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{{short description|Former cigarette company}}
[[File:SA Sturm Cigarette Company ad.jpg|thumb|right|An advertisement from January 1932, when the Nazis were trying to win power, showing a uniformed SA member, the Nazi [[swastika]], the SA logo, and an anti-[[monopoly]] political slogan.]]

The '''Sturm Cigarette Company''' ({{Lang|de|[[:wiktionary:Sturm|Sturm]] Zigaretten}}, Storm Cigarettes or Military Assault Cigarettes) was a cigarette company created by the Nazi Party's ''[[Sturmabteilung]]'' (SA).<ref name="Proctor">{{Cite book| publisher = Princeton University Press| isbn = 978-0-691-00196-8| last = Proctor| first = Robert| title = The Nazi war on cancer| location = Princeton, N.J| date = 1999| pages = [https://archive.org/details/naziwaroncancer00proc/page/234 234–237]| url-access = registration| url = https://archive.org/details/naziwaroncancer00proc/page/234}}</ref> The sale of its cigarettes provided the SA with operating funds<ref name=Reemtsma_Goering/><ref name=siemens/> and a channel for political messaging.<ref name=adappeal/>{{better source needed|date=October 2019}} Coercion and violence were used to increase sales.<ref name="siemens" /><ref name="Grant" />

==Founding==
During the 1920s, many cigarette firms in Germany closed, and the market was increasingly dominated by a few large and highly automated manufacturers. By 1933, the [[Nazi party]] was attacking the tobacco industry for having foreign and [[Antisemitism in Europe#Germany|Jewish connections]].<ref name=Reemtsma_Goering/>

In 1929, Arthur Dressler cut a deal with the SA: together, they would found a cigarette manufacturer, and SA members would smoke its cigarettes, with the SA getting a royalty<ref name=Kershaw>{{Cite book| edition=   1st Norton paperback | publisher = Penguin| isbn = 978-0-393-32035-0 | last = Kershaw| first = Ian| title = Hitler, 1889–1936: hubris| location = New York| date = 2000|page=348}}</ref> of 15–20 [[pfennig]] for every thousand cigarettes sold{{refn|name=karrkrit|{{Cite web| title = Buchkritik: Der Sammelband "Braune Karrieren: Dresdner Täter und Akteure im Nationalsozialismus"| accessdate = 2018-08-20| url = http://eisberg.blogsport.de/2012/03/19/buchkritik-der-sammelband-braune-karrieren-dresdner-taeter-und-akteure-im-nationalsozialismus/}}, citing <ref name=braune_Kar/>}} ({{Nowrap|0.45–0.6%}} of sales price, given most cigarettes sold at 3{{frac|1|3}} pfennig).<ref name=siemens/><ref name=prices_1933/> At the time, the SA charged no membership fees and was thus financially dependent on donations from the Nazi party leadership; an independent income source was welcomed.<ref name=Reemtsma_Goering/>

Approached through [[Saxony|Saxon]] Nazi party leader [[Manfred von Killinger]], SA-Stabschef [[Otto Wagener]] was interested and willing to put money towards an SA cigarette factory. The Nazi party offered 30,000 [[reichsmark]]s in start-up money and, as this was nowhere near enough, Nazi party supporter [[Jacques Bettenhausen]] invested another 500,000 reichsmarks.<ref>{{Cite book| edition=   1. Aufl| publisher = Hoffmann und Campe| isbn = 978-3-455-09563-0| last = Lindner| first = Erik| title = Die Reemtsmas: Geschichte einer deutschen Unternehmerfamilie| location = Hamburg| date = 2007}}</ref><!-- citation copied unseen from [[:de:Cigarettenfabrik Dressler]] --> The ''Zigarettenfirma Sturm'' was founded, and registered as the ''Cigarettenfabrik Dressler''.<ref name=braune_Kar>Thomas Grosche, ''Arthur Dressler: die Firma Sturm - Zigaretten für die SA''. Chapter in {{Cite book| publisher = Sandstein Verlag| isbn = 978-3-942422-85-7| others = Christine Pieper, Mike Schmeitzner, Gerhard Naser (eds.)| title = Braune Karrieren: Dresdner Täter und Akteure im Nationalsozialismus| location = Dresden| date = 2012}}</ref><!-- citation copied unseen from [[:de:Cigarettenfabrik Dressler]] -->

