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Description
Design of the ‘Krupp Table’-relief
Biography: Erich Kuhn
Massive bronze relief, weighting 100 kg with a diameter of 1,01 meter. This is the bronze design of the Nirosta table-top relief of the ‘Krupp Tisch’. This table was the embodiment of the close cooperation between the top German industrialists and Nazi politicians (and artists). It was given by Germany’s most powerful industrialist Gustav Krupp to Adolf Hitler for his 50th birthday on 3 May 1939.
The table is described in document NIK 12289 of the ‘Office of Chief of Counsel For War Crimes’ in the Nuremberg Archive. This document dated 4 November 1947 is a ‘Staff Evidence Analyses’. As ‘Persons, Firms or Organizations Involved’ are mentioned: ‘Alfried Krupp, Gustav Krupp and Goering (dead).’
Document NIK 12289
Depicted on the relief are -in a circle- 20 figures representing the German people of all classes and occupations. Visible at the background are landscapes and buildings related to the figures.
The 20 figures are divided into five groups:
– ‘The Army’: SA/SS Standard-bearer, pilot, soldier and sailer;
– ‘Industry and Craftsmanship’: blacksmith, miner, carpenter and mechanic;
– ‘Science and Art’: chemist, doctor, architect and sculptor;
– ‘Youth and Sports’: Hitler youth, Olympic torch bearer, League of German Girls and discus thrower;
– ‘Agriculture’: fisherman, labourer, female farmer with a child and farmer.
The Krupp Table is described in detail in the book ‘Die Bildende Künste im Dritten Reich’, 1966, by Joseph Wulf:
Document NIK 12289 – Besprechung eines Lichtbildes
This table was a gift from the ‘Kruppschen Gefolgschaft’ (the employees, managers and directors of the Krupp enterprise) to the Führer for his 50th birthday. It is a work by sculptor Erich Kuhn from Düsseldorf, who created it in cooperation with the Krupp factories. The relief on the tabletop is made from stainless steel produced by Krupp. The frame of the table is made of dark-coloured oak. Four Hoheitsabzeichen (eagles with swastikas), carved in wood, are attached at each leg. The removable plaque in the middle depicts the Feldherrnhalle and it is engraved with the text ‘Ich aber beschloss, Politiker zu werden’ (‘However, I decided to become a politician’), which is the last sentence of chapter 7 of Mein Kampf.
To allow the plaque to be lifted, there are two lion-shaped handles attached to it, which are copies of the lions in front of the Feldherrnhalle. A text on the back of the plaque reads, ‘Dem Führer zum Vollendung seines 50. Lebensjahres von der Kruppschen Gefolgschaft in Dankbarkeit für die Sicherung deutscher Arbeitsmöglichkeiten und in stolz auf die deutsche Arbeitsleistung’ (To the Führer for his 50th birthday from the Kruppschen Gefolgschaft to thank him for the creation of German jobs and for being proud of the German labour force): Krupp Bohlen Halbach.
When the plaque is lifted, the Führer’s birth home in Braunau is revealed.
From this centre point, a halo points to a circle of figures, who represent the German people of all classes and occupations. Focus of attention is the SA/ SS Standartenträger (standard bearer) from the city of Essen, and on the other side a soldier holding his regiment’s flag represents the army. The two other military representatives, a pilot and a sailor, are positioned across from each other. Between these figures there are four groups, each containing four other figures. The first group to the right of the Standartenträger, named ‘Industry and Craftsmanship’, is formed by a blacksmith, a miner, a carpenter and a mechanic. The group ‘Science and Art’, to the right of the pilot, includes a chemist, a doctor, an architect (with a model of the Honour Temple at the Könogsplatz in Munich) and a sculptor. To the right of the soldier follows the group ‘Youth and Sports’, consisting of a member of the Hitler youth association, an Olympic torch bearer, a member of the League of German Girls and a discus thrower. The group ‘Agriculture’, which is to the right of the sailor, shows a fisherman, a labourer, a female farmer with a child as an allegory of the family, and a farmer.
In the background landscapes related to the figures are depicted. Beginning at the Standartenträger and moving clockwise, these landscapes include the following: an industrial landscape, an airbase, buildings in Nürnberg (i.e. the Congress Hall, the Dürer House, the ‘Schönen Brunnen, the Church of St. Lorenz and the castle), Behind the soldier we see a highway overpass which turns into a natural landscape that flows from the high mountains into the lowlands. The background of the sailor shows a bay with a light tower and ship, followed by a landscape with the Rhine, which flows into the industrial landscape. An inner port, leading to an industrial plant, closes the circle. The text at the border of the tabletop is a quotation from the Führer in Mein Kampf: ‘The state as such might be just a form, but the essence is its content, the nation, the people. That’s why everything else is subordinated to the interests of the state.’
