Design Museum Den Bosch in the Netherlands presents the first major
retrospective of design of the Third Reich. The exhibition entitled Design of
the Third Reich shows the contribution of design to the development of the evil
Nazi ideology. It includes the Volkswagen Beetle, the Olympic Games of 1936,
the swastika and the films of Leni Riefenstahl and other key pieces from the
Netherlands and Germany.
League of German Girls Dancing during the
Reichs Party Congress. (Photo by Hugo Jaeger/Timepix/The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty
Images)
Design of the Third Reich: why is this exhibition being organised
in Design Museum Den Bosch?
We are quite used to museums showing the good side of culture.
Indeed, design is often presented as contributing to a better world. The
history of design therefore consists of re-occurring subject matter
representing moral correctness. However, design reflects the whole of the
world, with all its good and bad sides. The Design of the Third Reich
exhibition shows design as an instrument in the hands of the ultimate forces of
darkness. The Nazis were masters in using design to
achieve their goal, to both convince and destroy huge numbers of people. Design
Museum Den Bosch is a design museum with a critical attitude. If you
wholeheartedly want to be able to say “this never again”, you must take time to
analyse how the influencing processes worked at the time. That is what this
exhibition does.
The structure of the
exhibition
Design during the Third Reich was in its essence contradictory. The
Design of the Third Reich exhibition is therefore organised on the basis of
various contradictions. The main theme was purity, meaning that various
population groups, such as Jews, homosexuals and Roma, had to be eradicated.
Nazism devised and based itself on its own history but, at the same time,
focused fanatically on the future. It was full of romance, but was also
obsessed with modern technology. To the outside world Nazism portrayed an
alluring image of prosperity and carefree amusement while, in 1933 the first
concentration camps were being set up. Together these paradoxes show how,
within twelve years, Nazism initially underwent a huge development, and then
resoundingly collapsed. They also show how design played a key role in
that process.
What is going to be
on display?
The contradictions which characterise Nazism are to be displayed in
the form of a broad selection of objects from Dutch and German museums and
collections. For example, there will be architectural elements and furniture
from the Haus der Deutschen Kunst and the Reich Chancellery. The designs show how the Nazis drew on classical design as a show of power
and a symbol of a new German culture. The many magazines which are included in
the exhibition portray the Nazi’s deep-rooted target group policy. From mothers
to soldiers, and young girls to international visitors, everyone was
individually targeted. Instruction books show how precisely each element of the
image relating to the Nazis was designed. Nothing was left to chance during the
mass rallies.
Public programme
The exhibition includes an extensive public programme with
activities for all visitors. Each activity starts by informing, reflecting and
analysing and leads via dialogue to more knowledge and a greater understanding
of this historic period, of design and its contemporary effect. Individual
visitors can use an audio tour and will be accompanied by museum employees,
there are meetings for specific groups of visitors and a symposium for museum
professionals. A special route through the exhibition has been created for
families which focuses on intergenerational learning and dialogue. Museum-based
lessons have been developed for pupils and students relating to themes such as
‘guilty design’ and ‘us and them, child in the war’. On Sundays there are theme-based
lectures during which a broader story is told, based on a specific object or
historic moment, about Nazi design and history. The exhibition is one of the
activities being organised to mark the 75 year anniversary of the liberation of
Den Bosch and the surrounding area. Within that framework a number of lectures
and special tours are being organised throughout the city.
https://designmuseum.nl/en/tentoonstelling/design-van-het-derde-rijk/
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