1938: Nazi Cultural Policy

Art and culture served an important propaganda function under National Socialism, and were under strict state control. The Reich Chamber of Culture, which was part of Joseph Goebbels’ Reich Ministry of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda, determined the guidelines for all cultural production; there were professional chambers for music, theatre, fine arts, literature, film, radio, and the media. “Non-Aryan” people were prohibited from becoming members of the Reich Chamber of Culture, which amounted to a de facto employment ban. In terms of content, Nazi cultural policy was characterised above all by the rejection of modernity. Modern art was defamed as “Jewish” and “degenerate”, most evident in the exhibition Entartete Kunst (Degenerate Art), which was shown in Munich in 1937 and, after the “Anschluss” (“annexation”), in Austrian cities as well.  

External Resources (in German only):

https://www.geschkult.fu-berlin.de/e/db_entart_kunst/index.html