- Zweiter Band: Die nationalsozialistische Bewegung
- [Band II, Kapitel 1: Weltanschauung und Partei](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/hitler-mein-kampf-german/15-band-ii-kapitel-1-weltanschauung-und-partei/) 4,135 words
- [Band II, Kapitel 2: Der Staat](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/hitler-mein-kampf-german/16-band-ii-kapitel-2-der-staat/) 17,496 words
- [Band II, Kapitel 3: Staatsangehöriger und Staatsbürger](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/hitler-mein-kampf-german/17-band-ii-kapitel-3-staatsangeh-riger-und-staatsb/) 960 words
- [Band II, Kapitel 4: Persönlichkeit und völkischer Staatsgedanke](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/hitler-mein-kampf-german/18-band-ii-kapitel-4-pers-nlichkeit-und-v-lkischer/) 3,107 words
- [Band II, Kapitel 5: Weltanschauung und Organisation](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/hitler-mein-kampf-german/19-band-ii-kapitel-5-weltanschauung-und-organisatio/) 3,586 words
- [Band II, Kapitel 6: Der Kampf der ersten Zeit - Die Bedeutung der Rede](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/hitler-mein-kampf-german/20-band-ii-kapitel-6-der-kampf-der-ersten-zeit-die/) 5,637 words
- [Band II, Kapitel 7: Das Ringen mit der roten Front](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/hitler-mein-kampf-german/21-band-ii-kapitel-7-das-ringen-mit-der-roten-front/) 8,605 words
- [Band II, Kapitel 8: Der Starke ist am mächtigsten allein](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/hitler-mein-kampf-german/22-band-ii-kapitel-8-der-starke-ist-am-m-chtigsten/) 3,016 words
- [Band II, Kapitel 9: Grundgedanken über Sinn und Organisation der SA.](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/hitler-mein-kampf-german/23-band-ii-kapitel-9-grundgedanken-ber-sinn-und-org/) 11,317 words
- [Band II, Kapitel 10: Der Föderalismus als Maske](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/hitler-mein-kampf-german/24-band-ii-kapitel-10-der-f-deralismus-als-maske/) 7,774 words
- [Band II, Kapitel 11: Propaganda und Organisation](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/hitler-mein-kampf-german/25-band-ii-kapitel-11-propaganda-und-organisation/) 5,462 words
- [Band II, Kapitel 12: Die Gewerkschaftsfrage](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/hitler-mein-kampf-german/26-band-ii-kapitel-12-die-gewerkschaftsfrage/) 3,489 words
- [Band II, Kapitel 13: Deutsche Bündnispolitik nach dem Kriege](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/hitler-mein-kampf-german/27-band-ii-kapitel-13-deutsche-b-ndnispolitik-nach/) 10,754 words
- [Band II, Kapitel 14: Ostorientierung oder Ostpolitik](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/hitler-mein-kampf-german/28-band-ii-kapitel-14-ostorientierung-oder-ostpolit/) 9,025 words
- [Band II, Kapitel 15: Notwehr als Recht](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/hitler-mein-kampf-german/29-band-ii-kapitel-15-notwehr-als-recht/) 6,637 words
- Schlußwort
- [Schlußwort](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/hitler-mein-kampf-german/30-schlu-wort/) 198 words

[Download as plain text](https://propagandaarchive.org/library/hitler-mein-kampf-german/hitler-mein-kampf-german.txt) 217,662 words, with the provenance header above the text

## Provenance and rights

- **Edition:** Mein Kampf, two volumes in one ("Ungekürzte Ausgabe"). Munich: Zentralverlag der NSDAP, Franz Eher Nachf., 1943, 851st to 855th printing; the text is that of the 855th. First published as volume 1, Eine Abrechnung (1925), and volume 2, Die nationalsozialistische Bewegung (1926, dated 1927 on the title page).
- **Text source:** [Internet Archive, item Mein-Kampf2 (855th printing, 1943)](https://archive.org/details/Mein-Kampf2)
- **Text basis:** Machine-read (OCR) text of a 1943 printing, not proofread and not compared with the 1925 and 1926 first editions.
- **Rights:** Volume 1 was first published in Munich in 1925 and volume 2 in 1926, so the work is in the public domain in the United States (published more than 95 years ago) and in Germany (Hitler died in 1945, so the term ran out at the end of 2015). The text here is from a 1943 printing. It descends from the one-volume popular edition of 7 May 1930, which reworked the first editions with editorial corrections (Historisches Lexikon Bayerns), and printings up to 1944 carry occasional further minor changes. Text published in 1930 or earlier is in the public domain in the United States; any wording added after 1930 was still protected in Germany in 1996 and could have had its United States copyright restored to 95 years from publication (to 2038 for a 1943 change). This text has not been collated with the first editions or with the 1930 edition, so the archive cannot say whether such changes exist here. The publisher's 1943 index and contents pages are left out. Checked September 29, 2026.
- **Changes made:** Machine-read (OCR) text, not proofread: recognition errors (for example spaced-out letters where the book sets a word in spaced type, or a wrong capital after a line-end hyphen) are the scan's, not edits. Left out: the publisher's contents pages, the person-and-subject index and the advertisements. Page numbers and running heads removed, line-end hyphens resolved, some paragraph breaks the OCR lost restored, and quotation marks the OCR read as straight quotes set as „ “. Nothing translated or reworded.
- **Source file checksum:** `d81b4ecd9bce7028…` (SHA-256 of the download this text was made from)

## Where it appears in the archive

- [Hitler, Goebbels and the Reich Ministry for Public Enlightenment and Propaganda (1925-1945)](https://propagandaarchive.org/about/nazi-propaganda-ministry/)
- [Before the state: the NSDAP's propaganda in its fringe years, 1920-1923](https://propagandaarchive.org/case-studies/nsdap-early-propaganda-1920-1923/)
- [Before Triumph of the Will: staging scale for a fringe party at Nuremberg, 1923-1933](https://propagandaarchive.org/case-studies/nuremberg-rallies-origins-1927-1933/)