==Marketing==
[[File:SA Sturm Zigaretten Der Kuender der Lufte crop.jpg|thumb|A [[Antiqua–Fraktur dispute|blackletter]] advertisement from October 1932 showing an aircraft with SA-logo [[roundels]] and the word {{Lang|de|[[:wiktionary:Sturm|Sturm]]}} ("Storm" or "Military Assault"). The [[Advertising slogan|strapline]] reads "Valuable coupons · Sumptuous pictures of uniforms"]]

The factory mainly produced four brands: {{Lang|de|Trommler}} (Drummer), {{Lang|de|Alarm}}, {{Lang|de|Sturm}} (Storm) and {{Lang|de|Neue Front}} (New Front).<ref name="Grant">{{Cite book| publisher = Routledge| isbn = 978-0-415-19602-4| last = Grant| first = Thomas D.| title = Stormtroopers and crisis in the Nazi movement: activism, ideology and dissolution| location = London ; New York| date = 2004|page=102}}</ref> "Neue Front" was the most expensive brand, at six pfennig; "Sturm" cost five, and "Alarm" four. "Trommler" was the cheapest at 3{{frac|1|3}} pfennig<ref name=prices_1933>{{Cite web| title = Reklame für Zigarettensorte STURM ZIGARETTEN mit Porträts von Yorck und Blücher. Umschlag Rückseite innen von Programmheft Sächsische Staatstheater, Schauspielhaus Dresden. 03.06.1933. Druck; 22,3 x 16,3 cm. Dresden: SLUB Z.4.8 - Deutsche Digitale Bibliothek| accessdate = 2018-08-26| url = http://www.deutsche-digitale-bibliothek.de/item/VMVJ47M6JTZ6JP5EX5BWRIC4A3GDLBLY}}</ref> and, given the [[Weimar Republic#Economic problems|economic crisis]], by far the most popular. In 1932, 80% of cigarettes sold were "Trommler", rising to 95% by 1933.<ref name=siemens/>

In early advertisements, all four main brands were listed; [[Nazi party]] imagery and the political slogan "{{Lang|de|Gegen Trust und Konzern}}" ("Against the [corporate] [[Trust (business)|trust]] and the [[Combine (enterprise)|combine]]") were used. Later marketing focused on the "Trommler''"'' brand. Apart from print advertising, the company owned a [[sound truck]] and hired [[Aerial advertising|advertising planes]].<ref name=siemens/> Cigarette marketing reflected the political and economic situation. For instance, in 1930–1932, during the economic crash, advertisements showing catastrophic situations were common.<ref name=siemens/>

Sturm marketing was also used to make the prospect of serving in the German army more appealing.<ref name=adappeal/> Cigarettes were sold with collectable sets of images of historical German military uniforms.<ref name=adappeal>{{Cite book| publisher = Woburn Press| isbn = 0-7130-0226-3| last1 = Goodman| first1 = Joyce| last2 = Martin| first2 = Jane| title = Gender, colonialism and education: the politics of experience| location = London; Portland, OR| date = 2002|page=81}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news| issn = 0307-1235| title = Adolf Hitler exhibition in Germany: Hitler and the Germans at the German Historical Museum in Berlin| journal = Daily Telegraph| accessdate = 2018-08-26| date = 2010-10-14| url = https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/picturegalleries/worldnews/8063977/Adolf-Hitler-exhibition-in-Germany-Hitler-and-the-Germans-at-the-German-Historical-Museum-in-Berlin.html?image=8}}</ref><ref name=prices_1933/> While the SA was officially the sports and gymnastics division of the Nazi party, it was a successor to the banned [[Freikorps]] militias,<ref>{{Cite book
  |last= Waite  |first= Robert G. L.  |author-link= Robert G. L. Waite  |year= 1969  |orig-year= 1952
  |title= Vanguard of Nazism: The Free Corps Movement in Post-War Germany, 1918–1923
  |location= New York, NY  |publisher= [[W. W. Norton & Company]] |ref= Waite1969 |oclc=3633548}}, described in this {{cite web |title=review |url=https://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog.php?isbn=9780674931428}}</ref> and promoted itself as a military training program.<ref>For instance, in its widely publicized weekly publication, ''Der SA-Mann''.{{cite book |author1=United States Office of Chief of Counsel for the Prosecution of Axis Criminality |title=Nazi Conspiracy and Aggression (Vol. II) |date=1946 |url=https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/56213 |language=English |chapter=Chapter XV Part 4 - THE STURMABTEILUNG (SA)}}</ref>

