The political elite of Nazi Germany perceived itself as a cultural elite as well. This work explores the elite's cultural aspirations by examining both the formulation of a national aesthetic policy and the content of the private art collections held by high-ranking Nazis. The author demonstrates that these leaders manipulated public policy and their own collecting patterns to articulate fundamental tenets of Nazi ideology. The work begins by tracing the evolution of aesthetic policy from the purges of museum staff and academics labelled as ""undesirable"" in 1933 to the confiscation of Jewish-owned artworks in the late 1930s and the organized plundering of art from occupied areas during the war. The author then reconstructs the collections of prominent Nazi officials - including Hitler, Goring, Goebbels, Himmler, Speer, and Ribbentrop - and argues that their private holdings defined their relationships to one another within the Nazi hierachy in addition to reflecting their racist and nationalist beliefs. According to the author, art collecting offered the political elite a way to achieve legitimacy and social standing, thereby providing a common cultural language for the leaders of the Third Reich.

About the Author
Jonathan Petropoulos is associate professor of history at Loyola College in Baltimore, Maryland.


Book Information
ISBN 9780807848098
Author Jonathan Petropoulos
Format Paperback
Page Count 464
Imprint The University of North Carolina Press
Publisher The University of North Carolina Press
Weight(grams) 705g