Propaganda of dark forces: 'Design of the Third Reich'
From orchestrated mass events to kitschy knick-knacks, the Nazis were aware of the importance of design. An exhibition in the Netherlands shows how they used it to achieve their destructive goals.
Aesthetics for the masses
At the 1938 Nazi party rally in Nuremberg, thousands of members of the League of German Girls (BDM) stood in an impressive formation. Uniform, obedient, functioning: The message was clear. It was a political demonstration staged by Adolf Hitler's command staff.
Fit for the Führer
Director Leni Riefenstahl documented the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin as an epic "Festival of Peoples" and "Festival of Beauty." More than 40 cameramen were in action. Riefenstahl's films were designed to be an ode to the body, a celebration of the Nazis' ideal of beauty. Hitler was enthusiastic fan of his "favorite director."
Olympic Games opening ceremony 1936
In the above scene from the Olympics film, Riefenstahl captures the lighting of the Olympic flame while thousands of people stretch their arms in salutation to their leader. Using the masses as ornamentation is undoubtedly what makes the opening ceremony so impressive.
Manifest power
Leni Riefenstahl called her propaganda film about the Nazi party's sixth rally in Nuremberg in 1934 "Triumph of the Will." Today, it is regarded as one of the director's most influential works. The German Wehrmacht is strong, devoted and determined; that was the political message.
Megalomania cast in stone
Built in stone, Nazi architecture stood for their claim to power. Gigantic, with a hint of megalomania: That was the blueprint for the Nazi party rally grounds in Nuremberg. Impressive mass marches took place here, setting the visual stage for the spread of Nazi ideology.
Bric-a-brac from Dachau
This, too, was Nazi-style design: a porcelain German Shepherd dog, manufactured by Munich-Allach. The company was a purveyor to the SS and their unscrupulous boss, Heinrich Himmler. Himmler presented such figurines to his comrades at "Das Schawrze Korps" (The Black Corps), the SS official newspaper. They were produced by prisoners at the Dachau concentration camp.
Minute design even at the camps
The Nazis also designed symbols of identification to be worn by concentration camp prisoners, a uniform aesthetic for their extermination process. Examples are on display at the exhibition "Design of the Third Reich," on show at the Design Museum Den Bosch in the Netherlands until January 19, 2020.