Goebbels: A Biography

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Goebbels: A Biography Page 104

by Peter Longerich


  106. TB, 17 March, also 13 and 16 March 1937. On the negotiations, see Moeller, Filmminister, 87ff.; Becker, Film und Herrschaft, 159f.

  107. TB, 20 March 1937.

  108. PA 1937, no. 709 (23 March).

  109. Speech on the first anniversary of the Reich Chamber of Film on 5 March 1937 in the Krolloper, Albrecht, Filmpolitik, 447ff.; PA 1937, no. 589 (6 March): The speech “pointed the way forward,” indeed it was “a great encouragement for all those involved in making films.” On the speech’s impact, see TB, 6, 7, and 8 March 1937.

  110. Introduction: TB, 4 May 1937. Goebbels praised Demandowsky particularly during the early months of his period in office: 6, 8, 13, and 26 May (“I’m doubling his salary”), 5 June, 14 and 23 July 1937.

  111. Moeller, Filmminister, 141.

  112. TB, 21 and 26 March, 1, 6, 13, and 17 April 1937; Moeller, Filmminister, 139; PA 1937, nos. 1051 and 1054, (5 and 7 May): “Nothing to be published about the Ufa general meeting.”

  113. Moeller, Filmminister, 101f.

  114. TB, 3 April, 31 July 1937.

  115. TB, 25 September 1937.

  116. TB, 7 January 1938: “Film has the wrong casting. Ritter is supposed to be making a Harvey-, Boese Rühmann film. I’ll stop that.” Also 25 September 1937.

  117. TB, 3 June 1937, 2 and 4 August.

  118. TB, 1 July 1937.

  119. TB, 31 July 1937, 1 August 1937.

  120. TB, 3 August, also 6 August 1937.

  121. TB, 5 August 1937.

  122. TB, 12 August 1937.

  123. TB, 11 September 1937.

  124. TB, 11 and 30 September 1937, 7, 14, and 23 October, 9 December 1937.

  125. TB, 9 June 1937, also 10 and 23 June also 25, 27, 28, and 31 August 1937.

  126. TB, 18 and 30 June 1937, 14 August, 1 and 8 September 1937, 14 and 22 December 1937, 6 January, 1 and 28 July, 3 August 1938; also 9 May 1939.

  127. TB, 27 October 1936: “following an idea of mine”; TB, 5 and 12 August, 17 September, 7 December 1937, 25 May, 8 June, 14 September 1938.

  128. TB, 3 January 1939; see also 11 July, 1 August 1939.

  129. Negative: Fridericus (23 January 1937), Der Etappenhase (24 February 1937), Condottieri (12 and 18 March 1937); mixed feelings: Togger, 12 February 1937.

  130. TB, 24 June 1937, on Starke Herzen and Weisse Sklaven.

  131. TB, 17 and 20 January, 14 February 1937.

  132. TB, 12 and 15 March 1937.

  133. TB, 18 June 1937.

  134. TB, 23 July 1937.

  135. TB, 1 December 1937.

  136. TB, 30 September 1937; Moeller, Filmminister, 174.

  137. TB, 20 June 1937.

  138. Moeller, Filmminister, 91.

  139. TB, 17 and 27 April 1937, 30 July, 12 August, 17 September 1937 and 14 January 1938. The press were not permitted to report on the collapse of the Bavaria film company: PA 1937, nos. 893 and 1015 (17 April and 3 May).

  140. Moeller, Filmminister, 114f.

  141. Renate Heller, “Kunst-Ausschuss,” 150–58.

  142. TB, 29 April 1937.

  143. TB, 14 December 1937.

  144. TB, 29 May, 2 and 3 June, 14 October, 19 November 1937, and 4 March 1938.

  145. Welch, Nazi Cinema, 23ff. Concerns about the economic development of the film industry expressed above all in TB, 10 and 14 October, 24 November 1937.

  146. TB, 14 October, 25 November 1937.

  147. TB, 6 November 1937.

  148. TB, 1 December 1937.

  149. On Capriccio, see TB, 1, 3, and 12 March 1938; on Der Tiger von Eschnapur, see TB, 10 January 1938, on Die Prinzessin kehrt heim, see TB, 4 February 1938; very negative also about Frühlingsluft, 25 March 1938.

