EARLY AUSTRIAN D.N.S.A.P. TEAPOT

Excessively rare Austrian single-serving teapot engraved with the static swastika and 'DSNAP' used by higher members of the 'German National Socialist Workers' Party', one of the progenitors of Germany's NSDAP which influenced the creation and political theories of Hitler's NSDAP. The small silver-plated teapot is 4.5 in. tall with a hinged lid. It bears a skillfully-engraved swastika with dappled interior, placed above the letters 'DNSAP', all in contemporary form and style. The piece bears the hallmark of Vienna silversmiths 'J. L. Herrmann' with additional stamp 'PATENT 1'. The underside of the lid is also fully covered with information on J. L.Herrmann headquarters in Vienna and its branches in Budapest and Prague. The teapot was likely made prior to 1922 or so as Herrmann was purchased by Krupp after the end of World War I. Fine condition. Austrian National Socialism was a pan-German movement that was formed at the beginning of the 20th century. The movement took concrete form on November 15, 1903 when the German Worker's Party (DAP) was established in Austria. At a party congress in Vienna in May 1918, the DAP changed its name to the Deutsche Nationalsozialistische Arbeiterpartei (DNSAP) and produced a National Socialist Program, which is thought to have influenced the later German Nazi manifesto. After 1930, most former DNSAP members became supporters of the German NSDAP led by Austrian-born Adolf Hitler, and became one of the chief elements leading to the pro-Nazi coup in 1938 that brought about the Anschluss of Austria with Germany. The party was disbanded following the Anschluss.