This is an authentic period hand-signed (in ink) photo/post card of Minister of Foreign
Affairs, Ulrich Friedrich-Wilhelm Joachim von Ribbentrop (30 April 1893 – 16 October 1946).
The back features a vintage appearance postcard from Photo-Hoffmann, the studio famously associated with Heinrich Hoffmann, who served as Hitler's official photographer. The text further provides the address of Hoffmann's photographic studio in Munich (Friedrichstraße 34), one of his primary locations in the 1920s & 1930s.
The postcard further provides a German legal notice (Nachdruck verboten) which means reproduction is prohibited, indicating the image on the front was copyrighted by the photographer.
"Echte Fotografie" translates to "Real Photography" confirming the image on the front is a Real Photo Post Card (RPPC), meaning the image was printed directly onto light-sensitive photographic paper from a photographic negative, rather than a mass-produced lithograph/offset.
About Hoffmann:
Heinrich Hoffmann (1885–1957) played a central role in Nazi propaganda. His studio produced millions of postcards, books, and portraits of Nazi leadership. Postcards from his studio often featured portraits of high-ranking officials, military scenes, or significant events of the Third Reich era. Because these are "real photo" postcards, they are often highly valued by collectors for their clarity and historical significanc.
After WW2, he was classified as a "main offender" (Hauptschuldiger) by a denazification court, resulting in a prison sentence and the seizure of much of his photographic archive, which is now largely held by the Bayerische Staatsbibliothek (Bavarian State Library).
About Ribbentrop:
A German politician and diplomat, he first came to Adolf Hitler's notice as a well-travelled businessman with more knowledge of the outside world than most senior Nazis and as a perceived authority on foreign affairs. He offered his house Schloss Fuschl for the secret meetings in January
1933 that resulted in Hitler's appointment as Chancellor of Germany. He became a close confidant of Hitler, to the dismay of some party members, who thought him unintelligent, superficial and lacking in talent. He was appointed ambassador to the Court of St James's, the royal court of the United Kingdom in 1936 and then Foreign Minister of Germany in February 1938. Before World War II, he played a key role in brokering the Pact of Steel (an alliance with Fascist Italy) and the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact (the Nazi–Soviet non-aggression pact). He favoured retaining good relations with the Soviets, opposing the invasion of the Soviet Union. In late 1941, due to American aid to Britain and the increasingly frequent "incidents" in the North Atlantic between U-boats and
American warships guarding convoys to Britain, Ribbentrop worked for the failure of the Japanese-American talks in Washington and for Japan to attack the United States. He did his utmost to support a declaration of war on the United States after the attack on Pearl Harbor. From 1941 onwards, Ribbentrop's influence declined.
He was arrested in June 1945 & tried at the initial Nuremberg trials. He was convicted on all 4 counts & sentenced to death. He was the first of the major defendants to be executed by hanging on October 16, 1946.
