9.3 A&B How Were The Arts And Culutre Of Germany Affected By The Nazis? Flashcards
(10 cards)
1
Q
Who was the Chamber of Culture led by
A
Joseph Goebbels
2
Q
What was the Chamber of Culture
A
- ruled that all cultural activities (art, film, theatre, music) has to give the same pro Nazi message
- all musicians, writers and artists had to be members and anyone who refused would not be allowed to work
- Jewish people were not allowed to be members
3
Q
How were films affected by Nazi Germany
A
- Nazi supporters such as Alfred Hugenberg owned film studios so the Nazis had direct influence over which films were made
- Goebbels read and approved all film scripts. German soldiers were shown as heroes while Jews were portrayed as evil
- a news report of Hitler’s achievements was always shown before the main film
- gave the message of extreme patriotism, racism and antisemitism
4
Q
What was an example of a Nazi propaganda film
A
- 1940 film Suss the Jew
- heavily antisemitic, portrays a Jewish businessman as both a rapist and a torturer
- box office hit with 20 million viewers
5
Q
How did Goebbels control music
A
- music should be German or Austrian
- marching music, old folk songs and classical music by Bach, Beethoven, Mozart and Wagner were popular
- Jewish composers like Mahler and Mendelssohn were banned
- Jazz music was banned because of its origins among the Black people of America
6
Q
How did Goebbels control theatre
A
- before the Nazis took over, they set up the Militant League for German Culture that protested against more modern plays that they didn’t approve of
- eg Kurt Weill’s The Threepenny Opera contained lots of jazz music and was banned by the Nazis as soon as they took power
- Nazis ruled that plays should be mostly focused on German history and politics, some ‘older’ playwrights like Goethe and Schiller could be performed
- they banned cabaret clubs where songs about sex and politics were common
7
Q
How did Goebbels control literature
A
- created a list of banned books
- Mein Kampf was the best-selling book
- Goebbels encouraged books about race, glory of war and brilliance of the Nazis
- Erich Remarque’s anti-war novel All Quiet on the Western Front was banned
- between 1933 and 1945, 2500 writers left Germany including Thomas Mann who wrote Magic Mountain
8
Q
How was art controlled in Nazi Germany
A
- Hitler hated modern art and referred to it as ‘degenerate’
- 1936: Nazis publicly burned 5000 paintings they disapproved of
- 1937: put on an exhibition of unacceptable art and one with officially approved paintings
- Nazis wanted art to be simple and understandable: should shown happy, heroic German figures or ‘pure’ German families or Hitler in heroic poses
9
Q
How did the Nazis influence design
A
- Hitler did not approve of Bauhaus movement and closed the movement down in 1933
- its founder fled to Germany and remained in exile for the next 30 years
- Hitler favoured huge, stone structures that were copies of buildings from Ancient Greece or Rome
10
Q
How did the Nazis influence sport and leisure
A
- sport used to promote Nazi regime, health was important to Nazi culture
- 1936: Olympics held in Berlin and Nazis used it as an opportunity to show the world how splendid Nazi Germany was
- antisemitic posters and newspapers were stopped, games were wildly popular
- Germans came on top of the medals table, Hitler claimed this showed that the German race was superior to others
