The Swastika and the Stage
German Theatre and Society, 1933–1945

Based on extensive archival research, this is a comprehensive study of theatre in the Third Reich. It explores the contending pressures and ambitions within the regime and the Nazi party, within the German theatre profession itself and the theatre-going public. Together, these shaped theatrical practice in the Nazi years. By tracing the origins of the Nazi stage back to the right-wing theatre reform movement of the late nineteenth century, Strobl suggests that theatre was widely regarded as a central pillar of German national identity. The role played by the stage in the evolving collective German identity after 1933 is examined through chapters on theatre and Nazi racial policy, anti-religious campaigns and the uses of history. The book traces the evolving fortunes of theatre in the Third Reich, to the years of 'total war', and the resulting physical destruction of most German playhouses.

Reviews & endorsements

"...the stage under Nazi Germany was not a cultural black hole...Strobl gives this neglected fascist theatrical history its due, explaining the difficulty of producing theater under contradictory political and ideological institutions....a revealing look at all elements of theater in the Third Reich: playwrights, performers, critics, censors, theatergoers. No one else has offered, in English, such thorough scholarship by mining so much archival material. Including an excellent bibliography and index, this book counters the prevailing scholarly bias that regularly ignores cultural production under fascism. Highly Recommended. -R.C. Conrad, University of Dayton, Choice, September 2008

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Product details

• Date Published: November 2009
• format: Paperback
• isbn: 9780521122726
• length: 356 pages

• dimensions: 229 x 152 x 20 mm
• weight: 0.52kg
• availability: Available