Nazi: Cultural Policies

Question 1

What was Gleichslang

Answer 1

‘Co-ordination’ wanted tight control over culture and eduction. Censored ‘unacceptable’ culture and created its own.

Question 2

What did Nazi propaganda stress

Answer 2

• Germans were the culture-bearers of Europe
• had been led astray by over-intellectual, Jewish-led Weimer culture

Question 3

How did they censor unacceptable culture

Answer 3

• On 10 May 1933, the Nazis organised burring of about 23.000 books that were unsound - from textbooks to famous foreign authors as Erest Herringway.
• Art music and theatre were also censored, weeding out works by ‘unacceptable’ people, of an ‘unacceptable’ style
• Almost anything that encouraged individualiam or discouraged conformity was unsound.
• newspapers and radio were censored

Question 4

What was the Reichskulturkammer (RKK)

Answer 4

• Set up by Goebbels on the 22nd September 1933 set up the Reichskulturkammer (RKK) to control all of the creative arts, stopping culture being elitist and bringing it to everyone.
• Nationalist, approachable, realistic art was acceptable.

Question 5

What art did the nazis value and not value

Answer 5

They idealised the simple, rural life and the simple, healthy farmer, and approved art often reflected this idealised view.

Art they saw as ‘degenerate’ focused on urban life and was often impressionistic if not completely abstract.

Question 6

How did the nazis promote acceptable culture through galleries and museums

Answer 6

There were ‘Strength Through Joy’ trips to the theatre, opera and to art galleries and museums. Art exhibitions not only showed people ‘acceptable’ art, the also ‘educated’ them in the kind of art they should despise.

In 1937, for example, there was a degenerate art exhibition in Munich. The pictures had information boards explaining why these were ‘worthless’ and ‘corrupt’.

Question 7

How did the nazis promote acceptable culture through sport

Answer 7

• Sport was encouraged to produce a healthy nation.

-Artists, particularly sculptors were encouraged to produce art that showed strong, healthy, physically perfect Aryans.

• Large-scale sporting events, like the1936 Olympics as an opportunity to show off German sporting abilities.

Question 8

How did Germany show sporting prowess through the 1936 olympics

Answer 8

Germany won 89 medals, 33 of them gold. So Germany could say the games were successful even though they did not always use their best athletes - they excluded Jewish athletes, for example.