# Iconic German Images? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 13, 2016, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iconic-german-images/759819 "2016-07-13T16:37:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Gestalt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/90ced4/32.png) [@Gestalt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gestalt)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2016, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iconic-german-images/759819/1 "2016-07-13T16:37:22Z")
I’m looking to decorate my walls a bit more, and I’d like some images/scenes that are iconically German. I was a German major and have a lot of fondness for the language/culture/history, but I’ve honestly forgotten a lot of the imagery and am looking to Dopers to help me. [I had a poster of this up for a long time but I want something new](http://rarehistoricalphotos.com/conrad-schumann-defects-west-berlin-1961/), however that’s a good example of what I’m looking for. Either historic important pictures or even very famous city scenes or skylines (particularly Berlin) would be great. I already have a couple of maps of German-speaking countries circa 1912, so that’s probably off the table. Also, would like to avoid WWII stuff which paints Germans in a negative light (so, like, no photos of american troops surveying concentration camps upon liberation. Not that those images aren’t very important, of course, but I don’t think it’s appropriate to display them on my walls). Thanks for all your help! ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2016, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iconic-german-images/759819/2 "2016-07-13T17:00:55Z")
[The Rhine, vineyards, and not one, but two castles](https://www.macsadventure.com/us/files/2513/8433/8044/10.rhine-vineyards-pfalzgrafstein-castle.jpg) - Gutenfels on the bank and Pfalzgrafenstein in mid-river. ---
**Author:** ![SpoilerVirgin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4491bb/32.png) [@SpoilerVirgin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpoilerVirgin)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2016, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iconic-german-images/759819/3 "2016-07-13T17:06:04Z")
You definitely need a picture of a castle, which is the iconic German image to me. I suggest [Neuschwanstein](http://www.baviere-quebec.org/imperia/md/quebec/tourismus/neuschwanstein_bild.jpeg). And of course the [fall of the Berlin wall](http://www.history.com/s3static/video-thumbnails/AETN-History_VMS/21/147/History_Opening_of_Berlin_Wall_Speech_SF_still_624x352.jpg). ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2016, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iconic-german-images/759819/4 "2016-07-13T17:11:23Z")
[Crazy traffic](http://www.laits.utexas.edu/berlin/images/buildings/05PotsdamerPlatz/c145_potsdamer.jpg) in Potsdamer Platz, Berlin, c. 1910, vs. [not so crazy](http://www.laits.utexas.edu/berlin/images/buildings/05PotsdamerPlatz/c13_potsdamer.jpg), c. 1930. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2016, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iconic-german-images/759819/5 "2016-07-13T17:30:36Z")
One of the last [pics](http://www.spiegel.de/fotostrecke/photo-gallery-the-last-days-of-world-war-ii-fotostrecke-75259.html) of Hitler, handing out awards to Hitler Youth in the final days of the war. It encompasses the remnants of what Germany had aspired to with the reality of the effects of those aspirations and what it meant for the future. ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2016, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iconic-german-images/759819/6 "2016-07-13T18:48:08Z")
Movie posters of UFA films from the Weimar period. ---
**Author:** ![mixdenny](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mixdenny/32/2962_2.png) [@mixdenny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mixdenny)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2016, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iconic-german-images/759819/7 "2016-07-13T18:51:07Z")
You need some German car images! The BMW tower. Avus race track. Dennis [![](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AVUS#/media/File:Bundesarchiv_B_145_Bild-P016402,_Berlin,_Rennen_auf_der_Avus.jpg) ](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AVUS#/media/File:Bundesarchiv_B_145_Bild-P016402,_Berlin,_Rennen_auf_der_Avus.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2016, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iconic-german-images/759819/8 "2016-07-13T19:04:44Z")
I had a big poster of this on the wall next to my bed when I was growing up and a Porsche nut: an airborne 934: [http://i.ebayimg.com/images/i/251805529153-0-1/s-l1000.jpg](http://i.ebayimg.com/images/i/251805529153-0-1/s-l1000.jpg) If a Porsche going full-out isn’t an iconic German image, I don’t know what is 😉 ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2016, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iconic-german-images/759819/9 "2016-07-13T19:36:48Z")
A Pikhelm with the Imperial Eagle. Or, a Stahlhelm (your choice of model and markings). Bluecher and the Prussians at Waterloo. The black-white-red Imperial flag. The Imperial battle flag with the eagle. A Fokker DR-1. A Bf109F or FW190. (No matter who flew them, they’re beautiful airplanes!) An F-104 with BRD markings. ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2016, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iconic-german-images/759819/10 "2016-07-13T20:28:42Z")
