Adolf Hitler: Monster or Misunderstood?

Sadness in his eyes; he just wanted to paint.

 Are you surprised to see Hitler in an art blog? He was actually a very talented artist. (crazy, right?)

Adolf Hitler was born at an Inn in Austrai on April 20, 1889. He was the fourth of six children, all four of which died by five years old. His younger sister, Paula, and he lived to adulthood. His father was a strict, ruthless man who sometimes beat Adolf. His mother was a hardworking, kinder woman. Needless to say, he was much closer to his mother than to his father.

Baby Adolf

His father, Alois, wanted him to follow in his footsteps and work in the Austria customs, but Adolf pleaded to attend classical high school to become an artist. Despite his sons desires, Alois sent him to a technical school. He and his friend often attended operas. He spent four years there before leaving for Vienna with his dreams of becoming a painter.

When Adolf was only 13 years old, in 1908, his mother passed to breast cancer, which was a tragic blow to the adolescent boy.

White Orchids; Adolf Hitler

 While living in Vienna, he struggled every day for food. He lived as a vagabond, often created art for postcards and magazines, he even sold some to the general public, to afford to eat. He loved many media of art, including painting, sculpture, concerts, theater, and opera. Even with meager income, he only bought high quality paints, brushes, and canvases.

He was turned down by the Viennese Academy of Fine Arts twice for "unsatisfactory" skills, after which began to shape his hatred towards Jews, Marxists, and the cosmopolitan Habsburg monarchy. After this turning point in his life, he began dreaming of  a Greater Germany.

"For hours, I could stand in front of the Opera, for hours I could gaze at the parliament; 

the whole Ring Boulevard seemed to me like an enchantment out of the 

'Thousand and One nights.' "

-Adolf Hitler, Mein Kampf

The Munich Opera House

Hitler was a soldier in World War I and ranked as high as Lance Corporal. He also received the Iron Cross for bravery. He was badly gassed near the end of the war an spend three months recuperating. He was temporarily blinded and went into an impotent rage. Once healthy, he convinced himself that fate had chosen him to rescue the nation from the Versailles Treaty, from the Bolsheviks and Jews. In 1919, he entered the German Workers' party, who changed their name to National Socialist German Workers' Party soon after and was chairman by July of 1921.

Castle Battlements

Hitler was arrested and tried on February, 1924, after the failure of the Beer Hall Putsch. Although he was sentenced to five years, he was released after nine months. He dedicated his writings, titled Mein Kampf, to Rudolf Hess, his loyal follower and cell mate. This book became a structure for the Nazi Party to stand on. Using what he'd learned, he decided that a political approach would suit him better than one bullet-riddled. The Nazi Party began to inflate in popularity and due to the depression in Germany at the time, his persuasive speeches and promised of a Greater Germany were well-received.

Smoking Tank

By June of 1934, it was undisputed that Adolf Hitler was the dictator of the Third Reich, and with the death of President von Hindenburg, he controlled all the powers of the State. He quickly became the leader of the country and lead his people to prosperity. Those he considered NOT his people were not treated as well. He looked down and tried to eliminate the Jews, as well many others, including the physically and mentally handicapped. He felt they were impurities to the Aryans, the "Master Race."

Still Life With Bottle and Fruit

Hitler had a greatly shaping influence on art, music, and architecture under his rule. He declared most modern art "degenerate" and those artists suffered striking consequences. Many fled the country, while others were prohibited from teaching or painting. He allowed classical methods of art to be proclaimed. He oversaw two shows in Munich at the same time. One, Degenerate Art, the other, The Great German Art Exhibition. Degenerate Art contained artwork, un-cared for and degraded, by modern artists. While The Great German Art Exhibition contained artwork he allowed, those that portrayed Germany in a heroic sense. The latter gained less than half the attendees as the former.

Germania 

Hitler allowed painters and sculptors to produce nudes of males and females. Males must be depicted as strong, powerful, and heroic while females were sleek and clean with full breasts and a flat belly. These were often Nordic, but brunettes were apparent. Hitler continued to create his artwork throughout his reign and his life. He even gave the present world the first design for the Volkswagon Beetle, as well as other ideas. 