Adolf Hitler's opposition to smoking had limited effects on consumption and sales. While he ordered many localized smoking bans, they were widely ignored. The finance ministry appreciated the taxes tobacco brought in:<ref name=Tabak/> by 1941, about a twelfth of state revenues.<ref name=not_simple>{{Cite journal| doi = 10.1016/j.puhe.2007.08.005| issn = 0033-3506| volume = 122| issue = 5| pages = 497–505| last1 = Bachinger| first1 = Eleonore| last2 = McKee| first2 = Martin| last3 = Gilmore| first3 = Anna| title = Tobacco policies in Nazi Germany: not as simple as it seems| journal = Public Health| date = May 2008| pmid = 18222506| pmc = 2441844}}</ref> Aside from taxes, advertising revenues, and Sturm royalties and dividends, Nazi organizations accepted millions of reichsmarks in donations and bribes from the cigarette industry.<ref name=Reemtsma_Goering/><ref name=Reemtsma_NS/><ref name=not_simple/> The propaganda minister's view was decisive; [[Joseph Goebbels]] felt that cigarettes were essential to the war effort.<ref name=Tabak/> Cigarettes were distributed free to soldiers, including minors, as part of their pay.<ref name=not_simple/>

Between 1930 and 1940, the [[List of countries by cigarette consumption per capita|per-capita cigarette consumption]] of Germany rose from 500 to 1000 cigarettes a year;<ref name=Reemtsma_NS>{{Cite web| title = Rauchzeichen: Fotoarchiv Reemtsma in der NS-Zeit| format = Museum| accessdate = 2018-08-25| url = http://www.fotoarchiv-reemtsma.de/Themen/02_NS/index.html}}</ref> tens of billions of cigarettes were sold annually.<ref>{{Cite book| edition = 1. Aufl| publisher = Edition Nautilus| isbn = 978-3-89401-745-3| last1 = Roth| first1 = Karl Heinz| last2 = Abraham| first2 = Jan-Peter| title = Reemtsma auf der Krim: Tabakproduktion und Zwangsarbeit unter der deutschen Besatzungsherrschaft 1941-1944| location = Hamburg| series = Schriften der Stiftung für sozialgeschichte des 20. Jahrhunderts| date = 2011}}</ref>

===Coercion===
There is evidence that coercion was used to promote the sale of these cigarettes.<ref name="Grant"/> SA members were not just expected to smoke Sturm Cigarette Company cigarettes exclusively,<ref name="Proctor"/> they were compelled to:<ref name=Reemtsma_Goering/> there were bag searches, and fines if any other brand were found.<ref name=siemens>{{Cite web| last = Daniel Siemens| title = Nazi storm-troopers' cigarettes| website = UCL SSEES Research Blog| format = University department| accessdate = 2018-08-25| date = 2013-09-11| url = https://blogs.ucl.ac.uk/ssees/2013/09/11/nazi-storm-troopers-cigarettes/}}</ref> The SA agitated against and punished the use of other brands, especially the market leader [[Reemtsma]].<ref name=Reemtsma_Goering/><ref name=braune_Kar/> SA men attacked shops that sold rival brands,<ref name=Reemtsma_Goering/><ref name=braune_Kar/> smashing windows and physically attacking the shopworkers.<ref name=siemens/>