  150. Moeller, Filmminister, 192ff.

  151. TB, 5 March 1938. On the preparations, see TB, 7 and 27 October, 24 November 1937, 4 and 5 February; also 2 and 3 March 1938.

  152. Film-Kurier, 5 March 1938. TB, 28 May, 11 June 1938, on the staffing of the art faculty. On the further development of the Academy, see 4 March, 3 and 18 May 1938.

  153. TB, 20 and 29 July, 15 November 1938.

  154. TB, 15 June 1939.

  155. TB, 7 and 10 December 1938, 28 January 1939.

  156. TB, 8, 9, and 12 February 1939; see also 16 February 1939.

  157. TB, 16 and 28 February, 29 June 1939.

  158. TB, 7 and 10 December 1938, 28 January 1939. As part of this reorganization he also let his most important assistant in film propaganda, Reich film dramaturge Demandowsky, move to Tobis as head of production, despite considerable reservations. The head of Terra production, Greven, took over the equivalent position at Ufa; in fact Goebbels had previously earmarked Emil Jannings for this job. The other film companies also had heads of production appointed, who were often replaced after a relatively short time. Greven was soon replaced by v. Leichtenstern, the head of the film department, who was then himself replaced by Otto Heinz Jahn the following year. Peter Brauer took over production at Terra. He was replaced in November 1940 by Alf Teichs. Schweikart’s appointment to the Bavaria company (TB, 26 April, 25 July 1939) and Karl Hartl’s appointment to the new Vienna film company (TB, 21 March 1939) also formed part of the reorganization of February 1939.

  159. Film-Kurier, 11 March 1939, “Dr. Goebbels in der Krolloper. Im Film soll die Persönlichkeit führen.” On the impact of the speech, see TB, 11 and 12 March 1939.

  160. TB, 20 June 1939, and 21 June.

  161. TB, 6 June 1937.

  162. TB, 7 June 1937.

  163. TB, 19 June 1937; Hoffmann, Hitler, wie ich ihn sah, 143ff. Further literature on the Große Deutsche Kunstausstellung: Meissner, “ ‘Deutsches Volk, gib uns vier Jahre Zeit…’ ”; Meissner, “Große Deutsche Kunstausstellung”; Schlenker, Hitlers Salon.

  164. TB, 5 and 19 June 1937; on opposition from Speer, among others, see 12 June 1937. Compare Lüttichau, “ ‘Deutsche Kunst.’ Der Katalog,” which provides a reconstruction of the exhibition “Entartete Kunst” (120–83); Meissner, “Deutsches Volk”; Katrin Engelhardt, “Die Ausstellung ‘Entartete Kunst’ in Berlin 1938”; Zuschlag, “Entartete Kunst.”

  165. TB, 30 June 1937.

  166. TB, 1 July 1937. The decree of 30 June is published in Engelhardt, “Ausstellung,” 94. On the preparations for the exhibition, see in particular Zuschlag, “Entartete Kunst,” 169ff.

  167. Engelhardt, “Ausstellung,” 94.

  168. TB, 17 and 18 July 1937; Brenner, Ende, 25f.; Lüttichau, “Deutsche Kunst,” documents that the rooms with paintings by members of the Academy and lecturers were shut a few days after the opening of the exhibition (p. 109). In one case, that of the sculptor Gerhard Marcks, there is evidence that Goebbels personally insisted on his inclusion in the “exhibition of degenerate art” despite being aware that he was a member of the Academy. Brenner, Ende, 155.

  169. 16, 24 (quotation), 25 (quotation), 27, and 29 July 1937.

  170. TB, 3 July 1937.

  171. TB, 4 July 1937.

  172. TB, 6 and 8 August 1937; TB, 20 June 1937.

  173. TB, 9 and 10 July 1937.

  174. TB, 10 July 1937.

  175. TB, 11–17 July 1937.

  176. Literature in note 164.

  177. TB, 19 July; VB (N), 18 and 19 July 1937.

  178. Thus Hitler emphasized “a tremendous flourishing of German art” as a task for the future and it is clear from Goebbels’s speech that his high expectations for German art were focused more on the future. Domarus I, 705ff., 708, and the reports in the VB (N), 18 July 1937.

