Propaganda And Artistic Material In Weimar Republic
When looking around at the word, some may say that there is an intrinsic and complex beauty regarding how earth looks or behaves. Some say the root of this beauty can be found in nature, while others say it can be found in actions and thought. However, manifestations of what is considered beautiful have taken many expressions depending on the creator. Many works throughout the ages are appraised and valued higher than other pieces of art, which leads to a deeper question. How does one define beauty? In the terms of an Old Proverb, “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder”. This familiar phrase explains that the value and worth of a particular creation is based off of the audience’s interpretation of the piece, and not the artists insight on producing the piece. This form of artistic segregation is based off of cultural influence that can be seen in the popular analysis of Weimar Germany’s media in the 1930’s and 1940’s.
Before the Third Reich in Germany, the general population was on the brink of acceptance of cultural diversity within the entire country of Germany. The governing body of Germany at the time known as the Weimar republic allowed the expansion of creative expression throughout the country that was not expressed under the monarchy that had governed the country before. In 1933 the possibility of this occurring began to vanish with the new rise of Adolf Hitler as the Chancellor of Germany. In 1934 Adolf Hitler names himself Fuhrer and the reign of Nazi Germany begins, leading to several laws and sanctions placed on the German community, including that of moderating and reviewing the art produced in the country.
In Detlev J. K Peukerts’ book Inside Nazi Germany Conformity, Opposition and Racism in Everyday Life, Detlev describes the situation present in Nazi Germany. Several laws, regulations and policies specifically targeted groups of the population in hopes to create the ideal and functioning general population, however the citizens more often than not either continued to evade the rules and regulations, or accepted the Nazi policies of repression, terrorism, and racism. Throughout the entire book, the use of media and artistic representation was well demonstrated in controlling the socially accepted norms found in Germany. The artistic community was governed by Adolf Hitler and the members of the National Socialist Society for German Culture. Much like all other aspects of Germany, Hitler made a criterion for art based off of what he considered to promote the Aryan race.
Most of the productions were based off the ideas he established when he attempted to be an artist back in Vienna Austria. This control of the media allowed the influence of the German culture through simply by only allowing the figures displayed to be in alignment of those of the leaders of the Nazi party. In the book Deltev describes aspect to which the media in a country is controlled by the population’s opinions. “’ Grumbling’ and the rumor system were thus indicator, not of an extensive ‘popular opinion’, but of the deep fragmentation of public opinion into district spheres: the controlled (and increasingly discredited) sphere of the Reich Ministry of Public Information and Propaganda; citizens’ outward attestations of loyalty within the public domain; the internal opinion-gathering processes of the authorities and Nazi organizations, and uncensored private conversations”
Deep political fragmentation occurred inside the country that influenced the production of opinions and cultures in a society where opposition was eradicated and a totalitarianism standpoint taken by the leadership. It may be easy to take a historical standpoint on the views of propaganda and artistic material inside of Nazi Germany, however the influences of art on a modern society are not simply limited to that of the Nazi regime. Media today is rigged full of ideas and concepts that challenge the thinking of those caught unaware of its grasp. A politically influenced message that exists in the visual, audial, and other sensory information can be easily forgotten and simply accepted as a society to be the required thinking method of the country. Much like Nazi Germany, artistic pieces continue to play an essential role in how we perceive the world, shaping and guiding how we operate simply by existing. Either positively accepted or culturally rejected, it continues to be what binds a nation together. In beauty or in destruction, it makes us unique.
