Artists for the Reich: Culture and Race from Weimar to Nazi Germany

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Description

While we often think about talented artists fleeing the clutches of the Nazi regime - forced out or sickened by the strictures placed upon them - we rarely consider those artists who willingly stayed behind. This is the first comprehensive treatment of the German Art Society, a group of artists, authors and right-wing activists who actively embraced Nazism. These artists have typically been dismissed as a lunatic fringe, but the author argues that they were in fact instrumental in battling modernist art in defense of what they regarded as the German cultural tradition. Drawing on previously neglected archival material, Clinefelter reveals cultural continuities that extend from the Wilhelmine Empire, through the Weimar Republic, into the Third Reich, and elucidates how theses artists promoted Nazi culture 'from below.' Rich in detail and highly readable, Artists for the Reich provides a more nuanced understanding of German culture under Nazism.

Reviews

'In the tradition of Fritz Stern, George Mosse, and Peter Paret, Joan Clinefelter offers a careful and creative analysis of an overlooked cultural figure (Bettina Feistel-Rohmeder) and situates her work as a voelkisch activist in a broader institutional and historical context. This original and fascinating book enhances our understanding of Weimar and Nazi culture, exploring many of the continuities, tensions, and contradictions that existed in the two periods.' Jonathan Petropoulos, Author of The Faustian Bargain: The Art World in Nazi Germany, Claremont McKenna College 'Artists for the Reich makes an important contribution to our understanding of how cultural politics was used as a right-wing mobilization tool in the Weimar Republic and in the Third Reich. It shows how the well-educated, middle and upper-middle-class "respectable" members of the German Art Society tried to promote a racist, antisemitic, and anti-democratic agenda. Particularly fascinating is Clinefelter's portrait of the Society's leader, Bettina Feistel-Rohmeder, whom historians will henceforth have to recognize as a significant right-wing figure of her era.' Alan E. Steinweis, University of Nebraska-Lincoln 'For specialists working on right-wing cultural politics in Germany, then, Clinefelter's study will undoubtedly be most interesting, and parts of the book could also be very useful and provocative in the context of undergraduate or graduate seimnars in German history.' James A. Van Dyke, Reed College 'It would be a benefit if this title was also published in German soon.' Das Historisch-Politische Buch, issue 3, 2007

Author Bio

Joan L. Clinefelter is Associate Professor of History at the University of Northern Colorado.