![Paul Schultze-Naumburg](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1b/Paul_Schultze-Naumburg.jpg)
Paul Schultze-Naumburg (10 June 1869 – 19 May 1949) was a German traditionalist architect, painter, publicist and author. A leading critic of
modern architecture
Modern architecture, or modernist architecture, was an architectural movement or architectural style based upon new and innovative technologies of construction, particularly the use of glass, steel, and reinforced concrete; the idea that form ...
, he joined the
NSDAP
The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party (german: Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei or NSDAP), was a far-right politics, far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that crea ...
in 1930 (aged 61) and became an important advocate of
Nazi architecture
Nazi architecture is the architecture promoted by Adolf Hitler and the Nazi regime from 1933 until its fall in 1945, connected with urban planning in Nazi Germany. It is characterized by three forms: a stripped neoclassicism, typified by the ...
.
Life
Schultze-Naumburg was born in Almrich (now part of
Naumburg
Naumburg () is a town in (and the administrative capital of) the district Burgenlandkreis, in the state of Saxony-Anhalt, Central Germany (cultural area), Central Germany. It has a population of around 33,000. The Naumburg Cathedral became a UNES ...
) in the current federal state of
Saxony-Anhalt
Saxony-Anhalt (german: Sachsen-Anhalt ; nds, Sassen-Anholt) is a state of Germany, bordering the states of Brandenburg, Saxony, Thuringia and Lower Saxony. It covers an area of
and has a population of 2.18 million inhabitants, making it the ...
and, by 1900, was a well-known painter and architect, emerging as a more-conservative member of the group of artists who established the
Jugendstil
''Jugendstil'' ("Youth Style") was an artistic movement, particularly in the decorative arts, that was influential primarily in Germany and elsewhere in Europe to a lesser extent from about 1895 until about 1910. It was the German counterpart of ...
and the Arts and Crafts workshops in Munich. His series of books the ''Kulturarbeiten'' ("Works of Culture"), nine volumes published 1900–1917, were extremely popular and established him as an important tastemaker for the German middle class. By the First World War, he had become a strong proponent of traditional architecture, an originator of the "Circa 1800" movement, and an important voice in both the
Deutscher Werkbund
The Deutscher Werkbund (English: "German Association of Craftsmen"; ) is a German association of artists, architects, designers and industrialists established in 1907. The Werkbund became an important element in the development of modern arch ...
, and the nationalist German architecture and landscape preservation movement. A well-known example of his architecture from that time is the
Cecilienhof
Cecilienhof Palace (german: Schloss Cecilienhof) is a palace in Potsdam, Brandenburg, Germany, built from 1914 to 1917 in the layout of an English Tudor manor house. Cecilienhof was the last palace built by the House of Hohenzollern that ruled t ...
Palace in Potsdam, built in 1914–1917, on the orders of
Wilhelm II
Wilhelm II (Friedrich Wilhelm Viktor Albert; 27 January 18594 June 1941) was the last German Emperor (german: Kaiser) and King of Prussia, reigning from 15 June 1888 until his abdication on 9 November 1918. Despite strengthening the German Empir ...
, for his son, crown prince
Wilhelm
Wilhelm may refer to:
People and fictional characters
* William Charles John Pitcher, costume designer known professionally as "Wilhelm"
* Wilhelm (name), a list of people and fictional characters with the given name or surname
Other uses
* Mount ...
.
On 5 January 1922, Paul Schultze-Naumburg married in Saaleck Margarete Karolina Berta Dörr (1896–1960). They were childless and divorced unpleasantly on 7 February 1934. A couple of weeks later, Margarete married the Reich Minister of the Interior
Wilhelm Frick
Wilhelm Frick (12 March 1877 – 16 October 1946) was a prominent German politician of the Nazi Party (NSDAP), who served as Reich Minister of the Interior in Adolf Hitler's cabinet from 1933 to 1943 and as the last governor of the Protectorate ...
.
In response to Germany's defeat in the
First World War
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
, and of his own traditionalist marginalization in the interwar "progressive" architectural discourse, Schultze-Naumburg's articles and books began to take on a far more robust character, condemning modern art and architecture in racial terms, thereby providing some of the basis for
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...
's theories, in which
classical Greece
Classical Greece was a period of around 200 years (the 5th and 4th centuries BC) in Ancient Greece,The "Classical Age" is "the modern designation of the period from about 500 B.C. to the death of Alexander the Great in 323 B.C." ( Thomas R. Marti ...
and the
Middle Ages
In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...
were the true sources of
Aryan
Aryan or Arya (, Indo-Iranian *''arya'') is a term originally used as an ethnocultural self-designation by Indo-Iranians in ancient times, in contrast to the nearby outsiders known as 'non-Aryan' (*''an-arya''). In Ancient India, the term ' ...
art. Schultze-Naumburg wrote books such as ''Die Kunst der Deutschen. Ihr Wesen und ihre Werke'' ("The Art of the Germans. Its Nature and Its Works") and ''Kunst und Rasse'' ("Art and Race"), the latter published in 1928, in which he argued that only "racially pure" artists could produce a healthy art which upheld timeless
ideals of
classical beauty
Beauty is commonly described as a feature of objects that makes these objects pleasurable to perceive. Such objects include landscapes, sunsets, humans and works of art. Beauty, together with art and taste, is the main subject of aesthetics, o ...
