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Holger R. Stunz
Hitler and the “Gleichschaltung” of the Bayreuth Festival
Keywords: Bayreuther Festspiele 1933/34, Winifred Wagner und Hitler, Künstlerische Unabhängigkeit
The Richard Wagner Festival in Bayreuth is considered the epitome of National Socialist cultural representation. Holger R. Stunz investigates the genesis of this phenomenon and highlights the decisive role the year 1933 played, when the Festival experienced an organisational and financial transformation, as well as new structures to the makeup of the audience. The practice of the regime to hand out free tickets influenced the self-image of the Festival as an independent institution as well as the composition and disposition of the audience. The eminent position of the Festival was only possible due to Hitler′s personal decisions, who also interfered in artistic questions of principle. 1933 marked the beginning of an abeyance, which lasted until the end of the “Wartime Festivals”.
Vierteljahrshefte für Zeitgeschichte, Oldenbourg Wissenschaftsverlag
Print ISSN: 0042-5702
Volume: 55, 02/2007
Pages: 237 - 268