  179. TB, 18 July 1937.

  180. VB (B), 27 November 1937, “Die Führung des deutschen Geisteslebens in deutschen Händen.”

  181. TB, 1 August 1937.

  182. Berlin exhibition: TB, 28 February 1938: “Visit to the Reichstag ‘Degenerate Art’ exhibition. What filth! Now it’s much more effectively arranged. I order a few changes to be made.” 1 March 1938: “I have the ‘Degenerate Art’ rearranged. It’s not sufficiently educational.” See a
lso 2 March 1938.

  183. TB, 25 and 28 July 1937. Brenner, Ende, 26.

  184. TB, 5 November 1938; on this second wave of confiscations and the valuation of the works that followed, see Zuschlag, “Entartete Kunst,” 205ff.

  185. TB, 13 December 1938.

  186. Through the Law for the Withdrawal of Degenerate Art Products of 31 May 1938, RGBl. 1938 I, 612. TB, 13, 14, 15 January, 12 February, 4 March, 18 and 26 May, 29 July 1938. Zuschlag, “Entartete Kunst,” 212ff.

  187. TB, 29 October, 3, 12, and 18 November 1938; Zweite, “Franz Hofmann und die Städtische Galerie,” 261–88.

  188. In the list of departmental responsibilities of November 1936 the position of head of department was registered as unoccupied; BAB, R 55/21061.

  189. TB, 30 December 1938.

  190. Prieberg, Musik, 133ff.

  191. TB, 24 October, 4 November 1936, 25 February 1937.

  192. TB, 21 September, 9 October 1937.

  193. Kater, Die mißbrauchte Muse, 32ff.

  194. Prieberg, Musik, 275ff.; Dümling and Girth (eds.), Entartete Musik.

  195. TB, 17 May 1938.

  196. TB, 29 May 1937; DAZ, 29 May 1938 (M), “Zehn Grundsätze für das Musik-schafffen. Dr. Goebbels auf der Reichsmusikfestwoche.”

  197. Prieberg, Musik, 107ff.

  198. Kater writes of music as the “most autonomous of all the arts” in the Nazi period. Kater, Muse, 363.

  199. RGBl. 1934 I, 411f.

  200. Rischbieter, “NS-Theaterpolitik,” 23. On the theater under Nazism, see also Drewniak, Das Theater im NS-Staat, and Rühle, Theater in Deutschland 1887–1945, 734ff.

  201. Panse, “Zeitgenössische Dramatik,” 489–720.

  202. Thomas Eicher, “Spielplanstrukturen” in Theater im “Dritten Reich,” 279–486.

  203. Eicher, “Spielplanstrukturen,” 596f.

  204. Eicher, “Spielplanstrukturen,” 478.

  205. TB, 23 March 1933, on “Rosse” and 6 April 1934 on “Stille Gäste.”

  206. TB, 18 November 1933.

  207. TB, 24 January 1935.

  208. TB, 21 September 1937.

  209. He is equally negative about Dietrich Eckart’s Heinrich der Hohenstaufe, TB, 19 June 1935, Franz Sondinger’s Uta von Naumburg, TB, 22 November 1935, or the play Thors Gast by the völkisch poet Otto Erler, TB, 31 October 1937.

  210. TB, 26 June 1935.

  211. TB, 17 November 1935.

  212. TB, 15 April 1936 and 23 June 1936.

  213. Eicher, “Spielplanstrukturen,” 324ff.

  214. TB, 2 November 1933. See also his positive criticism of Die Räuber (20 January 1934, 2 October 1936), Don Carlos (28 February 1937), and Kabale und Liebe (14 October 1937, 17 November 1938).

  215. Eicher, “Spielplanstrukturen,” 297ff.

  216. TB, 27 March 1937. See also his extremely positive criticism of The Taming of the Shrew (7 October 1933, 15 June 1937), Twelfth Night (13 September 1934), and King Lear (23 January 1935).

