''Die Brennessel'' (German: ''Stinging Nettle'') was a weekly satirical magazine which was published in Munich, Germany, between 1931 and 1938. It was one of the publications which were established to gain popularity among Germans in favor of the

Nazi Party The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party (german: Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei or NSDAP), was a far-right politics, far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that crea ...

. The magazine employed humor as a tool for

Nazi propaganda The propaganda used by the German Nazi Party in the years leading up to and during Adolf Hitler's dictatorship of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 to 1945 was a crucial instrument for acquiring and maintaining power, and for the implementation o ...

History and profile

''Die Brennessel'' was first published in January 1931. The start of the magazine was announced in the official magazine of the Nazi Party, ''

Illustrierter Beobachter ''Illustrierter Beobachter'' (''Illustrated Observer'') was an illustrated propaganda magazine which the German Nazi Party published. It was published from 1926 to 1945 in Munich, and edited by Hermann Esser. It began as a monthly publication and ...

'', stating "We set our new weekly journal ''Die Brennessel'' against this poison of Jewish incitement and of making things contemptuous. It will be an excellent propaganda weapon for our supporters." The publisher of ''Die Brennessel'' was the Munich-based

Franz Eher Nachfolger Franz Eher Nachfolger GmbH (''Franz Eher and Successors, LLC'', usually referred to as the Eher-Verlag (''Eher Publishing'')) was the central publishing house of the Nazi Party and one of the largest book and periodical firms during the Third Rei ...

, which was affiliated with the Nazi Party. The company published many propaganda brochures, books and periodicals of the party before the start of the magazine. More importantly, it was the publisher of

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...

's book ''

Mein Kampf (; ''My Struggle'' or ''My Battle'') is a 1925 autobiographical manifesto by Nazi Party leader Adolf Hitler. The work describes the process by which Hitler became antisemitic and outlines his political ideology and future plans for Germ ...

''.

Max Amann Max Amann (24 November 1891 – 30 March 1957) was a high-ranking member of the Nazi Party, a German politician, businessman and art collector, including of looted art. He was the first business manager of the Nazi Party and later became the hea ...

was the director of the company. ''Die Brennessel'' was modeled on ''

Simplicissimus :''Simplicissimus is also a name for the 1668 novel Der abenteuerliche Simplicissimus, Simplicius Simplicissimus and its protagonist.'' ''Simplicissimus'' () was a satire, satirical German language, German weekly magazine, headquartered in Munich ...

''. The magazine had a high-quality layout and addressed not only Nazi Party members, but also those who were critics of the

Weimar Republic The Weimar Republic (german: link=no, Weimarer Republik ), officially named the German Reich, was the government of Germany from 1918 to 1933, during which it was a constitutional federal republic for the first time in history; hence it is al ...

. Its editor was Wilhelm Weiss. In 1932 ''Die Brennessel'' managed to sell 40,000 copies weekly, making it the best-selling satirical magazine in the country. Later the magazine enjoyed much higher circulation levels, selling 80,000 copies. From 1933, when the Nazis won the elections, the satirical content of ''Die Brennessel'' became much more aggressive, particularly against the

Jews Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

. This approach was soon adopted by other satirical magazines such as ''Simplicissimus'' and ''

Kladderadatsch ''Kladderadatsch'' ( onomatopoeic for "Crash") was a satirical German-language magazine first published in Berlin on 7 May 1848. It appeared weekly or as the ''Kladderadatsch'' put it: "daily, except for weekdays." It was founded by Albert Hofman ...

''. ''Die Brennessel'' began losing its readers and fame in 1936, and folded in 1938 due to low circulation levels of around 5,000 copies. One of the reasons for its failure was its inability to provide Germans with something entertaining.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Brennessel 1931 establishments in Germany 1938 disestablishments in Germany Antisemitic publications Defunct magazines published in Germany Fascist newspapers and magazines German-language magazines German political satire Magazines established in 1931 Magazines disestablished in 1938 Magazines published in Munich Nazi propaganda Propaganda newspapers and magazines Satirical magazines published in Germany Weekly magazines published in Germany