Alongside the systematic destruction of Europe during the Second World War, there were systems in place that permitted the confiscation, plunder, and looting of artworks from public and private collections. Most of the stolen art was strategically taken with the intention of displaying the pieces in the Führermuseum, a museum Hitler designed to be built in his hometown of Linz in Austria. This wasn’t simply a quest to amass wealth and take pretty pieces to decorate Nazi offices, but rather a power grab to weaken the capital and economic standing of those deemed Enemies of the Reich. Further, the intended display of all of Europe’s treasures in one place would visually signify a conquered and overtaken continent with its multinational priceless artifacts taken and stored within one man’s looted palace.
This strategic investment in specific paintings and objects of cultural value perpetuated the ideologies peddled by Hitler’s regime. Works of art that visually portrayed people, landscapes, and values important to the Third Reich were favoured, while paintings and sculptures that strayed from the traditional realism of the past such as pieces by emerging German Abstract Expressionists like Paul Klee or Wassily Kandinsky were discarded and subject to ridicule. An example of this was the Degenerate Art Exhibition, Entartete Kunst, in 1937 which promised visitors a look at some of the most laughable modern art as deemed by the budding regime. The exhibition lasted for five months and attracted more than 2 million guests over the course of it’s short runtime.
While art collecting seems secondary, if not irrelevant to the changing political landscape of the 1930s and 40s, the amassment of works of art was central to the strength of the Nazi Party because of the wealth it brought in. In addition to monetary gains, the social clout one received for owning certain paintings reinforced the hierarchy within the Party and created tension between high ranking officers by encouraging competition for best or biggest collection.
0 Comments