  217. Thus he noted Hitler’s lavish praise of Shaw: “He lifts the veil from English hypocrisy.”

  218. TB, 7 October 1934, after a performance of Saint Joan.

  219. TB, 6 August 1936. Equally positive Pygmalion (16 January 1935), Saint Joan (6 August 1936), Androcles and the Lion (17 December 1936), The Apple Cart (29 January 1938), Man and Superman (6 November 1939), Caesar and Cleopatra (12 December 1939). While he praised Androcles and the Lion, he did not see it as a “major work.”

  220. TB, 20 December 1935 (Sprung aus dem Alltag by Heinrich Zerkaulen); 7 January 1936 (Krach im Hinterhaus). 5 December 1936 (Moral by Ludwig Thoma), 2 March 1934 (Dr. Prätorius by Curt Goetz).

  221. TB, 11 April 1934.

  222. Rischbieter, “NS-Theaterpolitik,” 70ff.

  223. Rischbieter, “NS-Theaterpolitk,” 72; on the meetings, see TB, 27 September 1935, 20 June 1936, 20 October 1937, 19 November 1938, 18 March 1939. Based on his diaries he only visited the theater twice: 6 June 1936 and 4 December 1937.

  224. Goebbels had already noticed Hilpert in December 1933 on a visit to the Volksbühne: TB, 26 December 1933: “I’ll get ahold of him some time when I’ve got control of the theater.” On Hilpert, see Rischbieter, “NS-Theaterpolitik,” 73ff.; Dillmann, Heinz Hilpert.

  225. TB, 1 September 1937 and 17 February 1938.

  226. TB, 21 August 1936, 19 December 1936, 18 May, 1 July 1937, 30 April 1938. On Klöpfer, see Rischbieter, “NS-Theaterpolitik,” 80f.; TB, 17 June, 3 July 1936.

  227. Rischbieter, “NS-Theaterpolitik,” 79f.; criticism in TB, 25 October 1934, 8 March 1935, and 8 May 1935

  228. TB, 21 November, 24 December 1937, 21 February 1940.

  229. He also intervened in the new production of The Merry Widow, TB, 8 February, 3 March 1939.

  230. TB, 6, 8, 21, and 24 January 1935.

  231. TB, 31 May 1935.

  232. TB, 30 April, 1 May 1936.

  233. On the takeover of the theater on the Nollendorfplatz, see TB, 18 and 23 February, 2 and 9 March 1938.

  234. On his disagreement with Lippert over the Schillertheater, see TB, 19 and 22 February 1937. TB, 27 January 1938: “With George Schillertheater repertoire and cast”; see also 24 February, 2 March 1938.

  235. Rischbieter, “NS-Theaterpolitk,” 81ff. On the takeover of the Metropoltheater, see TB, 24 July, 5 and 24 August, 5 and 6 October, 4 and 17 December 1937, and 5 January 1938.

  236. TB, 5 October 1935, according to which he was hoping soon to have finished with the “dejewification” of the RKK; see also 19 October 1935; BAB, R 56 V 102, 27 June 1935: According to that the Chamber of Culture was to be gradually purged of Jews, non-Aryans and those related to Jews; in individual cases consideration should be given to negative domestic, diplomatic, and economic repercussions. On the “dejewification” of the RKK, see Steinweis, Art, Ideology, and Economics in Nazi Germany, 103ff.; Reuth, Goebbels, 333, 336f., 342f.

  237. Steinweis, Art, 112, 115.

  238. TB, 30 April 1936; Hinkel instruction of 29 April 1936, BAB, R 56 V 102; also TB, 11 December 1936.

  239. TB, 3 February 1937, and 3 March 1937.

  240. TB, 5 May 1937, 5 and 30 June 1937, 24 November, 3 December 1937.

  241. TB, 13 January, 9 and 16 February, 16 March 1938, and 18 May 1938.

  242. BAB, R 58/992, Gestapo Tagesmeldung, 25 May 1939; see also Steinweis, Art, 117.

  243. TB, 16 March, 26 April, 23 June 1939.

  244. TB, 4 May 1943.

  245. For instance: TB, 24 February, 2–4 June 1935, 7, 26, and 27 January, 8 and 9 October 1936, 15 June, 27 September 1937, 3–6 January 1938; he does not appear to have been in Rheydt in 1939.

