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Wehrmacht KdF OKW
RARE WEHRMACHT MUSIC PROGRAM

WEHRMACHT BÜHNE
(ARMED FORCES STAGE)
PRESENTATION
OF MUSIC BY
RICHARD STRAUSS
Richard Strauss was born in Munich in 1864 and attained international fame in music before age 30. He became the first president of the Reich Music Chamber when the Nazis assumed power in 1933. He continued to write and conduct music during the Third Reich from his home in Garmisch-Partenkirchen in southern Bavaria. His music was immensely popular in Germany and abroad.
During World War II the National Socialist Community “Kraft durch Freude” (KdF, or Strength Through Joy) brought plays, musical concerts and other entertainment to troops in the field at the direction of the Oberkommando der Wehrmacht. The German system was very similar to the U.S.O. shows that American GIs attended.

The 8-1/4 x 11-5/8 inch (folds to 5-3/4 x 8-1/4 inches) Wehrmacht concert program we offer here is an actual example given to some Landser who attended a field performance of the Richard-Strauss-Feier concert some time after Strauss’ 80th birthday on 11 June 1944. Because these programs were printed on the rather low quality paper available in Germany late in the war, and because the soldiers who attended the concerts rarely kept them, the programs are very rare today.
Richard Strauss
As you can see, the program is printed in light blue and black ink on paper that has darkened somewhat with age. The lower outside corners are missing, but other than that, the program is in very nice original condition. The back cover has the radiating swastika emblem of the KdF on a background of a theatrical drape. Richard Strauß died in 1949.

Good condition and GUARANTEED to be absolutely authentic Third Reich material.
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