The Munich Thread

Discussions on the propaganda, architecture and culture in the Third Reich.
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Keir
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Re: The Munich Thread

#541

Post by Keir » 27 Feb 2014, 18:35

Frederic Spotts in Hitler and the Power of Aesthetics (163-165) argues the complete opposite:

"In a mere two weeks between 600 and 700 works from around Germany were seized, dispatched to Munich and hung. The show opened on 19 July 1937 with some 650 works by 112 'art stutterers' from thirty-two public museums on display. It included examples from all the major schools of German painting and sculpture- Expressionism, Verism, Abstraction, Bauhaus, Dada, New Objectivity- and all the major artists. Although he had inspected the collection beforehand, Hitler did not deign to put in a public appearance once the exhibition opened. But he inaugurated it vicariously the day before in a raging speech. '...The end of madness in German art and, with it, the cultural destruction of our people has begun,' he proclaimed. 'From this moment we shall conduct a merciless war against the remnants of our cultural disintegration.' On he sputtered, reviling 'the cliques of chatterboxes, dilettantes and art swindlers.'

Like enemy prisoners being thrown to the lions in the Colosseum, the victims were to be seen and mocked by the crowd before being consumed. The show was deigned to demonstrate that Modernist art was not simply ugly, indecent and deranged but that it also directly assaulted traditional social mores by disparaging motherhood, military heroism, religion and whatever was healthy, clean and chaste.Hitler's criteria- post1910 German works- were generally followed, though stretched to include such adoptive Germans as Chagall and Jawlensky, and two non-Germans., Mondrian and Munch. The work by the good Nordic Munch caused such ideological indigestion that after a few days the room where it hung was closed. The paintings, presented in a way to heighten ridicule, were not so much displayed as plastered helter-skelter on the walls, though this may have resulted partly from the haste with which the show was assembled. To leave no doubt about their iniquity, the works were labelled with such propagandistic slogans as 'madness becomes a method', 'nature as seen by sick minds' and 'a insult to German womanhood.' Ensuring that no one could have the slightest doubt about the iniquity of the works, it is said that actors were sent to the exhibit to make raucous fun of what they saw.

It was the biggest blockbuster show of all time. Hitler ordered that entry should be without charge and encouraged the public to attend. And attend it did. One million people went in the first six weeks alone and more than two million in the remaining six months in Munich. Another million or so saw the exhibition when it travelled to twelve other cities between February 1938 and April 1941. By all accounts spectators went to bury, not to praise. 'It became increasingly obvious to me that most people had come to see the exhibition with the intention of disliking everything,' it was later commented. Some non-Nazis, some non-Germans also applauded. A Boston art critic commented, 'There are probably plenty of people- art lovers- in Boston, who will side with Hitler in this particular purge.' The Fuehrer was enormously pleased with the popular response. It appeared to prove his point that Modernism was an elitist phenomenon that had lost meaning for the great mass of the public. It further seemed to support his belief in 'the people as the judge of art.' So gratified was he, in fact, that at his direction a pamphlet with illustrations of the works accompanied by hostile commentary was published and widely circulated. He had achieved his purpose. The event was a stunning demonstration of his power to crush what he opposed. In so doing, he brought to an end the most exciting school of painting and sculpture in modern German history."

By the way, I highly recommend Godfrey Barker's lecture "Hitler's Art War" in which he argues (pretty persuasively to me) that WWII broke out due to Hitler's obsession with art, using Napoleon as his inspiration: http://iai.tv/video/hitler-s-art-war

I took my students to Berlin last year and the Deutsches Historisches Museum had a miniature recreation of the exhibition's layout:
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ghostsoldier
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Re: The Munich Thread

#542

Post by ghostsoldier » 27 Feb 2014, 21:08

Ahh...now I see where that sentiment of 'popularity' comes from....thanks for the clarification, Kier. :wink:
Rob
"Even God cannot change the past. "
-Agathon (448 BC - 400 BC)


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Keir
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Re: The Munich Thread

#543

Post by Keir » 28 Feb 2014, 13:14

Of course, an half-century earlier Shirer described the exhibition as an humiliating failure:

" In another part of the city in a ramshackle gallery that had to be reached through a narrow stairway was an exhibition of ”degenerate art” which Dr. Goebbels had organised to show the people what Hitler was rescuing them from. It contained a splendid selection of modern paintings – Kokoschka, Chagall and expressionist and impressionist works. The day I visited it, after panting through the sprawling House of German Art, it was crammed, with a long line forming down the creaking stairs and out into the street. In fact, the crowds besieging it became so great that Dr. Goebbels, incensed and embarrassed, soon closed it."

