A disquieting album of German men sporting the dictator’s infamous mustache
This photobook compiles more than 100 private photographs of men taken before 1945. The men pictured offer friendly smiles to the camera, stand in photo studios with their wives and children and pose proudly in their new uniforms. Since they all have the same little toothbrush mustache, however, the faces of these men are invariably overlaid with another countenance. Given the time span in which these images were taken, each of the subjects would have known whom they resembled and to some degree embraced the likeness. This collection of found photographs offers a disquieting glimpse into the profound impact that Hitler had on men in Germany: not only did they absorb his ideology, they also fashioned themselves after his image. German writer, curator and academic Friedrich Tietjen powerfully excavates the period’s insidious idolatry.
STATUS: Forthcoming | 2/3/2026
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Published by Spector Books. Text by Friedrich Tietjen.
A disquieting album of German men sporting the dictator’s infamous mustache
This photobook compiles more than 100 private photographs of men taken before 1945. The men pictured offer friendly smiles to the camera, stand in photo studios with their wives and children and pose proudly in their new uniforms. Since they all have the same little toothbrush mustache, however, the faces of these men are invariably overlaid with another countenance. Given the time span in which these images were taken, each of the subjects would have known whom they resembled and to some degree embraced the likeness.
This collection of found photographs offers a disquieting glimpse into the profound impact that Hitler had on men in Germany: not only did they absorb his ideology, they also fashioned themselves after his image. German writer, curator and academic Friedrich Tietjen powerfully excavates the period’s insidious idolatry.
