1948 Desch Pictorial Map of the pos-WWII U.S. Occupation Zone, Germany

A striking c. 1948 Kurt Desch pictorial map of the U.S. Occupation Zone in southern Germany following World War II. It portrays a bucolic peaceful land, with pictographs representing the region's products and industries. Illustrations of buildings and/or armorial crests represent Munich, Frankfurt, Hamberg (Hamburg), Darmstadt, Augsburg, Bayreuth, Stuttgart, etc. The whole features a military themed border of stylized epaulets.

The Allied Occupation of Germany

The United States, Great Britain, and the Soviet Union agreed to divide conquered Germany into zones of occupation at the February 1945 Yalta Conference. The more comprehensive plan to create four separate zones was ratified at the subsequent Potsdam Conference. Cordiality between the Western Allies and the Soviet Union began evaporating soon after the war, and by 1947 any effort to govern Germany jointly floundered. The British and American zones merged on January 1, 1947, creating the jointly administered 'Bizone'. This entity was soon joined by the French zone, necessitating a name change to 'Trizone'. In May 1949, these zones merged to form the Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany). In October 1949, the Soviets established the German Democratic Republic (East Germany). The occupation in West Germany continued until May 5, 1955, when the General Treaty transferred governance from the Allied military governments to civilian German leaders. Soviet East Germany remained until 1990.

Chromolithography

Chromolithography, sometimes called oleography, is a color lithographic technique developed in the mid-19th century. The process involved using multiple lithographic stones, one for each color, to yield a rich composite effect. Oftentimes, the process would start with a black basecoat upon which subsequent colors were layered. Some chromolithographs used 30 or more separate lithographic stones to achieve the desired product. Chromolithograph color could also be effectively blended for even more dramatic results. The process became extremely popular in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, when it emerged as the dominant method of color printing. The vivid color chromolithography produced made it exceptionally effective for advertising and propaganda imagery

Publication History and Census

This map was drawn in Munich by Kurt Desch on behalf of the Army Exchange Service. It was printed by John Roth in Munich. The map appears occasionally on the market and is well represented institutionally.