1896 - 1920 ORIGINAL ARCHIVE OF MANUSCRIPT POSTCARDS, LETTERS, PHOTOS AND EPHEMERA TO AND FROM ONE OF GERMANY'S PRE EMINENT FAMILIES AND THE MAN WHO SINGLEHANDEDLY GAVE HITLER THE REINS OF POWER AND THEREBY PUT GERMANY ON THE ROAD TO WORLD WAR II

On offer is an amazing archive of 32 items of original, personal and intimate correspondence and ephemera dated 1896 through 1920 to the family Hindenburg, including writings by Hindenburg himself. Postcards, letters, personal messages, photos sent by Paul von Hindenburg and assorted aristocrats of the time to Hindenburg, his wife and children. Paul Ludwig Hans Anton von Beneckendorff und von Hindenburg, known universally as Paul von Hindenburg, the man almost singularly responsible for WWII, who as President of Germany placed Hitler in the position of ascension to Germany's head of state. This extraordinary archive, whose manuscript items have for the most part postal marks and stamps, are in many ways a testament to Hindenburg's monarchist leanings and an homage to the Kaiser and the rest of the royal German family making for a great deal of irony given the method of Hindenburg's fall from power and his aid to Hitler. BIO NOTES: Hindenburg enjoyed a long career in the Prussian Army, retiring in 1911. He was recalled at the outbreak of World War I, and first came to national attention, at the age of 66, as the victor at Tannenberg in 1914. As Germany's Chief of the General Staff from 1916, he and his deputy, Erich Ludendorff, rose in the German public's esteem until Hindenburg came to eclipse the Kaiser himself. Hindenburg retired again in 1919, but returned to public life one more time in 1925 to be elected as the second President of Germany. Though 84 years old and in poor health, Hindenburg was persuaded to run for re-election in 1932, as he was considered the only candidate who could defeat Adolf Hitler. Hindenburg was re-elected in a runoff but nonetheless played an important role in the Nazi Party's rise to power, dissolving parliament twice in 1932 and eventually appointing Hitler as Chancellor in January 1933. In February, he issued the Reichstag Fire Decree which suspended various civil liberties, and in March he signed the Enabling Act, in which parliament gave Hitler's administration legislative powers. Hindenburg died the following year, after which Hitler declared the office of President vacant and, as "Führer und Reichskanzler", made himself head of state. The famed zeppelin Hindenburg that was destroyed by fire in 1937 was named in his honor. Overall VG.; 48mo - over 3" - 4" tall; KEYWORDS: HINDENBURG, BERLIN, WITTENSTEIN, ZEHLENDORF, KAISER WILHELM II, GERMANY, FUHRER, HITLER, NAZI, THIRD REICH, MOLTKE, GERMANIC, WEIMAR REPUBLIC, ZEPPELIN, ENABLING ACT, REICHSTAG FIRE DECREE, PAUL LUDWIG HANS ANTON VON BENECKENDORFF UND VON HINDENBURG, PRUSSIA, WORLD WAR II, WWII, WORLD WAR 2, HOLOCAUST, HANDWRITTEN, MANUSCRIPT, DOCUMENT, LETTER, AUTOGRAPH, DIARY, JOURNAL, LOG, KEEPSAKE, WRITER, HAND WRITTEN, DOCUMENTS, SIGNED, LETTERS, MANUSCRIPTS, PHOTO ALBUM, PHOTOGRAPHIC ALBUM, HISTORICAL, HOLOGRAPH, WRITERS, DIARIES, JOURNALS, LOGS, AUTOGRAPHS, PERSONAL, MEMOIR, MEMORIAL, PERSONAL HISTORY, HANDSCHRIFT, HANDGESCHRIEBEN, MANUSKRIPT, SÜTTERLIN, VON HAND GESCHRIEBEN, HANDSCHRIFTLICH, UNIKAT, EINZELSTÜCK, DOKUMENT, SCHRIFTSTÜCK, KURRENT, KURRENTSCHRIFT, DEUTSCHE SCHREIBSCHRIFT, OSTPREUßEN, KALININGRAD, ADEL, AMERICANA, HANDWRITTEN, MANUSCRIPT, AUTOGRAPHED, AUTHORS, DOCUMENT, LETTER, AUTOGRAPH, KEEPSAKE, WRITER, HAND WRITTEN, DOCUMENTS, SIGNED, LETTERS, MANUSCRIPTS, HISTORICAL, HOLOGRAPH, WRITERS, AUTOGRAPHS, PERSONAL, MEMOIR, MEMORIAL, PERSONAL HISTORY, ARCHIVE, DIARY, DIARIES, JOURNAL, LOG, PRIMARY SOURCE, FIRST HAND ACCOUNT, SOCIAL HISTORY, PERSONAL STORIES, LIVING HISTORY, ANTIQUITÉ, CONTRAT, VÉLIN, DOCUMENT, MANUSCRIT, PAPIER ANTIKE, BRIEF, PERGAMENT, DOKUMENT, MANUSKRIPT, PAPIER OGGETTO D'ANTIQUARIATO, ATTO, VELINA, DOCUMENTO, MANOSCRITTO, CARTA ANTIGÜEDAD, HECHO, VITELA, DOCUMENTO, MANUSCRITO, PAPEL, HANDSKRIFT, AUTOGRAFER, EGENHÄNDIGT, HANDSKRIVET, HANDSKRIVEN, MANUSKRIPT, BREV, SIGNERAD, SIGNERAT, SIGNATUR, NAMNTECKNING, AUTOGRAF, HANDSKRIFTER, Dolchstoßlegende, Kamarilla, Machtergreifung