  246. TB, 27 December 1934 and 5 and 6 January 1938.

  247. TB, 3 January 1938.

  248. TB, 3 and 6 January; on the meeting with friends, see 7 January, 8 and 9 October 1936, 15 June 1937.

  249. TB, 27 December 1934 (on Kölsch), TB, 5 January 1938 (on Prang).

  250. TB, 2 February 1935; see also 10 February 1935.

  251. TB, 21 and 24 October 1935.

  252. TB, 24 March 1936.

  253. On Hans, see in particular TB, 6 April 1937; on his conflict with Gauleiter Florian, see 15 February, 3 and 11 March, 1 May 1939; see also Müller, Im Schatten des “Grandgoschiers.”

  254. TB, 22 May 1939: “Brief visit to Hans and Hertha. The ambience is terrible. Hertha has completely mucked up Hans.”

  255. TB, 1936, numerous entries.

  256. TB, 18 February 1937.

  257. TB, 27 February 1937.

  258. TB, 27 and 30 March, 28 and 30 April 1937.

  259. TB, 17 June 1937.

  260. TB, 6 July 1937.

  261. TB, 9 July 1937.

  262. TB, 15 July, also 16 and 17 July 1937.

  263. TB, 3 August 1937.

  264. TB, 3 February 1938.

  265. TB, 24 April, 22 July, 7 August 1938.

  266. TB, 17 October, 22 November 1937, 6 January 1938.

  267. TB, 27 September 1937 and
31 January 1938.

  268. TB, 6 October 1936.

  269. See in particular the numerous entries in his diary, especially in a second book that he was writing up on the Bogensee from 29 October onward.

  270. TB, 5–8 January 1937.

  271. TB, 1–22 January 1937.

  272. TB, 10 January 1937: “I feel rather lonely in Berlin in the big house.” 17 January 1937: “I’m longing to see both of them, Magda and Helga.” 18 January 1937 (concerning his decision to stay overnight on the Bogensee: “No one’s expecting me in Berlin”). 23 January 1937: “Being so alone is no fun at all.”

  273. TB, 19 and 20 January 1937.

  274. TB, 24 January 1937.

  275. TB, 3 and 6 February and the following days on contact with Magda.

  276. TB, 20 February 1937.

  277. TB, 24 March: “Magda arrives back after eight weeks’ absence in the clinic.”

  278. TB, 25 February.

  279. TB, 14 March 1937.

  280. TB, 31 March 1937.

  281. Thus, for example, on 3, 26, and 28 May, 2 June, 3 July, 30 August 1937.

  282. TB, 2 February 1937; see also 3 July, 2 September 1937.

  283. TB, 31 January 1937: “Still with the Führer among a large crowd. Magda stays on. I leave when the film starts.” 2 May 1937 (following the 1 May celebrations): “Still a lot of work to do at home. Magda and Maria go to the Reich Chancellery on their own.” Also at the end of Mussolini’s state visit Magda spent time in the Reich Chancellery without her husband, TB, 26 October 1937.

  284. TB, 5–30 June 1937.

  285. TB, 4 June 1937.

  286. TB, 22 August 1937.

  287. TB, 24 September 1937.

  288. TB, 7 November 1937.

  289. TB, 11 and 19 December 1937.

  290. TB, 25 April 1937 (Hannah), 16 May 1937 (Helmut), 12 August 1937 (Helga), 27 October 1937 (Helmut).

  291. TB, 18 April 1937; see also 17, 19, 25, and 30 April, 24 August 1937.

  292. BAB, R 55/421, letter from Goebbels to the Reich Finance Ministry, June 1937.

  293. TB, 7 October 1937.

  294. TB, 4 November 1937.

  295. TB, 6 October 1937.

  296. TB, 31 July, 26 October 1937.

  297. TB, 7 and 12 November 1937.

  298. TB, 8 January, 13 February 1938.

 

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