Abstract
Since its founding in 1870, the Center party represented the
interests of political Catholicism across all strata of German society.
While it rejected revolution as a political means, it did embrace the
Republic and its constitution. Along with the SPD and the DDP, it formed
the Weimar Coalition, and it was part of every government until 1932,
forging alliances with parties across the political spectrum. The
political orientation of the five
Zentrum politicians who served as
Reich Chancellor (Fehrenbach, Wirth, Marx, Brüning, and von Papen) also
differed significantly. This election poster from the campaign for the
1930 Reichstag election depicts the
Zentrum party as a bridge, leading
its followers across the political abyss under the banner of
Catholicism. Down in the chasm, “chaos, terror, and turmoil,”
personified by the followers of the extreme left and right-wing parties
(who are identified by the red flag and the swastika respectively), try
to forge ahead. In the end, it was the KPD and especially the NSDAP,
however, who emerged as the winners of the 1930 election.