==Profits==
[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 146-1985-054-02, Berlin, arbeitslose SA-Männer.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.5|Unemployed SA men, at least three of them smoking, in 1932, three years after the SA began manufacturing cigarettes]]
[[File:Unemployment in Germany - 1928-1935 01.svg|thumb|German unemployment, 1928–1935]]

Through this scheme, a typical SA unit{{clarify|date=August 2018}} earned hundreds of [[reichsmark]]s each month.<ref name="Grant"/> A hundred marks would be the SA earnings from the sale of 500,000 cigarettes, at 20 pfennig per thousand.<ref>calculation from numbers given earlier, and on hundred pfennigs to the mark</ref> A typical German smoker smoked around 15 cigarettes a day<ref name=Tabak>{{Cite news| issn = 0931-9085| last = Waibel| first = Ambros| title = Tabak und Kaffee im Dritten Reich: "Verbote wurden ignoriert"| work = Die Tageszeitung: taz| accessdate = 2018-08-27| date = 2015-12-21| url = https://www.taz.de/!5259509/}}</ref> (similar to modern rates<ref>{{Cite web| title = Raucherstatistiken| accessdate = 2018-08-28| url = http://www.rauchfrei.de/raucherstatistik.htm}}</ref>), so this would be income from just over a thousand smokers.

At the time, an average-intensity "Trommler" smoker<ref name=Tabak/> paid the average wage<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/sgb_6/anlage_1.html|title=Anlage 1 SGB 6 - Einzelnorm|website=www.gesetze-im-internet.de}}</ref> would spend around a tenth of his [[gross income]] on cigarettes.<ref>Calculation from figures given in sources; an annual income of ~1600 marks per year, and smoking costs of 0.035 marks for each cigarette, 15 cigarettes a day, and 365.25 days a year</ref> Many did not have a regular wage: this was the time of the [[Great Depression]], and unemployment peaked at over 30% (see graph). The SA recruited particularly among the unemployed and underemployed.<ref name=berlin>{{Cite news| last = Klußmann| first = Uwe| title = Conquering the Capital: The Ruthless Rise of the Nazis in Berlin| work = Spiegel Online| date = 2012-11-29|url=http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/how-the-nazis-succeeded-in-taking-power-in-red-berlin-a-866793.html}}</ref>

The firm first paid dividends to the SA in 1930. By 1932, it had a turnover of 36 million reichsmarks (equivalent to €{{Inflation|DE|36|1932}} million in {{Inflation-year|DE}}), and the SA made considerable profits; 1933 saw even higher returns. Money went to buy new buildings, factories, and advertising.<ref name=siemens/>

[[File:SA cigarette ad 1933.jpg|thumb|upright=1.5|An advertisement from December 1933, after [[Adolf Hitler's rise to power|the Nazis took power]], with the slogan {{Lang|de|Wer sie einmal [[:wiktionary:wählen|wählt]], ist ihr immer verbunden}} (Choose [''vote for''] them once, be bound to them forever).]]

==Replacement==
In June 1932, Philipp Fürchtegott Reemtsma, head of the [[Reemtsma]] cigarette company, met with [[Adolf Hitler]], [[Rudolf Hess]], and [[Max Amann]]<ref name=Reemtsma_Goering/> (Hitler's secretary, and the head of [[Eher Verlag]], the Nazi party's printing house<ref name=amann>{{Cite news| title = Max Amann: Werke aus Sammlung von Hitlers Verleger entdeckt| work = Die Welt| accessdate = 2018-08-26| date = 2014-06-13| url = https://www.welt.de/geschichte/article129026053/Werke-aus-Sammlung-von-Hitlers-Verleger-entdeckt.html}}</ref>). Reemtsma's advertisements had been banned from Nazi party publications, but the publications lost money, and the party needed money for election campaigning. Hitler scolded Reemtsma for having Jewish partners, but they agreed to an initial deal of half a million marks of advertising.<ref name=Reemtsma_Goering>{{Cite web| title = Zwölf Millionen für Göring| website = Cicero Online| author = Erik Lindner | accessdate = 2018-08-20| url = https://www.cicero.de/wirtschaft/zw%C3%B6lf-millionen-f%C3%BCr-g%C3%B6ring/38290}}</ref>

