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Examples of Art and Architecture 1935-1945


	The Olympics were a perfect arena for the Nazi propaganda machine, which was unsurpassed at staging elaborate public spectacles and rallies. Choreographed pageantry, record-breaking athletic feats, and warm German hospitality made the 1936 Olympic Games memorable for athletes and spectators. Behind the facade, however, a ruthless dictatorship persecuted its enemies and rearmed for war to acquire new "living space" for the "Aryan master race."
	The official poster for the Olympic Games, created by Nazi artist Frantz Würbel, shows an Olympian rising above Berlin's landmark Brandenburg Gate. 1936. Courtesy of John Loaring Photograph #14916


Photograph #14918	Germany skillfully promoted the Olympics with colorful posters and magazine spreads. Athletic imagery drew a link between Nazi Germany and ancient Greece. These portrayals symbolized the Nazi racial myth that superior German civilization was the rightful heir of an "Aryan" culture of classical antiquity. Concerted propaganda efforts continued well after the Olympics with the international release in 1938 of Olympia, Leni Riefenstahl's controversial film documentary of the Games. The Nazis reduced their vision of classical antiquity to ideal "Aryan" racial types: heroic, blue-eyed blonds with finely-chiseled features.
	The special Olympics issue of the German news weekly, Die Woche (The Week), July-August 1936. Courtesy of John Loaring

Berlin Olympics Hitler Reviewing SA

The September 1936 cover of Folk and Race

German sports imagery in the 1930s promoted the myth of Aryan racial superiority and physical power. Artists idealized athletes' well-developed muscle tone and heroic strength and accentuated so-called Aryan facial features -- blue eyes and blond hair. Such imagery also reflected the importance the Nazi regime placed on physical fitness.

A Nazi party poster announcing a fitness festival

This poster announces a regional Nazi party festival of physical fitness in Leipzig. July 1935. Library of Congress, Washington, DC

Photograph #21748

The September 1936 issue of the Nazi anthropological and genetics journal Volk und Rasse (Folk and Race) links race, physical strength, and Olympic competition. Courtey of Leo Baeck Institute

Photograph #14935

Police execute calisthenics in Berlin's Sport Palace German police perform calisthenics in Berlin's Sport Palace, later the site of the Olympic handball competition. 1936. FPG International

Photograph #14497

In August 1936 Olympic flags and swastikas bedecked the monuments and houses of a festive, crowded Berlin. Most tourists were unaware that the Nazi regime had temporarily removed anti-Jewish signs. Neither would tourists have known of a police "clean up" that swept Gypsies off the streets and interned them in a camp at the edge of Berlin.

An insert in the Bremen Sunday Newspaper shows several cities prepared for the Summer Games

An insert for the Bremen Sunday newspaper shows scenes of several cities as they prepared for the Summer Games. 1936. Courtesy of John Loaring

Photograph #14920

Unter Den Linden decorated for the Olympics

Photograph #21757

Unter den Linden, the main boulevard in Berlin, is decorated with Nazi banners in preparation for the Olympics. July- August 1936. Ullstein Bilderdienst, Berlin, Germany

Jesse Owens, "the fastest human being," captured four gold medals and became the hero of the Olympics. In the long jump he leaped 26 feet 5-1/2 inches, an Olympic record. Immediately after the Games, Owens hoped to capitalize on his fame and quit the AAU's European tour of post-Olympic meets; for this action, the AAU suspended him from amateur competition. August 4, 1936. Bundesarchiv Koblenz, Germany

Photograph #14519

The American press reported widely on the friendship that developed between Owens and his German competitor in the long jump, Carl Ludwig ("Luz") Long. Long was killed in action during World War II. Courtesy of Dr. George Eisen

Photograph #69562

Sights

The Olympic Games

Wannsee Museum