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The Reichskulturkammer (The Reich Chamber of Culture) was created by the Minister for Propaganda, Joseph Goebbels. Its role was to regulate newspapers, literature, radio, cinema, theatre, and other art forms such as sculpture or paintings.
All cultural expression needed to promote or comply with Nazi Ideals. Individuals working in these fields needed to have membership with the Reichskulturkammer and have proof of Aryan heritage.
Nazi attempts to ban non-Aryan art has been shown by the book burnings, and by 1939 over 2500 authors had fled the country. Literature was heavily censored, but other forms of art were criticised as decadent, Bolshevist, or semitic. Modern Art was heavily criticised in favour of “neo-classical” art (realistic art that resembles Greek and Roman statues). Theatre, film and music was treated similarly. Even architecture had a neo-classical style imposed upon it.
In 1937 an exhibition called Entartete Kunst (Degenerate Art) was created and was described as portraying “monstrosities of madness, impudence, of inability, and degeneration”(Adolf Zeifler, painter). Art, according to Nazi ideals was supposed promote racial purity and Heimat (love of homeland). This approved art was shown at The Great German Art Exhibition at the same time as the degenerate exhibition. Ironically, the degenerate exhibition attracted far more visitors.
Further Reading: Modern History Transformed pg 75
Further Reading: Modern History Transformed pg 75
Source 1
Great Exhibition of German Art catalogue cover, 1937 (left) and Entartete Kunst (Degenerate Art) exhibition, catalogue cover, 1937 (right)
Source 2
“Degenerate Music” poster from a Nazi exhibition, 1938
Question to focus on for your mindmap: Explain the role of the Reichskulturkammer in regulating cultural expression within Nazi Germany.
Question to focus on for your mindmap: Explain the role of the Reichskulturkammer in regulating cultural expression within Nazi Germany.
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