Philipp Ruch Examines the Nazi Party’s Breakthrough in Germany’s 1930 Election

Historian and performance artist Philipp Ruch’s study focuses on the 14 September 1930 Reichstag election, when the Nazi Party rose from a fringe group to become the second-largest parliamentary faction.

3 Nov 2026

Philipp Ruch, a trained historian and performance artist, has written a detailed study of a pivotal moment in the Nazi Party’s rise to mass support: Germany’s Reichstag election on 14 September 1930.

Before the vote, the party had won 2.6 percent of the electorate and held 12 seats. In the 1930 election, it secured 18.3 percent of the vote and 107 seats, becoming the second-largest faction in the Reichstag.

Ruch’s research challenges the idea that the Great Depression alone explains the party’s breakthrough. The study instead directs attention to other factors, including how the bourgeois press portrayed the Nazis.

Sources: FAZ.