Art, ideology, & economics in Nazi Germany

En savoir plus sur le livre

From 1933 to 1945, the Reich Chamber of Culture significantly impacted German artists and entertainers, encompassing various sectors like music, theater, and visual arts. This organization, which included hundreds of thousands of professionals, influenced millions of amateur artists and musicians. Alan Steinweis's study delves into the complex interactions among leading Nazi figures, cultural functionaries, and ordinary artists, challenging the notion that the German artistic establishment was entirely at the mercy of a totalitarian regime. He posits that this view oversimplifies the reality, failing to recognize continuities in the cultural agenda from the Weimar Republic to the Nazi era and misjudging the relationship between officialdom and the cultural elite. Steinweis explores the political, professional, and economic conditions that shaped artists' experiences, detailing how cultural policies were formulated in the interests of specific stakeholders. He addresses critical issues such as work creation, social insurance, and minimum wage statutes, which remained priorities for artists before and after the Nazis came to power. By examining the economic and professional context of cultural life, Steinweis sheds light on the responses of German artists to cultural Gleichschaltung and elucidates their widespread acquiescence to censorship and racial and political purification.