The Patriotic Song, plate nine from Die Hölle

In this deeply cynical image, Max Beckmann illustrated the emptiness of nationalist gestures in the postwar years. The only person singing appears to be the soldier in the foreground, while the other people crammed into the flattened and uncomfortable space have their heads in their hands on the table (out of either drunkenness or despair) or resolutely ignore the scene (like the impoverished couple at right). In any case, the irony of the title parallels Beckmann’s own ambivalent attitude toward the war and his service.