Berlin at Night 1939 and two other famous posters by Jupp Wiertz

This vintage German Railways 1939 Travel poster features Berlin’s Kaiser Wilhelm Church and its glamorous metropolitan surroundings at night. This is one of the last works of the very talented and prolific graphic artist Jupp Wiertz.

jupp5 — Berlin at Night 1939, by Jupp Wiertz

Wiertz reached the zenith of his career at the start of the 1930’s…his clients were the national German Railroad Co. (Deutsche Reichsbahn), the national German airline (Deutsche Luft Hansa AG), the German Airship company (Deutsche Zeppelin-Reederei), the national German Postal Service (Deutsche Reichspost) and the Mercedes automaker (Daimler-Benz AG). Most of his famous posters were created during this decade.

In 1934, his wife died at the age of 37 and Wiertz was inspired to honor his wife with a religious work…a poster celebrating 300 years of Passion Plays at Oberammergau in Bavaria. This poster was later acclaimed with a First Prize at the Paris Awards ceremony of the Conseil Central du Tourisme International, a contest of international graphic artists.

Poster celebrating 300 years of Passion Plays at Oberammergau in Bavaria

In 1937 he repeated his success in Paris, with his works winning First Prize and Second Prize. This was followed by his being honored by the city of Aachen, where he was born, with a celebration of his 50th birthday and a special exhibit of his work.

Unfortunately, not long after, while working with his lab equipment, he suffered an injury that became infected, eventually leading to his untimely death. He died in 1939, in Berlin, at the age of 52.