Posters in general are a good idea. 20th century Germans designed MONSTER posters. > **[Plakatstil](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plakatstil)** > > Plakatstil (German for "poster style"), also known as Sachplakat, was an early style of poster art that originated in Germany in the 1900s. It was started by Lucian Bernhard of Berlin in 1906. The common characteristics of this style are bold eye-catching lettering with flat colors. Shapes and objects are simplified, and the composition focuses on a central object. Plakatstil turned away from the complexity of Art Nouveau and propagated a more modern outlook on poster art. Famous Plakatstil Das P... If you want something less commercial, get prints of the works of Caspar David Friedrich, the German who ushered in the Romantic movement in painting. Because so few of his works ever left Germany – I think there’s ONE in the Met in NYC, and ONE in the Louvre – they will be new to the eyeballs of your friends. > **[Caspar David Friedrich](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caspar_David_Friedrich)** > > Caspar David Friedrich (5 September 1774 – 7 May 1840) was a 19th-century German Romantic landscape painter, generally considered the most important German artist of his generation. He is best known for his mid-period allegorical landscapes, which typically feature contemplative figures silhouetted against night skies, morning mists, barren trees or Gothic ruins. His primary interest was the contemplation of nature, and his often symbolic and anti-classical work seeks to convey a subjective, e... ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2016, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iconic-german-images/759819/11 "2016-07-13T20:42:18Z")
> [@Ukulele\_Ike](#): > > Posters in general are a good idea. 20th century Germans designed MONSTER posters. I love **these** : [http://airshipadvocate.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/1936-Deutsche-Zeppelin-Reederei-by-Jupp-Wiertz-18x24-Fine-Art-Print-on-Archival-Paper-0.jpg](http://airshipadvocate.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/1936-Deutsche-Zeppelin-Reederei-by-Jupp-Wiertz-18x24-Fine-Art-Print-on-Archival-Paper-0.jpg) [![](https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0117/3662/products/graf-zeppelin-germany-to-buenos-aires.jpeg?v=1403238914) ](https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0117/3662/products/graf-zeppelin-germany-to-buenos-aires.jpeg?v=1403238914) ---
**Author:** ![Malthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2016, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iconic-german-images/759819/12 "2016-07-13T20:47:36Z")
Anita Berber portrait by Otto Dix: > **[Otto Dix Exhibition Poster | Neue Galerie Design Shop & Book Store](https://shop.neuegalerie.org/products/otto-dix-exhibition-poster)** > > Original Price: $15.00 > UP TO 20% ADDITIONAL SAVINGS FOR MEMBERS  > Otto Dix (1891-1969), Portrait of the Dancer Anita Berber, 1925 > Exhibition poster for "Otto Dix" > 26.75 x 38.75 inches ---
**Author:** ![Icarus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/icarus/32/72_2.png) [@Icarus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Icarus)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2016, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iconic-german-images/759819/13 "2016-07-13T21:05:18Z")
On a less formal note, this is what I think of for an iconic image of Germany: [http://www.bigeales.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/Waitress-photo.jpg](http://www.bigeales.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/Waitress-photo.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2016, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iconic-german-images/759819/14 "2016-07-13T21:35:47Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > I love **these** Oh, yeah! Anything with Zeppelins! Young women who come over to your apartment always seem oddly mesmerized by depictions of Zeppelins. I have no idea why. ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2016, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iconic-german-images/759819/15 "2016-07-13T21:37:23Z")
> [@Malthus](#): > > Anita Berber portrait by Otto Dix Oh, yeah, again! ANY portrait by Otto Dix. [http://www.tendreams.org/dix.htm](http://www.tendreams.org/dix.htm) ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2016, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iconic-german-images/759819/16 "2016-07-13T22:03:58Z")
Germania, the country personified as a hot babe wearing pseudo-medieval garments, usually carrying a sword and a gold shield with the imperial eagle on it. ---
**Author:** ![journeyman\_southpaw](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5e9695/32.png) [@journeyman\_southpaw](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/journeyman_southpaw)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2016, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iconic-german-images/759819/17 "2016-07-13T22:05:54Z")
Movie posters for classic films like Metropolis, Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, Nosferatu (1922 or 1979 version), M, The Blue Angel, Run Lola Run… Also, any photography by August Sander or Helmut Newton. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2016, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iconic-german-images/759819/18 "2016-07-13T22:17:36Z")
Images of WWII superimposed on the 21[sup]st[/sup] Century [[Album] Old versus New ![](https://live.staticflickr.com/5241/5200678383_18ccd5fa43_z.jpg "Old versus New") ](https://www.flickr.com/photos/32774630@N04/albums/72157625451965052) [http://www.globaltimes.cn/galleries/182.html](http://www.globaltimes.cn/galleries/182.html) > **[Blending Scenes from WWII into Present Day](https://twistedsifter.com/2012/05/blending-scenes-from-wwii-into-present-day/)** > >   Sergey Larenkov is a Russian-based artist/photographer who was deeply impacted by World War II. On his Live Journal blog, the Saint Petersburg native has put together a tremendous set of col… ---
**Author:** ![Periwinkle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Periwinkle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Periwinkle)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2016, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iconic-german-images/759819/19 "2016-07-13T23:24:05Z")
I think a photo of Unter den Linden in Berlin would be an attractive addition. I also love the way certain Bavarian towns look, it’s like a storybook village. Check out images of Rothenburg and Garmische. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2016, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iconic-german-images/759819/20 "2016-07-14T00:15:22Z")
In my garage I have a grill from a '63 MB 220, a grill from a BMW 2002 and a poster of a Weiner Dog in Leiderhosen. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iconic-german-images/759819.md?page=2)