June 2013 12 mark questions: Explain how the Nazi Regime used the arts and the media as a means
of control in Germany between 1933 and 1939.
German culture life during the Third Reich was seen as yet another means of achieving
indoctrination. In 1933, Hitler set up the Reich Chamber of Culture under the leadership of Goebbels
in order to gain control over the media and all cultural activities.
As part of its policy of co-ordination the Nazi state tried to gain control over the media and all
cultural activities. Goebbels supervised a vast machinery for control of all aspects of the media.
Arguably the most important new tool of Nazi propaganda was the radio. Goebbels considered the
radio “the most modern and most important instrument of mass influence.” He brought the
different radio organisations into a centralised and state-controlled Reich Radio Company. The
manufacture of cheap radios which cost only 35 RM meant that ownership of sets increased from 25
per cent of households in 1932 to 70 per cent by 1939. The new radios had a limited range so that
they would only pick up the German stations that the Nazis controlled. Priority was given to political
broadcasts, which Hitler made 50 of in 1933 alone, which created the impression of personal contact
between the people and their leader. Frequent exposure to the airwaves greatly enhanced Hitler’s
personal popularity. Communal loudspeakers were put up in factories, cafes, offices, restaurants and
streets.
The regime also exercised administrative control over the press through the Reich Press Chamber,
under Amann and the overall press chief, Otto Dietrich. It rigorously controlled all those involved,
including journalists, editors and publishers, through compulsory membership of co-ordinating
bodies. The Reich Press Chamber included the Reich Association of the German Press which kept a
register of acceptable editors and journalists. In October 1933 a law made editors responsible for
infringements of government directives. Decrees were issued suspending publications and it was
treason to spread false news and rumours. The RMVP controlled the content of the press through
the state controlled press agency which provided roughly half the content of newspapers. Control
was exercised by extending Nazi ownership of the press. The Nazi Party’s publishing house, Eher
Verlag, gradually took over, directly or indirectly, most of the press. Nazi ownership of the media
grew from 3 per cent in 1933 to 69 per cent in 1939.
The state exercised increasing control both over film and the content of films. The Reich Film
Chamber regulated the content of both German made and imported films. Goebbels made himself
responsible for approving every film made in Germany. During the regime over one thousand
feature films were produced, with only about one-sixth being overtly propagandist. However, love
stories and other films had subliminal Nazi messages. Hitler commissioned Leni Riefenstahl to make
detailed recordings of rallies and festivals. Her most famous films were Triumph of the Will, about
the 1934 Nuremburg rallies and Olympia, about the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin. Films were
probably more effective in keeping support for the regime than in indoctrinating people with
Nazism. The need for entertainment took priority. The more subtle films were more effective though
newsreels were effectively used, being shown before all fictional films. They were used to convey
key Nazi messages, especially that of Hitler as a man apart, willing to sacrifice himself for the good of
the nation.
Hitler took great interest in art and painting and once in power, Hitler had begun to remove
‘degenerate’ art and foster healthy Aryan art. Modern, reflective, abstract art, which had flourished
of control in Germany between 1933 and 1939.
German culture life during the Third Reich was seen as yet another means of achieving
indoctrination. In 1933, Hitler set up the Reich Chamber of Culture under the leadership of Goebbels
in order to gain control over the media and all cultural activities.
As part of its policy of co-ordination the Nazi state tried to gain control over the media and all
cultural activities. Goebbels supervised a vast machinery for control of all aspects of the media.
Arguably the most important new tool of Nazi propaganda was the radio. Goebbels considered the
radio “the most modern and most important instrument of mass influence.” He brought the
different radio organisations into a centralised and state-controlled Reich Radio Company. The
manufacture of cheap radios which cost only 35 RM meant that ownership of sets increased from 25
per cent of households in 1932 to 70 per cent by 1939. The new radios had a limited range so that
they would only pick up the German stations that the Nazis controlled. Priority was given to political
broadcasts, which Hitler made 50 of in 1933 alone, which created the impression of personal contact
between the people and their leader. Frequent exposure to the airwaves greatly enhanced Hitler’s
personal popularity. Communal loudspeakers were put up in factories, cafes, offices, restaurants and
streets.
The regime also exercised administrative control over the press through the Reich Press Chamber,
under Amann and the overall press chief, Otto Dietrich. It rigorously controlled all those involved,
including journalists, editors and publishers, through compulsory membership of co-ordinating
bodies. The Reich Press Chamber included the Reich Association of the German Press which kept a
register of acceptable editors and journalists. In October 1933 a law made editors responsible for
infringements of government directives. Decrees were issued suspending publications and it was
treason to spread false news and rumours. The RMVP controlled the content of the press through
the state controlled press agency which provided roughly half the content of newspapers. Control
was exercised by extending Nazi ownership of the press. The Nazi Party’s publishing house, Eher
Verlag, gradually took over, directly or indirectly, most of the press. Nazi ownership of the media
grew from 3 per cent in 1933 to 69 per cent in 1939.
The state exercised increasing control both over film and the content of films. The Reich Film
Chamber regulated the content of both German made and imported films. Goebbels made himself
responsible for approving every film made in Germany. During the regime over one thousand
feature films were produced, with only about one-sixth being overtly propagandist. However, love
stories and other films had subliminal Nazi messages. Hitler commissioned Leni Riefenstahl to make
detailed recordings of rallies and festivals. Her most famous films were Triumph of the Will, about
the 1934 Nuremburg rallies and Olympia, about the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin. Films were
probably more effective in keeping support for the regime than in indoctrinating people with
Nazism. The need for entertainment took priority. The more subtle films were more effective though
newsreels were effectively used, being shown before all fictional films. They were used to convey
key Nazi messages, especially that of Hitler as a man apart, willing to sacrifice himself for the good of
the nation.
Hitler took great interest in art and painting and once in power, Hitler had begun to remove
‘degenerate’ art and foster healthy Aryan art. Modern, reflective, abstract art, which had flourished