(217) Rise And Fall Of The Third Reich

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Geoff Walden
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Re: The Munich Thread

#544

Post by Geoff Walden » 01 Apr 2014, 20:24

odeon wrote:Ok guys, here are the addresses,

iron work swasticas: landshuter alle 49

door frame is at Klugstrasse 166 by olympia park, the building is pretty crazy it has alot of astrological, masonic, and third reich stuff over each door, in most cases, the swasticas have been scratched out, the pic i showed was the only one that had been preserved.
I was in Munich over the weekend and visited Klugstrasse 166 and Landshuter Allee 49. All the symbols are gone now. The iron window bars at Landshuter Allee 49 appear to have been very recently replaced, similar style, but the swastikas are completely disguised - no swastika shape now.

There are two similar buildings on Klugstrasse, in the 160s and 170s blocks. I walked all around both of these buildings, and I didn't see any of these door lintel decorations at all. Keir showed a BUNCH of these in a later post, and there are lots of door lintels on three sides of each building, but no symbols or decorations left. Most looked like they had been chipped out (but this appeared to have been years ago). The door lintels at Nr. 166 and adjacent appeared to have been recently plastered over. So nothing to see now (unless I missed some other building around there).

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Keir
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Re: The Munich Thread

#545

Post by Keir » 16 Apr 2014, 14:42

Another thing, Geoff, that appears to be well-disguised now is the Erding reichsadler you have on your site. Cycled 20km to the stadtpark and spent another hour aimlessly trying to find a public building featuring one. Lovely park though; might take the kid this weekend to see the animals.

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Keir
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Re: The Munich Thread

#546

Post by Keir » 20 Apr 2014, 11:39

Apparently on September 29, 2012 a rented room in the Musikhochschule (former Fuehrerbau where the Munich Agreement had been signed, of course) was allowed to be decorated in slightly-defaced Nazi flags as part of an event entitled "Klassenkampf statt Weltkrieg":
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Makarov
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Re: The Munich Thread

#547

Post by Makarov » 09 May 2014, 10:32

I just got back from Munich and wonder what has happen to the memorial tablet on the ground in front of Odeonplatz commemorating the four policemen that was killed during the clash with the Nazis.

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Re: The Munich Thread

#548

Post by Geoff Walden » 09 May 2014, 15:55

Hi Makarov,

That plaque was removed a few years ago ... I really have no idea why.

There is now a much smaller plaque on the wall of the Residenz, not exactly opposite the Feldherrnhalle but a little out into the platz - a little to the left of the closest doorway there. (There are often cafe tables set up there, and folks eating there, making for a small problem to photograph this plaque.)

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Makarov
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Re: The Munich Thread

#549

Post by Makarov » 09 May 2014, 17:43

Thanks for your replay Geoff.
A smaller one you say, if my mind serves me well the one on the ground wasn´t that large either. To bad that I didn´t ask one of the many guides at Odeonplatz what happend to the old one. It´s really annoying missing something when you afterwards realize that it was more or less right at your side. Does you (or someone else) have a picture of the new one?

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Geoff Walden
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Re: The Munich Thread

#550

Post by Geoff Walden » 09 May 2014, 20:49

Here is the new one. It's really rather small and easy to miss. I can't find my photos of the old one.

Geoff
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Makarov
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Re: The Munich Thread

#551

Post by Makarov » 09 May 2014, 21:07

Thanks again Geoff, do you mind if I use the picture at my own webpage?

Here´s a Picture of the old plaque I took back in 2010.
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Balrog
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Re: The Munich Thread

#552

Post by Balrog » 11 May 2014, 15:21

Does anyone know who owns the Osteria Italiana (formerly Bavaria) ? Who owns the building?

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Keir
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Re: The Munich Thread

#553

Post by Keir » 15 May 2014, 20:49

Before and after pics of the plaque in front of the Feldherrnhalle.
On the Feldherrnhalle itself, even the Nazis commemorated the four who died standing up against them.
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Keir
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Re: The Munich Thread

#554

Post by Keir » 23 Nov 2014, 14:47

Hitler's (supposed) 1914 painting of the alten rathaus and kleine rathaus in Munich has just sold for 130,000 euros in a Nuremberg auction. Here's a picture of it alongside the same scene today:
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Re: The Munich Thread

#555

Post by Annelie » 11 Dec 2014, 00:19

Having been at the site and stood on those steps many times it was still difficult to visualize the scene
but I got this photo from Dark History Tours..

Feldherrnhalle looks very different in this photo.
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