Theatre in the Third Reich, the Prewar Years: Essays on Theatre in Nazi Germany (Contributions to the Study of World History)

This volume considers prewar theatre in Hitler's Germany, a previously neglected subject in theatre history. An extended introduction sets the theatre scene of 1933 and charts the major theatre regulations and organizations formed that year. The initial essay examines the unified folk community used to achieve power and served by purged and revived German art. Plays that achieved great success in Nazi Germany—__Die endlose Strasse__ by Sigmund Graff and six works by Eberhard Wolfgang Moller—are considered. In essays devoted to specific theatres, the work examines how Reinhardt's Grosses Schauspielhaus fared under the Nazis and how the regional Detmold Stadttheater was obliged to observe the new politicized aesthetics. The famous and privileged actor Werner Krauss is the subject of an essay on artistic responsibility, while a chapter on three famed directors—Grundgens, Fehling, and Hilpert—shows how artists maneuvered for artistic freedom. The Propaganda Ministry's first national festival in Dresden in 1934 is covered. The final two essays look at minority theatre—Jewish theatre in the anti-Semitic Third Reich and, as a postscript to the volume, theatre in the Nazi concentration camps. Annotation Includes Eleven Essays On Prewar Theatre In Hitler's Germany, Including Analyses Of Nazi Ideology, Popular Dramatists, An Actor, Directors, Specific Theatres, A National Theatre Festival, Jewish Theatre, And Theatre In Concentration Camps. Introduction : The Year Of Power, 1933 / Glen W. Gadberry -- The National Socialist Volksgemeinschaft Fantasy And The Drama Of National Rebirth / Robert A. Pois -- Theatre In Detmold 1933-1939 : A Case Study Of Provincial Theatre During The Nazi Prewar Era / Ron Engle -- Theatre Of The Front : Sigmund Graff And Die Endlose Strasse / William Sonnega -- Eberhard Wolfgang Möller : Politically Correct Playwright Of The Third Reich / Rufus J. Cadigan -- Ordained Hands On The Altar Of Art : Gründgens, Hilpert, And Fehling In Berlin / William Grange -- Werner Krauss And The Third Reich / William R. Elwood -- (cont.) Nazi Berlin And The Grosses Schauspielhaus / Yvonne Shafer -- The First National Socialist Theatre Festival, Dresden 1934 / Glen W. Gadberry -- Collaboration Or Survival, 1933-1938 : Reassessing The Role Of The Jüdischer Kulturbund / Rebecca Rovit -- The Final Chapter : Theatre In The Concentration Camps Of Nazi Germany / Michael Patterson. Edited By Glen W. Gadberry. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. Annotation This volume considers prewar theatre in Hitler's Germany, a previously neglected subject in theatre history. An extended introduction sets the theatre scene of 1933 and charts the major theatre regulations and organizations formed that year. The initial essay examines the unified folk community used to achieve power and served by purged and revived German art. Plays that achieved great success in Nazi Germany— Die endlose Strasse by Sigmund Graff and six works by Eberhard Wolfgang Moller—are considered. In essays devoted to specific theatres, the work examines how Reinhardt's Grosses Schauspielhaus fared under the Nazis and how the regional Detmold Stadttheater was obliged to observe the new politicized aesthetics. The famous and privileged actor Werner Krauss is the subject of an essay on artistic responsibility, while a chapter on three famed directors—Grundgens, Fehling, and Hilpert—shows how artists maneuvered for artistic freedom. The Propaganda Ministry's first national festival in Dresden in 1934 is covered. The final two essays look at minority theatre—Jewish theatre in the anti-Semitic Third Reich and, as a postscript to the volume, theatre in the Nazi concentration camps. Contents 7 1 Introduction: The Year of Power—1933 9 2 The National Socialist Volksgemeinschaft Fantasy and the Drama of National Rebirth 25 3 Theatre in Detmold 1933– 1939: A Case Study of Provincial Theatre During the Nazi Prewar Era 41 4 Theatre of the Front: Sigmund Graff and Die endlose Straße 55 5 Eberhard Wolfgang Möller: Politically Correct Playwright of the Third Reich 73 6 Ordained Hands on the Altar of Art: Gründgens, Hilpert, and Fehling in Berlin 83 7 Werner Krauß and the Third Reich 99 8 Nazi Berlin and the Großes Schauspielhaus 111 9 The First National Socialist Theatre Festival— Dresden 1934 129 10 Collaboration or Survival, 1933– 1938: Reassessing the Role of the Jüdischer Kulturbund 149 11 The Final Chapter: Theatre in the Concentration Camps of Nazi Germany 165 Bibliography 175 Index 187 About the Editor and Contributors 193 Adolf Hitler was named German Chancellor by aging President Paul von Hindenburg on 30 January 1933.