The Völkerschlachtdenkmal and a caravan, 1937
The massive Leipzig battle monument rises through the haze behind cyclists, and a crowd gathers round a car towing a streamlined caravan.
Through a morning haze the stepped mass of the Völkerschlachtdenkmal rises in silhouette between two trees, cyclists and pedestrians small in the foreground. Under other trees a light-coloured saloon car stands with a teardrop-shaped caravan hitched behind it, curtains at its windows, and a crowd of men, women and boys gathers round to inspect it.
The monument, 91 metres high, was dedicated in October 1913, a century after Napoleon's defeat at the Battle of the Nations near Leipzig. A caravan behind a private car was still a curiosity in 1937: the regime promised every family its Volkswagen, which ordinary Germans went on to pay for in advance and never received.