On the occasion of 20 April 1939.
On the 10th of May 1939, the table was presented to the Führer at the Obersalzberg by Dr. Krupp von Bohlen und Halbach, in the presence of director Alfried von Bohlen und Halbach, Professor Dr. Görens (Krupp company), foreman Schröder and modeller Thewald from Foundry 4 (original German text is available).
Gustva Krupp’s present to Hitler; the relief by Erich Kuhn
‘Besides plunder and purchase, Hitler had one other means of acquiring art: gifts. An elaborate culture of gift giving developed among the Nazi elite, and Hitler received hundreds of artworks as tribute. These gifts came from a variety of sources, but foremost from subordinates within the Party… Gifts also stemmed from foreign leaders. … Finally, gifts were often presented by those who sought to curry favour with the dictator. The industrialist Alfried Krupp von Bohlen und Halbach, for example, journeyed to Obersalzberg at 10 may 1939 to give Hitler an ornate table made from Krupp steel, carved by the sculptor Erich Kuhn with various Nazi insignia and laudatory inscriptions…’ (excerpt from Art as Politics in the Third Reich, by Jonathan Petropoulos, 1996).
The Krupp Table, depicted in ‘Werkzeitung der Betriebschgemeinschaft der Gebr. Böhler & CO. A.G., 1944.
Nürnberg, 3 May 1939.
Gustav and Alfried Krupp von Bohlen und Halbach visiting Hitler on 3 May 1939 in Hotel Deutscher Hof. Hitler is standing in front of the ‘Krupp Table’, a present from the Krupps. The table was handed over by Alfried and Gustav Krupp to Hitler, 7 days later at 10 mai 1939 at the Salzberg.
Left: Alfried Krupp shaking hands with Hitler.
Right: behind the table, Gustav Krupp. Right from him his son Alfried Krupp. Also present at the ceremony were Max Wünsche, Adjutant-Standartenführer and Nicolaus von Below, Adjutant-Oberst.
The removable cast iron plaque (26 x 18.5 cm, weight 4,1 kg) in the middle of the table (lost).
The plaque depicts the Feldherrnhalle and it is engraved with the text ‘Ich aber beschloss, Politiker zu werden’ (‘However, I decided to become a politician’), which is the last sentence of chapter 7 of Mein Kampf. To allow the plaque to be lifted, there are two lion-shaped handles attached to it, which are copies of the lions in front of the Feldherrnhalle. A text on the back of the plaque reads, ‘Dem Führer zum Vollendung seines 50. Lebensjahres von der Kruppschen Gefolgschaft in Dankbarkeit für die Sicherung deutscher Arbeitsmöglichkeiten und in stolz auf die deutsche Arbeitsleistung’ (To the Führer for his 50th birthday from the Kruppschen Gefolgschaft to thank him for the creation of German jobs and for being proud of the German labour force). Signed: Krupp Bohlen Halbach.
Friedrich Krupp AG, Essen
The Krupp family is a prominent 400-year-old German dynasty from Essen. They have become famous for their production of steel, artillery, ammunition, and other armaments. The family business, known as Friedrich Krupp AG, was the largest company in Europe at the beginning of the 20th century. It was important for weapons development and production in both world wars. One of the most powerful dynasties in European history, for 400 years Krupp flourished as the premier weapons manufacturer for Germany. From the Thirty Years’ War until the end of the Second World War, it produced everything from battleships, U-boats, tanks, howitzers, guns, utilities, and hundreds of other commodities.
Alfried Krupp officially replaced his father Gustav as head of the family firm under the Lex Krupp (‘Krupp Law’), proclaimed by Adolf Hitler on 12 November 1943, which set aside the usual laws of inheritance and preserved the Krupp firm as a family business. As a result of Krupp’s generous donations to Hitler’s election campaigns and his efforts to boost the arms industry, Alfried Krupp was, like his father, appointed ‘Wehrwirtschaftsführer’ (military economic leader) in 1937. His father even received the NSDAP Party Badge in Gold in 1940. Alfried was also appointed ‘Reichsminister für Rüstung und Kriegsproduktion’ (‘Minister for Armament and War Production’).
The Table, the Nurember Trial and the Krupp-famliy. Described in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 29 February 1948.
| – condition | : II |
| – size | : diameter 1,01 meter. Thick 1,5 cm |
| – signed | : signed ‘A. Kuhn’. |
| – type | : bronze |
| – weight | :100 kg |
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