In 1928 Käthe Kollwitz was commissioned by the Leipzig SPD (Social Democratic Party) to design a postcard for the 10th anniversary of the November Revolution.
This revolution, triggered by the rebellion of sailors in Kiel and Wilhemshaven on 3 November 1918, reached the capital Berlin on 8 November. On the morning of the following day, the workers’ and soldiers’ councils called for a general strike. Soldiers stationed in Berlin joined the mass demonstrations in the city centre. In the course of the day, events came thick and fast. Kaiser Wilhelm II abdicated and Philipp Scheidemann proclaimed Germany’s first democratic republic from the Reichstag building.
Käthe Kollwitz was an eye-witness of these historical events. In a diary entry she wrote:
At lunchtime after 1 pm I approached the Brandenburg Gate from the Tiergarten, where flyers announcing the abdication had just been handed out. […]. In front of the Reichstag there was a crowd of people. From a window, Scheidemann proclaimed the republic. […] Then I went back to Unter den Linden. A lorry, packed with sailors and soldiers. Red flags.«
Her expressive drawing »Revolution 1918« conveys the euphoric mood at the Brandenburg Gate and the enthusiasm that went hand in hand with the fall of the monarchy and the establishment of the republic.
