View source for Reich Chamber of Culture

{{Short description|Government agency in Nazi Germany}}
{{Infobox government agency
| name                 = Reich Chamber of Culture
| native_name          = Reichskulturkammer
| type                 =
| seal                 = Reichsadler der Deutsches Reich (1935–1945).svg
| seal_width           = 100px
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| logo                 =
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| image                = Bundesarchiv Bild 183-H29353, Joseph Goebbels im Arbeitszimmer.jpg
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| image_caption        = Minister [[Goebbels]] and [[Walther Funk]], at the [[Reich Ministry of Propaganda]]. ''Referent des Ministers'' [[Karl Hanke]] is in the background (1937).
| formed               = {{Start date|1933|09|22|df=y}}
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| dissolved            = {{Start date|1945|05|08|df=y}}
| superseding1         =
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| jurisdiction         = [[Nazi Germany]]
| headquarters         = [[Wilhelmplatz]], [[Berlin]]
| coordinates          = <!-- {{coord|LATITUDE|LONGITUDE|type:landmark_region:US|display=inline,title}} -->
| motto                =
| employees            =
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| minister1_name       = [[Joseph Goebbels]]
| minister1_pfo        = [[Reich Ministry of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda|Reich Minister of Propaganda]]
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| chief1_name          = ''See list''
| chief1_position      = Vice president
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The '''Reich Chamber of Culture''' ('''''Reichskulturkammer''''', abbreviated as '''RKK''') was a [[government agency]] in [[Nazi Germany]]. It was established by law on 22 September 1933 in the course of the ''[[Gleichschaltung]]'' process at the instigation of Reich Minister [[Joseph Goebbels]] as a professional organization of all German creative artists.<ref name="Overview">{{cite encyclopedia|url=http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10005207|title=Culture in the Third Reich: Overview|date=June 10, 2013|encyclopedia=[[Holocaust Encyclopedia]]|publisher=[[United States Holocaust Memorial Museum]]|access-date=9 March 2014}}</ref> Defying the competing ambitions of the [[German Labour Front]] (DAF) under Goebbels' rival [[Robert Ley]], it was meant to gain control over the entire cultural life in Germany creating and promoting Aryan art consistent with [[Nazism|Nazi]] ideals.
Every artist had to apply for membership on presentation of an [[Aryan certificate]]. A rejected inscription ''de facto'' resulted in an occupational ban.
== Structure and organisation ==
The RKK was affiliated with the [[Reich Ministry of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda]] with its seat on [[Wilhelmplatz]] in [[Berlin]]. Headed by Goebbels himself, a [[Secretary of state|state secretary]] of his ministry served as vice president:
[[File:Reichsmusikkammer1001.jpg|upright|thumb|The 1935 [[Reichsmusikkammer|Reich Chamber of Music]] decree to the Berlin musician Werner Liebenthal dictating the immediate cessation of his professional activity.]]
*[[Walther Funk]] (1933–1938)
*[[Karl Hanke]] (1938–1941)
*[[Leopold Gutterer]] (1941–1944)
*[[Werner Naumann]] (1944–1945)
''[[Schutzstaffel|SS]]'' officer [[Hans Hinkel]] was one of the officers in charge of the chamber and Goebbels' special commissioner for the removal of [[History of the Jews in Germany|Jews]] from German cultural life.
Different subdivisions of the RKK dealt with [[Reichsfilmkammer|film]], [[Reichsmusikkammer|music]], visual arts, theatre, literature, media, and radio, organized in seven departments:
*''[[Reichsfilmkammer]]'', headed by [[Carl Froelich]] from 1939
*''[[Reichsmusikkammer]]'', headed by [[Richard Strauss]], from 1935 by [[Peter Raabe]]
*''[[Reichskammer der bildenden Künste]]'' ("Reich Chamber of Fine Arts") ([[:de:Reichskammer der bildenden Künste|de]]), headed by [[Eugen Hönig]] from 1933, by [[Adolf Ziegler]] from 1936, and by [[Wilhelm Kreis]] from 1943
*''[[Reichstheaterkammer]]'', headed by [[Rainer Schlösser]] 1935–1938, by [[Paul Hartmann (actor)|Paul Hartmann]] from 1942
*''[[Reichsschrifttumskammer]]'', headed by [[Hans-Friedrich Blunck]], from 1935 by [[Hanns Johst]]
*''[[Reichspressekammer]]'', headed by [[Max Amann]]
*''[[Reichsrundfunkkammer]]'' (tasks assigned to ''[[Reichs-Rundfunk-Gesellschaft]]'' in 1939)
The RKK was ultimately dissolved and its assets confiscated by [[Law#2|Law no. 2]] (October 10, 1945) of the [[Allied Control Council]]. Footage and archives material are kept by the [[German Federal Archives]] (''Bundesarchiv'') and the [[Berlin Document Center]].
