The Swastika and the Stage: German Theatre and Society, 1933–1945

by Gerwin Strobl

• ISBN13: 9780521122726
• ISBN10: 0521122724
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2009-11-05
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Summary

Based on extensive archival research, this is a comprehensive study of theatre in the Third Reich. It explores the contending pressures and ambitions within the regime and the Nazi party, within the German theatre profession itself and the theatre-going public. Together, these shaped theatrical practice in the Nazi years. By tracing the origins of the Nazi stage back to the right-wing theatre reform movement of the late nineteenth century, Strobl suggests that theatre was widely regarded as a central pillar of German national identity. The role played by the stage in the evolving collective German identity after 1933 is examined through chapters on theatre and Nazi racial policy, anti-religious campaigns and the uses of history. The book traces the evolving fortunes of theatre in the Third Reich, to the years of 'total war', and the resulting physical destruction of most German playhouses.

Table of Contents

Introduction

Weimar: politics in the playhouse

Visions of national rebirth: Völkisch theatre reform

The uses of the past: from the Thingspiel to the Nazi history plays

Stages of aggression: theatre and the 'ethnic struggle'

'The stream of heredity': theatre in the racial state

The faith of our forefathers: theatre and the Nazi assault on Christianity

The manacled muse: theatre and political domination

'The final redoubt': theatre and propaganda

The age of Mephistopheles: theatre and power

Conclusion

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