Die Vergeltung - Revenge

DIE VERGELTUNG — REVENGE

After Arno Breker.

A body twisted around a single act.

Both hands close around an immense fragment of stone. The torso turns, the legs brace, and the weight is already being carried forward. Die Vergeltung — Revenge — captures not the aftermath of violence, but the instant before its release.

The composition belongs to the monumental relief program Breker developed for the projected transformation of Berlin into “Germania.” Conceived alongside works including Fackelträger, Opfer, Der Rächer, Der Wächter and Kameraden, these figures were designed for the vast architectural spaces planned along the new north–south axis.

Here there is no sword, armour or elaborate narrative.

Only the human body and the stone.

The simplicity makes the image unusually direct: strength compressed into motion, the entire figure organized around the act of retaliation.

The work is documented in 1943 as a design for a monumental relief in stone and was photographed by Charlotte Rohrbach. Its image also entered the propaganda culture of the period. In early 1943, following the German defeat at Stalingrad, Vergeltung appeared in contemporary Nazi publications as part of the regime’s visual response to the catastrophe.

That context matters.

Breker was one of the principal state sculptors of Nazi Germany, and these monumental works were not politically neutral decorations. Their idealized bodies, martial subjects and enormous projected scale formed part of a visual language intended to communicate strength, sacrifice and power.

The monumental original does not survive in public view. Later sources report the work among the reliefs lost during the destruction of Berlin in 1945, while surviving photographs and period reproductions preserve the composition.

What remains is the image:

the stone raised overhead,

the body under tension,

and the moment before impact.

Carefully restored and digitally prepared from surviving photographic material to preserve depth, tonal structure and sculptural detail.

Printed on museum-grade matte paper.

This edition is exclusively offered through Thuleism.

Historical note: This print presents a historical artwork in its original context. Its inclusion does not constitute endorsement of the political regime for which the work was created.

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Product details

- Museum-grade matte paper

- Archival pigment print

- Thick, durable stock

- Designed for framing

Each piece is set within the chosen paper format rather than printed edge to edge. The surrounding margins are intentional, allowing the work to breathe and making it easier to frame using widely available standard frame sizes.

Please note that the selected size refers to the overall paper size, not the dimensions of the printed image itself. The artwork is proportionally fitted within that format, with margins varying slightly depending on the original composition.

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Age restrictions: For adults
EU Warranty: 2 years
Other compliance information: Meets the small parts and magnetic flux index level requirements.

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