Today: Headlines from 14 April 1925

Today 100 Years Ago

One century ago, the world was still catching its breath after the Great War while unknowingly inching toward another. 14 April 1925 sat right in the middle of that uneasy calm. Newspapers from Berlin to Buenos Aires buzzed with one story in particular – a seventy-seven-year-old First World War hero had just agreed to step back into the political arena.

1. Field Marshal Paul von Hindenburg Enters the German Presidential Race (official announcement 15 April 1925)

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When dawn broke over Berlin on the 15th, telegraph wires crackled with the news: Paul von Hindenburg, living legend of Tannenberg, would run for Reichspräsident in the upcoming runoff election. His surprise entry, brokered in smoke-filled rooms by right-wing parties, instantly reshaped the contest. Only two weeks earlier the first round produced no majority; now, monarchists and nationalists rallied behind a man viewed as Germany’s embodiment of discipline and old-world honor.

The stakes were monumental. The Weimar Republic, still less than seven years old, was fragile. Hyper-inflation had been tamed but not forgotten, and many Germans longed for strong leadership. Hindenburg’s candidacy fed that yearning, even as critics feared that putting a conservative field marshal in the presidential palace would drag democracy toward authoritarianism.

The press frenzy of mid-April 1925 feels eerily familiar in 2025. We too wrestle with nostalgia politics and mistrust of institutions. Yet the lesson of Hindenburg is clear: personal prestige can paper over deep systemic fractures – for a while. Within eight years, the emergency powers built into the Weimar constitution would be handed to a populist named Adolf Hitler, with Hindenburg’s signature supplying the legal veneer.

Quick facts

• Date of public acceptance: 15 April 1925 (headline dominated papers on the 14th/15th)
• Age: 77
• Runoff election day: 26 April 1925
• Voter turnout in second round: ~77 %

2025 contrast

• Germany’s president today (2025) holds largely ceremonial powers; executive authority rests with the chancellor. In 1925, the Reichspräsident was closer to a hybrid between present-day presidents of France and the U.S., wielding sweeping emergency decrees.
• Social media now amplifies announcements in seconds; back then, millions read extras printed on pink or yellow paper, slapped on kiosks within hours.

History rarely turns on a single dawn, but 14–15 April 1925 gave Europe one of its pivotal sunrises. A century later, the story still echoes whenever a revered elder or military figure is urged to "save the nation". We would do well to remember what followed.