The Nazi regime in Germany actively promoted and censored forms of art between 1933 and 1945. Upon becoming dictator in 1933, Adolf Hitler gave his personal artistic preference the force of law to a degree rarely known before. In Germany, the model was to be classical Greek and Roman art, which Hitler saw as an art whose exterior form embodied an inner racial ideal.Grosshans 1983, p. 87 It was, furthermore, to be comprehensible to the average man.Richard Overy, The Dictators: Hitler's Germany, Stalin's Russia, p. 335. This art was to be both heroic and romantic. The Nazis viewed the culture of the Weimar period with disgust. Their response stemmed partly from conservative aesthetics and partly from their determination to use culture as propaganda.
Theory
As indicated by historian Henry Grosshans in his book Hitler and the Artists, Adolf Hitler, who came to power in 1933 (quote): "saw Greek and Roman art as uncontaminated by Jewish influences. Modern art was [perceived by him as] an act of aesthetic violence by the Jews against the German spirit. Such was true to Hitlerwrote Grosshanseven though only Liebermann, Meidner, Freundlich, and Marc Chagall, among those who made significant contributions to the German modernist movement, were Jewish. But Hitler ... took upon himself the responsibility of deciding who, in matters of culture, thought and acted like a Jew."Grosshans 1983, p. 86 The supposedly "Jewish" nature of art that was indecipherable, distorted, or that represented "depraved" subject matter was explained through the concept of degeneracy, which held that distorted and corrupted art was a symptom of an inferior race.
By propagating the theory of degenerate art, the Nazis combined their anti-Semitism with their drive to control the culture, thus consolidating public support for both campaigns.Barron 1991, p. 83 Their efforts in this regard were unquestionably aided by a popular hostility to Modernism that predated their movement.Frederic Spotts, Hitler and the Power of Aesthetics, p. 161. The view that such art had reflected Germany's condition and moral bankruptcy was widespread, and many artists acted in a manner to overtly undermine or challenge popular values and morality.Richard Overy, The Dictators: Hitler's Germany, Stalin's Russia, p. 358.
In July 1937, two officially sponsored exhibitions opened in Munich: Entartete Kunst, (the Degenerate Art Exhibition), displayed modern art in a deliberately chaotic installation accompanied by defamatory labels that encouraged the public to jeer; in contrast, the Große Deutsche Kunstausstellung (Great German art exhibition) made its premiere amid much pageantry. This exhibition, held at the palatial Haus der deutschen Kunst (House of German Art), displayed the work of officially approved artists such as Arno Breker and Adolf Wissel. "The audience entered the portals of the new museum, already dubbed "Palazzo Kitschi" and "Munich Art Terminal", to a stultifying display carefully limited to idealized German peasant families, commercial art nudes, and heroic war scenes, including not just a few works by jurist Ziegler himself."Nicholas.(1995).p.20 "...The show was essentially a flop, and attendance was low. Sales were even worse and Hitler ended up buying most of the works for the government." At the end of four months Entartete Kunst had attracted over two million visitors, nearly three and a half times the number that visited the nearby Grosse deutsche Kunstausstellung.
Historical background Startling changes in artistic styles characterized the early twentieth century. In the visual arts, such innovations as cubism, Dada and surrealism, following hot on the heels of Symbolism, post-Impressionism and Fauvism, were not universally appreciated. The majority of people in Germany, as elsewhere, did not care for the new art which many resented as elitist, morally suspect, and too often incomprehensible. Germany had become a major center of avant-garde art. It was the birthplace of Expressionism in painting and sculpture, the atonal musical compositions of Arnold Schoenberg, and the jazz-influenced work of Paul Hindemith and Kurt Weill. Robert Wiene's The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari and Fritz Lang's Metropolis brought expressionism to cinema.
Creation of the Reichskulturkammer In September 1933, the Reichskulturkammer (Reich Culture Chamber) was established, with Joseph Goebbels, Hitler's Reichsminister für Volksaufklärung und Propaganda (Reich Minister for Public Enlightenment and Propaganda), at its helm.Richard Overy, The Dictators: Hitler's Germany, Stalin's Russia, p. 361. Individual divisions in the Chamber of Culture for the Reich included: "press, radio, literature, movies, theater, music, and visual arts."Baez, 2004 pp. 211 "The purpose of this chamber was to stimulate the Aryanization of German culture and to prohibit, for example, atonal Jewish music, the blues, surrealism, cubism, and Dadaism."
Nazi cultural policy
By 1935, the Reich Culture Chamber had 100,000 members. Goebbels made clear that: "In the future, only those who are members of the chamber will be allowed to be productive in our cultural life. Membership is open only to those who fulfil the entrance condition. In this way, all unwanted and damaging elements have been excluded." Nonetheless, there was, during the period 1933–1934, some confusion within the Party on the question of Expressionism. Goebbels and some others believed that the forceful works of such artists as Emil Nolde, Ernst Barlach and Erich Heckel exemplified the Nordic spirit; as Goebbels explained, "We National Socialists are not un-modern; we are the carrier of a new modernity, not only in politics and in social matters, but also in art and intellectual matters." However, a faction led by Rosenberg despised Expressionism, leading to a bitter ideological dispute which was settled only in September 1934, when Hitler declared that there would be no place for modernist experimentation in the Reich.
