Third Reich Art 1938

"We shall discover and encourage the artists who are able to impress upon the State of the German people the cultural stamp of the Germanic race . . . in their origin and in the picture which they present they are the expressions of the soul and the ideals of the community." Adolf Hitler

Art of the Third Reich was characterized by a style of Romantic realism based on classical models. While banning modern styles as degenerate, the NSDAP promoted paintings that were traditional in manner and that exalted the "blood and soil" values of racial purity, militarism, and obedience. Other popular themes for NSDAP art were the Volk at work in the fields, a return to the simple virtues of Heimat (love of homeland), the manly virtues of the National Socialist struggle, and the lauding of the female activities of child bearing and raising symbolized by the phrase Kinder, Küche, Kirche ("children, kitchen, church").