HOW AND WHY DID THE NAZIS CHANGE GERMAN CULTURE?

What is Culture Culture refers to activities like Art, Literature, cinema, music, theatre, radio, film, architecture. The Nazis wanted culture to reflect Nazi ideas – nationalism and Aryan superiority, the Hitler Myth, rejection of Christian ideas, Volksgemeinschaft

The Book Burnings On 10 May 1933 Goebbels and SS tore thousands of books out of the central library in Berlin and burned them in the streets. Books by Marxists, Jews, socialists and pacifists were all consigned to the flames This act of barbarity set the tome for cultural life in Nazi Germany

How Did Goebbels Control Art and Culture? Goebbels wanted culture to be little more than propaganda. To control culture he set up the Reich Chamber of Culture to control what art and culture was allowed Unless you were a member of the Chamber of Culture your work could never be published. Jews and political opponents were banned The Chamber of Culture was divided into 7 sections for; art, music, theatre, press, radio, literature and film

“Aryan Art” The Art and Culture the Nazis approved of was called ‘Aryan Art’ The Nazis believed that only Aryans were capable of producing real Art Aryan Art reflected and promoted Nazi propaganda ideas and was very traditional in its form and had to be easy to understand Cultural figures approved of by the Nazis included the composer Wagner and the film director Leni Riefenstahl

Degenerate Art Art/Culture the Nazis hated they called ‘degenerate art’. To degenerate means to decay or go rotten. The Nazis believed degenerate Art would rot away at the principles of the Peoples Community Art/Culture produced by Jewish, Marxist, socialist or modern artists was seen as degenerate and therefore banned The Nazis HATED therefore the cultural revival of the Weimar Republic The Nazis conserved one exhibition of ‘degenerate art’ to ridicule modern and abstract art Art that was abstract, thought provoking, modern or critical of Nazi ideas was seen as degenerate

Cultural Life Hundreds of artists and cultural figures fled Nazi Germany German cultural life became just predictable propaganda There was no artistic freedom in Nazi Germany The Nazis believed in ‘correct’ expression rather than ‘free’ expression