Germany, Third Reich. A Signed & Framed Photo Of Gauleiter Hans Schemm

(Gauleiter Foto mit Unterschrift und Rahmen). A signed and framed photo of Gauleiter Hans Schemm, depicted in a Political Leader’s uniform and staring directly at the photographer while flanked by two unidentified officials in conversation, situated within a white border, with the bottom edge bearing Schemm’s handwritten signature and dedication from Munich with a date of 20 December 1933, pasted to an off-white card stock backer and situated within a period frame with an intact glass face, topped by a magnetic metal suspension loop, measuring 29 cm (w) x 22.5 cm (h), in extremely fine condition.

Footnote: Hans Schemm was born on 6 October 1891 in Bayreuth, Germany. He served as a medical assistant during the early stages of the First World War, but was discharged from service on 26 August 1916 due to a tuberculosis infection. He resumed his pre-war teaching career while convalescing, and later joined the Freikorps, helping to crush the Bavarian Soviet Republic in 1919. Schemm joined the NSDAP in 1922 and met AH on 30 September 1923, making a positive impression which led to his rise through the ranks of the party apparatus in Bavaria. He was appointed Gauleiter of Upper Franconia on 1 October 1928, and co-founded the National Socialist Teachers League on 24 November of the same year. Schemm was a noted NSDAP propagandist from the late 1920s through the early 1930s, founding and editing several publications relating to ideology and culture. His Gau was merged with a neighbouring district on 19 January 1933, forming the eventual Gau Bayreuth, with Schemm remaining Gauleiter of the enlarged constituency. A recipient of the Golden Party Badge, he was instrumental in facilitating the NSDAP’s intrusion into every aspect of Bavarian government. Schemm was a noted anti-Semite and National Socialist fanatic, and accordingly was a favourite of the Führer. He was seriously injured in a plane crash on 5 March 1935, later succumbing to his injuries despite the intervention of famed surgeon Ferdinand Sauerbruch. He was given a massive state funeral attended by AH, and was eulogized by virtually every prominent NSDAP official, including Rudolf Hess, Joseph Goebbels, and Heinrich Himmler.