German Bayer Cards from 1937

by Tom Fortunato, September 10, 2005


(click to enlarge)

Here's a sample of cards mailed from Nazi Germany in 1937 by Bayer to doctors in Argentina. Each mentions a different drug, most of them analgesic pain killers: Cantan, Comprol, Endoiodina, and Gardan. Of course, they are in the receiver's native Spanish.

The examples here were all posted from Bayer's world headquarters in Leverkusen, and depict historic sites around Germany:

Nuremberg- March 3    Frankfurt- May 28    Wurtzburg- June 25    Breslau- September 13

The card showing Frankfurt mentions Hoechst Lab's affiliation with the Bayer family of companies. Hoechst, Bayer and BASF formed the IG Farban cartel in the early 20th century, and some say they sponsored Hitler's rise to power. A few years after these cards were mailed the cartel organized the IG Auschwitz industrial plant using forced labor from the now infamous camp.

Unfortunately images from the front of these postcards are unavailable. If anyone can provide additional information on them, contact me!