First design of the Volkswagon Beetle

In April of 1945, Hitler and a group of men, along with Eva had been hiding in a bomb-proof bunker, the Fuhrerbunker, as the war raged overhead. There were talks of surrender, and that is thought to be Hitler's last straw. Adolf Hitler committed suicide by shooting himself through the mouth. His wife of the previous day, Eva Braun took a cyanide capsule. Hitler had ordered both bodies to be burned. There are rumors that Hitler had not committed suicide, but had sneaked away to live in hiding. Hitler and a group of men, along with Eva had been hiding in a bomb-proof bunker, the Fuhrerbunker, as the war raged overhead. There were talks of surrender, and that is thought to be Hitler's last straw. 

Hitler and Blondi

Hitler also had a deep love for animals, especially his German Shepard, Blondi. He even ordered cyanide pills be given to Blondi and her puppies the same day of his suicide. 

A uniquely interesting character, Hitler also went slightly obsessed and paranoid towards his end. Many rumors are floating around, including his army of literate canines and time travel. But I will leave you with this thought: What if Hitler had been accepted into the art academy?

** I do NOT own any of the images **

"Entartete Kunst" (Art Nazis Hated)

“This art is the sick production of crazy people. Pity the people who are no longer

 able to control this sickness”

                                                                 -Adolf Hitler, on modern art; Mein Kampf

Adolf Hitler felt that he was knowledgeable with regards to art. It is commonly known that art, architecture, music, and films in Germany were heavily influenced by the Nazi ideology of the time. Hitler had decided that there were two forms of art; classical realistic art that portrayed all that was good about Nazi Germany; and the un-German or Jewish Bolshevist, degenerate art, which was basically all modern art.

L'Ange du Foyer; 1937 by Max Ernst

July 19, 1937 on the streets of Munich, Nazi Germany, there was an art exhibition held titled "Entartete Kunst," translated to Degenerate Art. This show featured famous artists such as Max Ernst, Paul Klee, and Wassily Kandinsky alongside less popular artists such as William Wauer, Ernst Nay, and Ewald Matare

Two Women in the Street; 1914 by Ernst Ludwig Kirchner

The show was put on by Adolf Ziegler and Joseph Goebbels, after the idea came to them from Hitler's critique of modern art. The show was held in the Institute of Archeology in the Hofgarten. Hitler has declared a war in cultural disintegration, which included the artwork that insulted German feeling, distorted the natural form, or revealed an absence of artistic skill.

Flyer cover for Degenerate Art

This particular show was set up by the Nazis to show the world the detriment this artwork had on the ideal Germany. The first three rooms of the show were themed demeaning of religion, Jewish artists, and insulting to women, soldiers, and farmers of Germany. The rest of the show was not arranged in a theme. The venue had dark, narrow rooms, and many of the paintings were hung without frames and partially covered with derogatory themes. Many paintings had text beside them deriding the artwork.

Hitler and Ziegler at the show

The show exhibited over 650 paintings, sculptures, prints, and books that were taken from 32 German museums to be put in the show. The show ran until November 30 in Munich, at which time it traveled to eleven other cities in Germany and Austria. During the four months the show was up, 2,009,899 visitors attended, making an average of 20,000 people a day.

White Tree Trunks 1908 by Emil Nolde

Over 5,000 works, at least 1,000 of them just by Emil Nolde, were seized by the Nazi party and deemed 'degenerate'. These works showed qualities such as mental disease, racial impurity, and weakness of character. Hitler believed that a finished picture should ever portray anguish, distress, or pain. He preferred the romantic form of realism. He also felt that artists should use color that was different than perceived in nature.

Tower of the Blue Horses 1913 by Franz Marc

Near this show, in the Haus der Deutschen Kunst, the show titled Great German Art Exhibition was held. This contained more classical and racially pure art that was accepted by the Nazi Party. This show attracted roughly half the viewers as Degenerate Art. After the show went abroad to be seen by another million people or so, the artwork was sold off, many to U.S. collectors and the money was used to war expenses. Then on March 20, 1939 nearly 5,000 pieces were burned. 

photography by Herbert Bayer

Most of the artists that were considered degenerate were often subject to sanctions. This included being dismissed from teaching positions, being forbidden to exhibit or sell their art, and being forbidden to create art entirely, if they would not comply with Hitler's artistic ideals. Because of these sanctions, a large number of artists fled the country.

** I do NOT own any of the above images **