Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht

Kunst Und Kirche Im Nationalsozialismus Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht

With the implementation of the Imperial Cultural Chamber Act (Reichskulturkammergesetz), the Christian churches in Germany lost their autonomy on arts policy. The church arts associations were placed under the of the newly formed authority for Christian art Reichsgemeinschaften christlicher Kunst, which in turn was integrated into the Imperial Chamber of Fine Arts. Church art thus became part of the NS system and was subordinate to the adminstrative control of the state authorities. The consequences of political and structural changes for church art and church architecture have hardly been investigated at all. How did the arts policy of the churches change after 1933? What influence did the political relation between Church and state have on the development of church art and architecture? Did the Church and the state share common interests in art and architecture? What scope was there for the church commissioners and the artists working in the service of the Church? What networks and what means of funding were used? What was the churches attitude to modern art and architecture? What aesthetics and what semantics did they prefer? What adjustments were made to conform?