== Degenerate art ==
[[File:Ausstellung entartete kunst 1937.jpg|thumb|upright|Goebbels visits the 1938 ''Entartete Kunst'' exhibition in Munich]]
The RKK played a significant role in the Nazi oppression of [[Modern art]], defamed as "[[Cultural Bolshevism]]". One notable project of the ''Bildende Künste'' (Fine Arts) division under Adolf Ziegler was the ''[[Degenerate Art Exhibition|Entartete Kunst]]'' exhibition, of works deemed "[[Degenerate Art|degenerate]]."<ref name="Disseminating">{{cite encyclopedia|url=http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10007519|title=Culture in the Third Reich: Disseminating the Nazi Worldview|date=June 10, 2013|encyclopedia=[[Holocaust Encyclopedia]]|publisher=[[United States Holocaust Memorial Museum]]|access-date=9 March 2014}}</ref> Opened in July 1937 at the [[Hofgarten (Munich)|Hofgarten]] in [[Munich]], touring exhibitions were held from 1938 to 1941 in several major German cities such as Berlin, [[Leipzig]], [[Düsseldorf]], [[Salzburg]], and [[Hamburg]]. Attendance was measured in the millions (perhaps largely because entrance was free), and the so-called degenerate art may have been more popular with the public than the Nazis anticipated. Goebbels had supported German [[expressionist]]s until Hitler intervened and expressed his disgust at artists such as [[Max Liebermann]] and [[Emil Nolde]]. To raise cash for the Nazi war effort, certain art dealers were authorised to emigrate to New York to sell the art.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Cohan|first=William D.|date=2011-11-17|title=MoMA's Problematic Provenances|url=https://www.artnews.com/art-news/news/momas-problematic-provenances-477/|access-date=2022-01-22|website=ARTnews.com|language=en-US|quote=By November 1936, Valentin had made his deal with the Nazis that would allow him to emigrate to New York and to sell “degenerate art” to help fund the war effort.}}</ref>
== See also ==
* [[Art in Nazi Germany]]
*''[[Haus der Kunst]]''
*[[Curt Valentin]]
== References ==
{{Reflist}}
==Further reading==
* Petropoulos, Jonathan. ''Art as politics in the Third Reich'' (UNC Press Books, 1999) [https://scholar.archive.org/work/v5ferrazizb2vos7uveqt5ggdi/access/wayback/https://journals.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/index.php/kchronik/article/download/84322/78684 online].
* Schoeps, Karl-Heinz. ''Literature and film in the Third Reich'' (Camden House, 2004). [https://books.google.com/books?id=p1yGRf6fmK0C&dq=Reich+Chamber+of+Culture&pg=PP14 online]
* Steinweis, Alan E. "The professional, social, and economic dimensions of Nazi cultural policy: the case of the Reich Theater Chamber." ''German Studies Review'' 13.3 (1990): 441-459. [https://www.jstor.org/stable/1430764 online]
* {{cite book|last1=Steinweis|first1=Alan E.|title=Art, ideology, & economics in Nazi Germany: the Reich chambers of music, theater, and the visual arts|date=1996|publisher=University of North Carolina Press|location=Chapel Hill, NC|isbn=978-0-8078-4607-0|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Qaj0alN21yMC}}
{{Art and World War II}}
{{Authority control}}
[[Category:Arts in Germany]]
[[Category:Nazi culture]]
[[Category:Government agencies established in 1933]]
[[Category:Organizations disestablished in 1945]]
[[Category:German words and phrases]]
[[Category:1933 establishments in Germany]]
[[Category:1945 disestablishments in Germany]]
[[Category:Joseph Goebbels]]