Today in class 10 we discussed art and culture in Nazi Germany. After the NSDAP took full control of Germany in 1933, the Nazis launched a campaign against what they called ‘degenerate’ art. This was mostly modern art, but also included works produced by artists who were not Aryan or who had ‘wrong’ political affiliations.

For example, the Nazis loved and promoted classical music by famous ‘Germanic’ composers such as Bach and Beethoven, but banned music by Jewish composers such as Mahler, although it was a similar style. The Nazis also banned Jazz music as it was modern, American and had its roots in the African-American community.

In general, the Nazis preferred traditional art styles, such as Romantic paintings and Neoclassical architecture, and hated modernity. Art was only allowed when it talked about German history, the greatness of the German people and promoted Nazi ideals. All artists in Germany had to become a member of the Reich Chamber of Culture (Reichskulturkammer) and their new works hard to be approved before they could be published or displayed.

How did the German public react to all these changes? It is hard to say as speaking out and possessing banned art or books was dangerous, but the Nazis themselves created the perfect opportunity in 1937. The Nazi party organised two large art exhibitions at the same time: The ‘Great German Art Exhibition’ and the ‘Degenerate Art Exhibition’. The goal of these exhibitions was to show the greatness of classical German art and ridicule modern ‘degenerate’ art. It also contained descriptions promoting the idea that modernism was part of the ‘Jewish-Bolshevist conspiracy’.

Ironically, the ‘Degenerate Art Exhibition’ attracted way more visitors, almost four times as much. This was partly due to the ‘hype’ and the fact that people wanted to look at ‘scandalous’ art, but also many modern art lovers visited and admired modern art for possibly the last time. Hitler had unintentionally created a popular modern art exhibition and promoted it more than anyone before him. 

Originally posted on Instagram on January 19, 2022