Nazi Germany - Culture Flashcards
In Nazi Germany, culture was seen as…
a way of indoctrinating the population
What were the aims the Nazis wished to instill in culture
- anti-semitism
- miltarism
- nationalism & the glory of the Aryan race
- cult of the fuhrer
- anti-modernism
- create a profound & wonderful culture - Reichskulturkammer (RKK)
How did the Nazis achieve their aims in culture
-music
- Bach and Beethoven utilised as propaganda by the regime
- Jewish composers like Mendelssohn were banned
- New genres like jazz also banned
How did the Nazis achieve their aims in culture
-literature
- 2,500 of Germany’s writers left e.g. Thomas Mann, Erich Maria Remarque
- Burning of the books
- Classics read and put on in theatres
How did the Nazis achieve their aims in culture
-sport
- Sport encouraged for everyone
- Sculptors showed strong Aryans - 1936
- Olympics Germany won 89 medals, 33 gold but Jewish athletes were excluded
How did the Nazis achieve their aims in culture
-cinema
- Major film studios were Nazi sympathisers
- Overt propaganda - the Eternal Jew
- Pure escapism style, with subtle Nazi messages
- Leni Riefenstahl made Triumph of the Will about the Nazi party
Cinema
Nazi leaders commisioned popular….
- films & documentaries - in different styles, reflecting the different aspects of Nazi ideology
What film was made about Hitler & congress, and who was it written by
-Triumph of the will
-Leni Refenstahl
what was Goebbels view on propaganda
-films should have a subtle Nazi message, as otherwise it would be unattractive for the average cinema goer
How did the Nazis achieve their aims in culture
-censoring unacceptable culture
- Mass burning of the books - May 1933.
- Art, music and theatre censored (Jews/Expressionist/pacifism.)
- Reich Chamber of Culture supervised by the Propaganda Ministry
- New functionalism and Bauhaus style were censored.
What happened on the 10th May 1933
- With the help of the Nazi Student Organisation,
- the Nazis organised the mass burning of 25,000 books that were ‘unsound’
What books would have been considered ‘unsound’ in Nazi Germany
- Jewish authors
- Expressionism
- Pacifism
- intellectual written works of philosophy
- encouraging individualism or discouraging conformity
How did the Nazis achieve their aims in culture
-art & design (rejection)
- Modern schools of art disgraced
- Weimar culture rejected as degenerate
- George Grosz, Otto Dix and the Bauhuas style rejected
- Art exhibitions divided Into Degenerate art and Great German Art
How did the Nazis achieve their aims in culture
-art & design (acceptance)
- Most admired were:
- Sculptor Arno Breker
- Architect Albert Speer
- Olympic stadium - Stadium of Light
- Strength through Joy - museum monuments that reflected strength
What was the Nazi policy of Gleichshaltung
coordination - meant the Nazis wanted tight control over culture as well as education
What was the aim of Goebbels setting up the Reichskulturkammer (RKK)
- to control all of the creative arts
- stopping culture being ‘elitist’
- bringing it to everyone: the right sort of culture with the right sort of nationalist & approachable message
When was the Reichskulturkammer (RKK) set up by Goebbels
22 September 1933
What was the strength through joy movement
trips to the theatre, the opera and to art galleries and museums which promoted acceptable culture
What was Hitlers view on the architecture of Berlin
- believed Berlin was too cosmpolitan,
- its buildings too much like NYC, American architecture,
- reflecting the values of Capitalist greed
Nazis believed that most human beings were essentially ………….. Therefore, people were more likely to be moved by…………………………………….than they were by ………………………..
- irrational
- beautiful images, stirring music and brilliant films
- science or books of theory
what was the essential characteristic of the Aryan Race
- their capacity to create & advance culture
- through great works of art and whole cities full of sublime architecture
Nazi leaders genuinely believed that it was their mission as Aryan rulers to…
create the most profound and wonderful culture the world had ever seen
What did Hitler commission in 1837
- a grand architectural plan to remake Berlin,
- to turn it into a city fit for the ‘Aryan race’
- in which the architecture reflected its values of strength and heroism
Who was the head of the Grand Architectural plan to remake Berlin
Albert Speer
how did the Nazis perceive Weimar art
- different art forms and styles - evidence of weakness and degeneracy
- likened the distorted shapes of the modern paintings to the bodies of people with disabilities.
which other groups art did the Nazis condemn
- artists who had studied the art of Africa and Asia
- arguing that ‘Aryan’ artists had nothing to learn from the culture of “lesser races’
Descibe the features of Nazi art
- Nazi painting and sculpture was supposed to be ‘authentic’ rather than ‘degenerate’.
- It celebrated the male ‘Aryan’ physique.
- Muscular men, largely or wholly naked, engaged in intense physical activities
- Nazi style was ‘naturalistic’ and ‘idealistic’
What did Frick do in 1933 regarding art
- issued a decree stating that any art that did not reflect German values and themes would not be displayed in official galleries and could be destroyed
Before the end of 1933, …….&…….. were dismissed from their teaching posts and many gallery directors were sacked
Otto Dix & Paul Klee
In 1936 the Nazis completed their…..
purge of the old art by confiscating all ‘degenerate’ art from German museums.
