wiedler.ch

book (design) story #421

lothar frey:
deutschland wohin?

europa-verlag, zürich, 1934
size: 21 x 15 cm
designer: max bill

with its fraktur typeface and swastika flag, the cover of this 1934 book on "the current state of the national socialist revolution in germany" could at first sight be mistaken for a pro-nazi publication.

the contrary is true: it is a critical analysis of the nazi system by one "lothar frey" (or "lothar frei", as spelt on the cover). the author claims in his foreword (dated "rotterdam, september 1933") that he was forced to leave germany for political reasons. i have read that "lothar frey/frei" is supposed to be a pseudonym for walther pahl, but i am not sure about the reliability of this information.

the book explains how the nazis' politics of "gleichschaltung" included every aspect of society – even "the kind lord" .

the europa verlag in zürich, founded by emil oprecht, published many books by antifascist, emigrated german and italian authors.

not surprisingly, the cover design is credited to "bill–zürich": max bill (1908-1994) designed some similarly ambivalent cover/jacket designs for the same publishers (see story 75) – maybe with the goal in mind that nazi/fascist readers will buy the books and learn something ... on the other hand: the slightly slanted flag, curved title and typeface mix make for a composition which is not monumental but rather "shaky".