Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of Illustrations
- Acknowledgments
- Introduction
- Part I Foundations of Nazi Cultural History
- Part II Blind to the Light
- Part III Modern Dilemmas
- Part IV “Holy” War and Weimar “Crisis”
- Part V Nazi “Solutions”
- 16 “Honor your German Masters”
- 17 The Nazi “Renaissance”
- 18 Kultur at War
- Conclusion
- Notes
- Index
17 - The Nazi “Renaissance”
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 October 2012
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of Illustrations
- Acknowledgments
- Introduction
- Part I Foundations of Nazi Cultural History
- Part II Blind to the Light
- Part III Modern Dilemmas
- Part IV “Holy” War and Weimar “Crisis”
- Part V Nazi “Solutions”
- 16 “Honor your German Masters”
- 17 The Nazi “Renaissance”
- 18 Kultur at War
- Conclusion
- Notes
- Index
Summary
It is likely that Hitler did believe that by “starting with an easy mind from the good achievements of past generations” his revolution would bring about a “renaissance of humanity.” Having established a bulwark against the erosion of tradition, he asserted that he was “convinced that, after a few years under National Socialist leadership of the state and nation, Germans will produce much more and greater work in the cultural domain than has been accomplished during the recent decades of the Jewish regime.” Seen from the perspective of Nazism as a cultural movement – as much as a political one – the task of bringing about such a renaissance might have been regarded as its highest measure of success. That Goebbels subscribed to this view is revealed in his remarks at the inauguration of the Reich Cultural Chamber: “no reproach struck us so deeply in the past,” Goebbels said, “than the assertion that National Socialism is a form of spiritual barbarism and is certain to lead ultimately to the destruction of the cultural life of our Volk.” But contrary to this assertion, he insisted, “it is we who have freed the creative powers of the German nation again, that they may develop unhindered and generate rich fruits on the tree of a renewed national character.” Under Nazi leadership, a “new national art of Germany will enjoy the respect of the world,” and will thereby “provide evidence that the Great German Awakening was not purely political, but was a cultural one as well.”
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- InhumanitiesNazi Interpretations of Western Culture, pp. 383 - 401Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2012