discovering hakenkreuz

Deffke’s version of the ancient Hakenkreuz (“hooked cross”) first appeared in Wilhelmwerk’s trademark brochure ‘Handelsmarken und Fabrikzeihen’ (1917): a clean-cut take on the powerful mark that over the centuries surfaced in many different cultures and contexts.

According to Deffke’s former assistant Mana Tress, the proportions of the Nazi swastika were inspired, or possibly even copied from the designer’s brochure, with minor alterations. But unlike a handful of modernized marks for the German military and propaganda materials commissioned by the Weimar Republic, that one Deffke didn’t create on a government assignment.