Shortly after [[Adolf Hitler's rise to power|the Nazis took power]] in 1933, Philipp Reemtsma asked [[Hermann Göring]], then the highest official in Prussia, to do something about charges of corruption and SA attacks against the company. In early 1934, Göring called off the court case in exchange for three million marks; Reemtsma subsequently paid him a million more per year, as well as making to substantial donations to the party. By July 1934, the [[Night of the Long Knives]] had removed the threat of the SA: its leaders, who had profited from the firm's royalties, and often owned shares in it, were dead or imprisoned.<ref name=Reemtsma_Goering/>

Reemtsma's Jewish partners had now emigrated, along with many Jewish employees, with help from Reemtsma.<ref name=Reemtsma_Goering/> After Reemtsma made inquiries, the new SA leader, SA-Stabschef [[Viktor Lutze]], cancelled their contract with Sturm Cigarettes and made a deal with Reemtsma in exchange for a fixed sum (in 1934, 250,000 reichsmarks), paid annually. Reemtsma would now produce the SA's cigarettes, and Sturm, left with unsellable cigarettes,<ref name=Reemtsma_Goering/> filed for [[bankruptcy]] in 1935.<ref name=siemens/>

==See also==
*[[Reemtsma]] (Sturm's successor as the SA cigarette company)
*[[Health effects of tobacco]]
*[[Nicotine marketing]], [[History of nicotine marketing]]
*[[Anti-tobacco movement in Nazi Germany]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
*{{Cite journal| doi = 10.1016/j.puhe.2007.08.005| issn = 0033-3506| volume = 122| issue = 5| pages = 497–505| last1 = Bachinger| first1 = Eleonore| last2 = McKee| first2 = Martin| last3 = Gilmore| first3 = Anna| title = Tobacco policies in Nazi Germany: not as simple as it seems| journal = Public Health| date = May 2008| pmid = 18222506| pmc = 2441844}}
*{{Cite book| publisher = Wallstein Verlag| isbn = 978-3-8353-1666-9| last = Petrick-Felber| first = Nicole| title = Kriegswichtiger Genuss: Tabak und Kaffee im "Dritten Reich"| location = Göttingen| series = Beiträge zur Geschichte des 20. Jahrhunderts| date = 2015}}; interview of the author about the book: {{Cite news| issn = 0931-9085| last = Waibel| first = Ambros| title = Tabak und Kaffee im Dritten Reich: "Verbote wurden ignoriert"| work = Die Tageszeitung: taz| accessdate = 2018-08-27| date = 2015-12-21| url = https://www.taz.de/!5259509/}}
*{{Cite book| publisher = Yale University Press| isbn = 978-0-300-19681-8| last = Siemens| first = Daniel| title = Stormtroopers: a new history of Hitler's Brownshirts| location = New Haven| date = 2017}}; shorter text by author: {{Cite web| title = Nazi storm-troopers' cigarettes| date = 2013-09-11| url = https://blogs.ucl.ac.uk/ssees/2013/09/11/nazi-storm-troopers-cigarettes/}}
*{{Cite book| publisher = Sandstein Verlag| isbn = 978-3-942422-85-7| others = Christine Pieper, Mike Schmeitzner, Gerhard Naser (eds.)| title = Braune Karrieren: Dresdner Täter und Akteure im Nationalsozialismus| location = Dresden| date = 2012}}

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[[Category:1929 establishments in Germany]]
[[Category:1935 disestablishments in Germany]]
[[Category:Cigarette brands]]
[[Category:Economy of Nazi Germany]]
[[Category:Tobacco companies of Germany]]