Signal (magazine)

This article is about the German publication. For the modern US-based publication, see AFCEA § SIGNAL Magazine.

Signal was a magazine published by the Wehrmacht of Nazi Germany from 1940 through 1945.

Signal

Logo of the magazine
Type	Propaganda publication
Format	Biweekly magazine
Owner(s)	Wehrmacht
Publisher	Deutscher Verlag on behalf of Wehrmacht Propaganda Troops
Founded	April 1940
Language	26 European languages
Ceased publication	April 1945
Headquarters	Berlin, Germany
Circulation	2,500,000 (1943)

Summary

Signal was an illustrated photo journal and army propaganda tool, meant specifically for audiences in neutral, allied, and occupied countries. A German edition was distributed in Switzerland, Axis countries, and German-occupied Europe, but Signal was never distributed in Germany proper.

The journal was published by Ullstein Verlag and characterized by an outstanding print quality for the time. Each issue contained several (mostly eight) color pages, which was very unusual at the time.

The promoter of the magazine was the chief of the Wehrmacht Propaganda Troops, Colonel Hasso von Wedel. Signal was published fortnightly (plus some special issues) in as many as 25 editions and 30 languages, and at its height had a circulation of 2,500,000 copies. It was available in the United States in English until December 1941. The last number was 6/45, only known in one sample from the Swedish edition.

Wehrmacht troops viewing issues of Signal at a newspaper stand in Palermo, Sicily, 1943

See also

• Der Adler - Luftwaffe equivalent
• Kriegsmarine - German Navy equivalent
• Die Wehrmacht - Covering all the armed services

Further reading

• Media related to Signal (magazine) at Wikimedia Commons
• Sara Krolewski, "The Enemy as Sociologist", Cabinet 27 April 2021
• Rainer Rutz: "Signal". Eine deutsche Auslandsillustrierte als Propagandainstrument im Zweiten Weltkrieg Klartext, Essen 2007. ISBN 978-3-89861-720-8 (German)
• Klaus-Richard Böhme, Bosse Schön: Signal Nazitysklands Propaganda i Sverige 1941–45, Bokförlaget DN, Stockholm 2005. ISBN 91-7588-540-9 (Swedish)