Berlin Olympics

The Nazis also used sport as a form of propaganda. The government co-ordinated the sporting bodies under a Reich's sports Fuhrer.  The Hitler youth and DAF organised various activities for the masses. Activities which would help develop fit bodies for that of a soldier or child bearer. 

A poster for the advertising of the games.

In 1936 the government made a greater effort to ensure that sporting propaganda was a success. The Berlin games should of been held in 1916 when the stadium was ready, but instead was put back to 1936 and construction re-started on a Modernist style of stadium. Because Hitler disliked this 'glass box' and insisted on something on a gigantic scale. The existing steel structure was covered in stone to also create a memorial to fallen soldiers to link militarianism with sport; it was out of spirit with the Olympics; Hitler said "he who wishes to live must also fight. And he who will not strive in this world of struggle does not deserve the gift of life."

To Hitler the Olympics were a chance to show physical superiority of the Germans as the master race, there organisational skills and enhance the countries international status. While there was international visitors the level of anti-Semitic propaganda was reduced and the emphasis was on international instead of individual competition. 

 A photograph taken from the Games. 

Max Schmeling's success as a heavyweight boxer, who knocked out Joe Louis in New York in 1936 was used further to demonstrate Nazi supremacy. Football however wasn't Germany's strongest game and wasn't able to match Italy's triumph of winning the world cup. But overall the games meant a rise in Germany's status and they managed to get the English to give the Nazi solute before the 1938 game; giving them a boost. And for those 2 weeks in August 1936; Adolf Hitler's Dictatorship covered its racist, militaristic character; calming down on it anti-Semitic agenda and plans for territorial expansion. Allowing the games to dazzle many foreign spectators and journalists with a peaceful and tolerant Germany illusion. 

Cultural propaganda; Paintings...

Hitler was very interested in paintings and in 1828 Alfred Rosenberg set up the combat league for German culture, once in power Hitler began to remove any work he say was ‘degenerate’ or corrupt. To make wake for ‘healthy’ Aryan art, this portrayed the Nazi ideology and message. Others had wider artistic taste but in 1936 Hitler’s views were imposed.

Modern, abstract, reflective art that had become popular in the Weimar Republic was replaced by clear visuals that ordinary Germans could understand and could be inspired by.  Nazi art was to be clear, direct and heroic. This meant people were not drawn as real individuals but instead as heroic idealisations (the healthy peasant, the brave warrior, the productive woman for examples). All the while Hitler was portrayed as the ‘wise, imperious leader’.

example of abstract work of the time
that was seen as degenerate and disturbing.

Landscapes, revealing sources of the Volk and rural life, predominated, followed by nude women to display biological purity. Even though they were superficially realistic compared to the much hated abstract art, it didn’t reflect the real world so much as the Nazi ideology and myths.

Hitler saw that art should be of the masses; in both terms of reflecting popularity and to reach mass audiences. This therefore made this form of propaganda effective; as the state had control over what was produced and how it was spread through-out Germany. All working artists had to become members of the ‘Reich Culture Chamber’ and the state could remove licences to teach, exhibit or paint by issuing a ‘Malverbot’.

There were lots of well-attended local and national exhibitions throughout this period, in 1935 over 120 exhibitions were held in factories and in 1941 there were over 1000 art exhibitions overall.  Many paintings were reproduced full scale or for postcards, stamps, in journals or newspapers. One magazine had over 50,000 prints ran over its course.

Lehmann-Haupt said that everyone was ‘continuously exposed to some form of officially sponsored art activity’ but looking at it from an artistic viewpoint it shows how German art degenerated under the Third Reich into masses of stereotypical images. This was because many of the greatest artists had left the country. Or went into internal exile meaning they stayed in Germany but stopped working as an artist.