Published in the Austrian journal Kikeriki, this caricature (“Deutschlands Zukunft”) captured fears shared by the French and the non-Prussian German states. The caption reads: “Will it fit under one hat? I believe it is more likely to come under a [Prussian] Pickelhaube!" By this point, the iconic Prussian military helmet had long provided caricaturists with a powerful symbol of Prussian hegemony and aggressive militarism.
Source: “Deutschlands Zukunft” [“Germany’s Future”] (1870). Austrian
caricature from
Kikeriki.
bpk-Bildagentur, image
number 30010442. For rights inquiries, please contact Art Resource at
requests@artres.com (North America) or bpk-Bildagentur at
kontakt@bpk-bildagentur.de (for all other countries).
© bpk
The Dissolution of the Empire: “You Can’t Bring Them under One Hat” (c. 1800), published in German History Intersections, https://germanhistory-intersections.org/en/germanness/ghis:image-257