War Art 34: Nazi Kultur

The Nazis not only burned books, they also banned numerous German artists from hanging their works. In a very showy fashion, the Nazis banned the "degenerate" art of some 93 artists (including such recognized greats as Marc Chagall, Max Ernst, Wassily Kandinsky, Paul Klee, and Piet Mondrian.) If you've heard anything about Nazi kultur, you may have wanted to see just what kind of "degenerate" art the Nazi regime expelled and what kind of "heroic" art they promoted. Here are some 250 examples of both. This is not meant to glorify Nazi art, nor to denigrate it. It is simply a collection for the curious. For music we have "Hojotoho! Hojotoho!" from Die Walküre, an opera by one of Hitler's favorite composers, Richard Wagner. Then comes the German national anthem, "Das Deutschlandlied" (The Song of Germany), by Joseph Haydn.

Category:

Entertainment

Tags:

• art
• war
• paintings
• world
• ii
• Germany
• Nazi
• Hitler

[sisco249]

Wagner was a diehard racist! He was also Hitler's favourite composer. So why in the hell pay tribute to a scumbag like Wagner? Seig Heil!

[bestjonbon]

Hi, sisco249. And Shirley Temple was his favorite Hollywood star.  Would you give up Shirley Temple movies because Hitler liked them? Art should be judged on its merits, not the politics of its makers or fans.

[walterglanz]

Can we please dispense with the cliche juxtaposition of Wagnerian opera music with anything to do with Hitler? Wagner opera was de-Nazified after WWII by Wagner's grandchildren.

[bestjonbon]

I happen to like Wagner. Always have. And I'm no Nazi. Can we please accept good music for what it is? :-)

[ZzzannizzZ]

what an amazing collection thanks for taking the time fabulous!

[bestjonbon]

You are most welcome!

[funboy7979]

@walterglanz Thank you. It is the laziest and most banal copycat choice to use Wagner as accompaniment to all things Nazi. Boring.

[lolcatish]

"My spirit will rise from the grave and every one will see i was right"

Great adolf Hitler-1945

[krayzeejojo]

@laserthebeam1 I consider it beautiful myself too, don't get me wrong. However, it was NOT a TRUE representation of German art. The Nazi's interpretation of art showed no connection to the history of Germany, and therefore made Nazi-accepted art a complete joke. Hitler's delusions got the best of him in this case once again, as it usually did with all his other false beliefs. Just my thoughts.

[lolcatish]

This should be the anthem of the aryan race

[HomogeneousEurope]

Modernism is kike promoted trash. The Nazis saw what was happening to art.

[krayzeejojo]

It's sad how exciting movements like Expressionism and Bauhaus came from within German borders, yet the Nazi's banned them because they believed the boring style of Romantic Realism (which was from another country and from a different era) was what was considered "true art" because there was an "Aryan connection" between that and German blood. Bunch of idiots.

[MelWK]

Great video, thanks a lot! I particularly like the pic on at 9:04 - who's the author, please?

And I don't mind about Wagner's music at all (I'm Jew).

[BurningWicky1]

i like wagner and this is the good version as well, like everything hitler misused wagners music and the wagner familie was happy to allow him too (hitler came to visit them frequently and even rumours tht hitler had a crush on mrs wagner)

the nazi art is more beatiful then i first thoughed it would be, some pieces are really good if you like the topic matter and the style,

talking about cliches everytime i hear wagners valikry i think of Apocalypse Now...

[thumby1212]

Great collection! It's a shame that you didn't include the title and artist for each...