Document No. 2030-PS: Decree Concerning the Duties of the Reich Ministry for Public Enlightenment and Propaganda of June 1933 stated that: "The Reich Minister of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda has jurisdiction over the whole field of spiritual indoctrination of the nation, of propagandizing the State, of cultural and economic propaganda, of enlightenment of the public at home and abroad; furthermore, he is in charge of the administration of all institutions serving these purposes".Document No. 2030-PS. Accessed Feb. 2014. Yale Law School. This increased the jurisdiction of the Reich Minister of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda to include "enlightenment in foreign countries; art; art exhibitions; moving pictures and sport abroad" ... [and increased jurisdiction in domestic] "Press (including the Institute for Journalism); Radio; National anthem; German Library in Leipzig; Art; Music (including the Philharmonic Orchestra); Theater; Moving Pictures; Campaign against dirty and obscene literature" ... Propaganda for tourism." Signed by The Reich Chancellor, Adolf Hitler.
Document No. 2078-PS: Decree concerning the establishment of the Reichs Ministry of Science, Education and Popular Culture of 1 May 1934 stated that: "The Chancellor of the Reich will determine the various duties of the Reich Ministry for Science, Education, and Popular Culture."Document No. 2078-PS. Accessed Feb. 2014. Yale Law School. Signed by The President of the Reich, von Hindenburg, and The Chancellor of the Reich, Adolf Hitler.
Document No. 1708-PS: The program of the NSDAP stated that: only members of the German race can be citizens (Jews, specifically, are denied citizenship), and that non-members of the race can only live in Germany as registered 'guests'. Point 23 stated: "We demand legal prosecution of artistic and literary forms which exert a destructive influence on our national life, and the closure of organizations opposing the above made demands".Document No. 1708-PS. Accessed Feb. 2014. Fordham University: The Jesuit University of New York.
Art theft
Nazis began plundering Jewish collections from 1933 in Germany with the Aryanization of Jewish art dealerships like that of Alfred Flechtheim and the transfer to non-Jewish owners. In each country occupied by the Nazis, including Austria, France, Holland and others, Jewish art collectors and art dealers were forced out of business and plundered as part of the Holocaust.
Later, as the occupiers of Europe, the Germans trawled the museums and private collections of Europe for suitably "Aryan" art to be acquired to fill a bombastic new gallery in Hitler's hometown of Linz. At first a pretense was made of exchanges of works (sometimes with Impressionist masterpieces, considered degenerate by the Nazis), but later acquisitions came through forced "donations" and eventually by simple looting.Conducting Research at the National Archives into Art Looting, Recovery, and Restitution by Ernest Latham, US National Archives
The purge of art in Germany and the occupied countries was extremely broad. The Nazi theft is considered to be the largest art theft in modern history, including paintings, furniture, sculptures, and anything in between considered either valuable or opposing Hitler's purification of German culture.
During the Second World War, art theft by German forces was devastating, and the resurfacing of missing stolen art continues today, along with the fight for rightful ownership. Not only did the Reich confiscate and reallocate countless masterpieces from occupied territories during the war, but it also auctioned off a large portion of Germany's collection of great art from museums and art galleries. In the end, the confiscation committees removed over 15,000 works of art from German public collections alone.
It took four years to "refine" the Nazi art criteria; in the end, what was tolerated was whatever Hitler liked and whatever was most useful to the German government for propaganda. A thorough head-hunting of artists in Germany was in effect from the beginning of the Second World War, including the elimination of countless artists. Museum directors who supported modern art were attacked; artists who refused to comply with Reich-approved art were forbidden to practise art altogether. To enforce the prohibition of practising art, agents of the Gestapo routinely made unexpected visits to artists' homes and studios. Wet brushes found during inspections, or even the smell of turpentine in the air, were reason enough for arrest. In response to the oppressive restrictions, many artists chose to flee Germany.
Before the impending war, and a time of simply looting occupied nations' art treasures, but during the Reich's efforts to free Germany of conflicting art, authorities of the Nazi party realized the potential revenue of Germany's own collection of art that was considered degenerate art, which was to be purged from German culture. The Reich began collecting and auctioning countless works of art. For example, "on June 30, 1939, a major auction took place at the elegant Grand Hotel National in the Swiss resort town of Lucerne". All of the paintings and sculptures had recently been on display in museums throughout Germany. This collection offered over 100 paintings and sculptures by numerous famous artists, such as Henri Matisse, Vincent van Gogh, and Pablo Picasso; all of which were considered "degenerate" pieces by Nazi authorities and were to be banished from Germany. An auction of this magnitude was viewed as suspicious by potential buyers, who feared that the profits would fund the Nazi Party: "The auctioneer had been so worried about this perception that he had sent letters to leading dealers assuring them that all profits would be used for German museums". In reality, all of the proceeds from the auction were deposited into "German-controlled accounts", and the museums "... as all had suspected, did not receive a penny".
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