The Nazification of Popular Culture Through Propaganda

The Nazis believed that the Weimar cultural boom was representative of a slip in moral standards. Artistic individualism was an enemy to the Nazis, which should be eradicated. Hitler felt only Aryans were capable of producing true art. Nazi policy promoted art which glorified their ideological cause. FUN FACT!

During the Weimar period, new types of music flourished, such as Jazz and Swing. Nazi ministers denounced foreign music as it ran counter to the principle of Volksgemeinschaft. Music was given its own subdivision within the Ministry of Propaganda and Enlightenment, and it was tasked with controlling music production, while promoting Nazi approved music. Works by German – Jewish composers were banned, whilst “Volkisch – operas” were actively encouraged. Nazis encouraged music festivals, such as the Bayreuth Festival, which celebrated Volkmusich. Music was especially important for rousing patriotism at Nazi values. Carl Orff, a young composer, was comissioned to compose music for the 1936 Olympic Games. FUN FACT!

The German Olympic committee, in accordance with Nazi directives, virtually barred Germans who were Jewish or Roma or had such an ancestry from participating in the Games. Nazis promoted the idea that the use of sports would harden the German spirit and instil unity among German youth. At the same time he also believed that sports was a "way to weed out the weak, Jewish, and other undesirables.”

Goebbels and Hitler were avid film watchers, and saw the potential of film as a propaganda medium. Here is an example of a Nazi propaganda film:

In May 1933, 2 months after the Nazis came to power, there was a book burning ceremony in Berlin, where over 20,000 books were burnt. This mass scapegoating of certain publications gave the Nazis conviction in their banning of literature, and the introduction of their propaganda riddled replacements. Most favoured novels were ones featuring comradeship in the trenches or portrayed traditional values. FUN FACT!

Weimar experimentation in drama was halted by the Nazis. Famous playwrights and directors left the country, approved drama was concentrated on historical Germanic successes, or “blood and soil” stories. The “Strength through joy” programme organised the construction of new subsidised theatres for these new propaganda riddled institutions