Nazi culture

Question 1

what affect did Gleichschaltung have?

Answer 1

Nazis took greater control over culture and education in the hope of indoctrinating the German people

Question 2

what were the key themes of Nazi culture?

Answer 2

anti-Semitism
militarism and nationalism
cult of the Fuhrer
anti-modernisation

Question 3

when was the first book burning ceremony?

Answer 3

10 May 1933

Question 4

how many books burned in May 1933?

Answer 4

25,000

Question 5

what books were banned and often burned?

Answer 5

anything unsound:
- foreign authors
- Jewish authors

anything which encouraged individualism and discouraged conformity

Question 6

example of a book burned by the Nazis

Answer 6

All Quiet on the Western Front

Question 7

which authors left Germany in 1933?

Answer 7

Thomas Mann - was a liberal
Remarque - was a pacifist

both were pioneers of Neue Sachlichkeit and thus had no place in Nazi society

Question 8

which Jewish composers were banned?

Answer 8

Mahler and Mendelssohn

Question 9

who was a prominent Nazi composer?

Answer 9

Wagner (despite being dead since 1883)

Question 10

what did Wagner promote in his music?

Answer 10

was anti-Semitic as well as pro-Aryan

he did opera on German mythology

Hitler was obsessed with it

Question 11

what type of music did the Nazis ban?

Answer 11

jazz and dance-bands

were deemed negroid and decadent

Question 12

what did Nazi art look to portray?

Answer 12

• ‘Blood and Soil’ ideology
• Aryan ideologies
• physical fitness
• militaristic ideas

Question 13

what was the ‘Blood and Soil’ ideology?

Answer 13

Aryan people served the Aryan land

promoted agriculture and the concept of Lebensraum

Question 14

which types of art were heavily censored?

Answer 14

new functionalism
Bauhaus

both deemed as degenerate and were seen to be representations of the failures of liberalism

Question 15

who was the most prominent Nazi artist?

Answer 15

Arno Breker

Question 16

what did Arno Breker’s art symbolise?

Answer 16

core Aryan values:
fitness
purity
strength

Question 17

what happened to Otto Dix?

Answer 17

he was prevented from producing anymore ‘degenerate art’

instead he was forced to produce landscape art for the Nazis

Question 18

what were the two types of exhibition held in Nazi Germany?

Answer 18

Great German Art
Degenerate Art

Question 19

which art exhibition ended up being more popular?

Answer 19

degenerate art

perhaps shows the lack of popularity with the Great German Art which was on show

Question 20

who was the leading architect in Nazi Germany?

Answer 20

Albert Speer

Question 21

what was Speer’s architecture based on?

Answer 21

simplified neo-classical architecture

relied on the same materials used in Bauhaus architecture such as concrete

Question 22

examples of Speer projects

Answer 22

plans to rebuild German cities - Germania
the Berlin Olympics stadium
the Reich Chancellery building
the Nuremberg Rally grounds

Question 23

what happened to Bauhaus architecture?

Answer 23

was labelled degenerate by leading Nazis

many saw the modernism and functionalism as pathetic
- flat roofs were highly controversial

Bauhaus schools were forced to close throughout the 1930s

Question 24

what impact did Bauhaus have on Nazi architecture?

Answer 24

some modernist structures were built such as autobahn bridges which resembled Bauhaus ideologies

shows aspects of continuity

Question 25

what was the RKK?

Answer 25

Reichskulturkammer controlled all forms of culture in Nazi Germany

Question 26

what art was seen as acceptable by the Nazis?

Answer 26

nationalist approachable realistic

Question 27

when was the RKK formed?

Answer 27

22 September 1933

Question 28

how did the Nazis look to get the public involved in culture?

Answer 28

Strength Through Joy trips to the theatre or art exhibitions

Question 29

when was the degenerate art exhibition in Munich?

Answer 29

1937

Question 30

how did the Nazis use the Olympic Games in 1936 as a triumph?

Answer 30

Germany won 33 gold medals and won the games portrayed as a symbol of German fitness and strength

Question 31

when was Mother's Day celebrated?

Answer 31

on Hitler's mother's birthday

Question 32

where was the Nazi rally ground?

Answer 32

Nuremberg

Question 33

how did the Nuremberg rallies play a role in Nazi culture?

Answer 33

it was a symbol of Nazi rule with large parades and swastikas everywhere many party leaders would make long propaganda speeches

Question 34

how many people could the Nuremberg rally ground hold?

Answer 34

100,000

Question 35

what was the name of Albert Speer's plans for Berlin?

Answer 35

Germania

Question 36

why was there a strong level of continuity in German cinema under the Nazis?

Answer 36

the large majority of German film studios were under the control of right-wing sympathisers ---> UFA

Question 37

what happened to Fritz Lang under the Nazis?

Answer 37

his work was banned BUT Goebbels offered him a job in Nazi cinema he refused and fled to Paris

Question 38

what were the three types of Nazi films?

Answer 38

overt propaganda pure escapism emotive nationalism

Question 39

example of overt propaganda

Answer 39

The Eternal Jew

Question 40

what did The Eternal Jew showcase?

Answer 40

it presented the Jewish people as rats scenes were shot in the Warsaw Ghetto which made the Jews look low life was incredibly racist

Question 41

example of emotive nationalism

Answer 41

Olympia Triumph of the Will

Question 42

what was Triumph of the Will about?

Answer 42

film about the 1934 Nuremberg rally showed Hitler in a patriotic and popular light

Question 43

in what ways did Nazi culture succeed?

Answer 43

promoted strong family values as well as feelings of nationalism

Question 44

in what ways did Nazi culture fail?

Answer 44

it did not lead to a distrinct Nazi culture which was different and influential on future German culture could argue that de-Nazification played a major part in tarnishing the legacy of Nazi culture