A German Anti-Semitic Beer Stein

A German Anti-Semitic Beer Stein

Late 19th century ceramic beer stein with designs celebrating well known antisemitic politicians, amid scenes of caricatured Jews growing rich by abusing, cheating, and stealing from Germans and ending with scenes foretelling the expulsion of the Jews by 1910. The stein was distributed in 1893 in Cologne, Germany. The constitution of the newly unified Germany, adopted in 1871, emancipated all Jews.

The following decades saw a surge in anti-Semitism. It was more vicious and openly expressed, and became a popular cause for several political parties. The lid and handle are decorated with portraits of seven antisemitic German politicians. All were elected to the Reichstag as representatives of either the Berlin Movement, an association of anti-Jewish, anti-liberal, anti-capitalist groups, or the German Reform Party, a conservative political party whose main goal was to repeal Jewish emancipation.

Can be seen at the online collection of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum:

https://collections.ushmm.org/search/catalog/irn545103

Accession Number: 2016.184.641