Purchased by the Benton Museum of Art at Pomona College on August 12, 2020 from Edwynn Houk Gallery, New York.

The Red Guard In Berlin! This is the first photograph to reach America showing armed German soldiers and sailors carrying a red flag in an auto while patrolling the streets of Berlin. These soldiers and workmen took control of the German government by force.

The Spartacist uprising (also known as the January Uprising / Januaraufstand), was a general strike in Berlin from January 5 - 12, 1919. The strike included armed battles. Germany was in the middle of a post-war revolution, and two of the perceived paths forward were social democracy and a similar council republic. The uprising was primarily a power struggle between the moderate Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) led by Friedrich Ebert, and the radical communists of the Communist Party of Germany (KPD), led by Karl Liebknecht and Rosa Luxemburg. Liebknecht and Luxemburg had previously founded and led the Spartacist League (Spartakusbund). The revolt was improvised and on a small-scale, and it was quickly crushed by the superior firepower of government troops.

On recto: Clear label attached near bottom right corner, "Copyright by / Underwood & Underwood, N.Y. / From Elliott Service Co., N.Y."

On verso: Typewritten label attached in center, "The Red Guard In Berlin! / This is the first photograph to reach America showing / armed German soldiers and sailors bearing a red flag / in an auto, while patrolling the streets of Berlin. The / control of the German Government was taken by / force by these soldiers and workmen. / UNDERWOOD & UNDERWOOD NEWS PHOTOGRAPHS ELLIOTT SERVICE CO. EXCLUSIVE DISTRIBUTORS 141-145 West 36th St., NEW YORK AB-BE-AH-1735 B". Handwritten in graphite in top left corner, "UU-018".

Ferrotyped prints are processed in such a way that they are shiny. The print has a sensitive surface, usually thinner, because it was put through a press while still wet.

Ferrotyped prints have a sensitive surface, usually shiny and thinner, because they are put through a press while still wet. Ferrotyping makes the surface of the photograph smoother. Light does not scatter as much on a smoother surface, so this increases contrast. That makes ferrotyped images better for press photography.

This object has the following keywords:

• Berlin
• Cars
• Civil Unrest
• Communist Party of Germany
• Communists
• Coups d'etat
• Flags
• Imperial German Army
• Imperial German Navy
• Post-war world
• Red Guard
• Spartacist uprising
• Street Scenes
• World War I

This object is a member of the following portfolios: