Reichsbanner Schwarz-Rot-Gold Reichsbanner Schwarz-Rot-Gold The Reichsbanner Schwarz-Rot-Gold (, ""Black, Red, Gold Banner of the Reich"") was an organization in Germany during the Weimar Republic, formed by members of the Social Democratic Party of Germany, the German Centre Party, and the (liberal) German Democratic Party in 1924. Its goal was to defend parliamentary democracy against internal subversion and extremism from the left and right, to teach the population to respect the new Republic, to honor its flag and the constitution. Its name is derived from the Flag of Germany adopted in 1919, the colors of which were associated with liberal parliamentary democracy and
Frederick August Otto Schwarz Frederick August Otto Schwarz Frederick August Otto Schwarz (October 18, 1836 – May 17, 1911) was a German-American toy retailer who started FAO Schwarz. Schwarz was born in 1836 at Herford, Westphalia, Germany and immigrated to the United States in 1856 with his three brothers, Henry, Richard, and Gustav. He worked for a Baltimore stationery importer. German exporters sometimes packed toys and other items in with the stationery in the hope of expanding their exports. Schwarz put the toys in the store window, and they outsold the stationery. By 1862 he had switched to selling the toys from his own