, while racially "mixed" modern artists showed their inferiority and corruption by producing distorted artwork. As evidence of that, he reproduced examples of modern art next to photographs of people with deformities and diseases, graphically reinforcing the idea of
modernism
Modernism is both a philosophy, philosophical and arts movement that arose from broad transformations in Western world, Western society during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The movement reflected a desire for the creation of new fo ...
as a sickness.
Along with
Alexander von Senger
Alexander von Senger (7 May 1880 in Geneva – 30 June 1968 in Einsiedeln), was a Swiss architect and architectural theorist.
Hugues Rodolphe Alexandre von Senger was born in Geneva. After his humanistic and technical Matura at the Collège Ca ...
,
Eugen Honig,
Konrad Nonn
Konrad is a Germans, German (with variants ''Kunz'' and ''Kunze'') given name and surname that means "bold counselor" and may refer to:
People Given name
Surname
*Alexander Konrad (1890–1940), Russian explorer
*Antoine Konrad (born 1975), bir ...
and
German Bestelmeyer
German Bestelmeyer (8 June 1874 – 30 June 1942) was a German architect, university lecturer, and proponent of Nazi architecture. Most of his work was in South Germany.
Life and career
Bestelmeyer was born in Nuremberg, the son of a militar ...
, Schultze-Naumburg was a member of a Nazi para-governmental art propaganda unit called the Kampfbund deutscher Architekten und Ingenieure (KDAI) (Combat Association of German Architects and Engineers).
In September 1944, Schultze-Naumburg was named in the
Gottbegnadeten list
The ''Gottbegnadeten-Liste'' ("God-gifted list" or "Important Artist Exempt List") was a 36-page list of artists considered crucial to Nazi culture. The list was assembled in September 1944 by Joseph Goebbels, the head of the Ministry of Publi ...
as one of the first rank of artists and writers important to Nazi culture.
Schultze-Naumburg died in
Jena
Jena () is a German city and the second largest city in Thuringia. Together with the nearby cities of Erfurt and Weimar, it forms the central metropolitan area of Thuringia with approximately 500,000 inhabitants, while the city itself has a popu ...
in 1949. His ashes were placed in the
Weimar Historical Cemetery, in a mausoleum designed by him in 1909 for the poet
Ernst von Wildenbruch
Ernst von Wildenbruch (3 February 184515 January 1909) was a German poet and dramatist.
Biography
Wildenbruch was born at Beirut in Lebanon, the son of the Prussian consul-general, Ludwig von Wildenbruch, who was himself an illegitimate son of ...
.
Works
In addition to his publications mentioned above, others are here. This is not a complete list. His books were very popular, were reprinted many times, and remain available today.
* ''Häusliche Kunstpflege'' (Leipzig 1900).
* ''Kunst und Kunstpflege'' (Leipzig 1901).
* ''Technik der Malerei: ein Handbuch fur Kunstler und Dilettanten'' (1901)
* ''Kulturarbeiten'' (1904)
* ''Das Studium und die Ziele der Malerei'' (1905)
* ''Die Entstellung unsres Landes'' (Munich 1908)
* ''Die Kultur des weiblichen Körpers als Grundlage der Frauenkleidung'' (Jena 1912)
* ''Die Gestaltung der Landschaft durch den Menschen''. Zweiter Band: III: "Der geologische Aufbau der Landschaft und die Nutzbarmachung der Mineralien IV. Die Wasserwirtschaft" (Munich 1922/8)
* ''Flaches oder geneigtes Dach? : mit einer Rundfrage an deutsche Architekten und deren Antworten'' (Berlin 1927)
*
Kunst und Rasse, Munich 1928, 4th edition 1942'
* ''Bildmäßige Photographie, Mit 60 Bildbeispielen'' (Munich 1938)
* ''Die Kultur des Weiblichen Körpers als Grundlage der Frauenkleidung''
Selected projects
Schloss Freudenberg in Wiesbaden von Süden.jpg, Schloss Freudenberg in Wiesbaden
Wiesbaden () is a city in central western Germany and the capital of the state of Hesse. , it had 290,955 inhabitants, plus approximately 21,000 United States citizens (mostly associated with the United States Army). The Wiesbaden urban area ...
Klingenpfad (7th stage)(V-16).jpg, Schloss Hackhausen in Solingen
Solingen (; li, Solich) is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located some 25 km east of Düsseldorf along the northern edge of the region called Bergisches Land, south of the Ruhr area, and, with a 2009 population of 161,366, ...
File:Schloss Bahrendorf.JPG, Schloss Bahrendorf in Sülzetal
Sülzetal is a Municipalities in Germany, municipality in the Börde (district), Börde Districts of Germany, district in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It is situated on the creek Sülze (Elbe), Sülze, a tributary of the Elbe, about southwest of Magdeb ...
File:Berlin-Kladow Gutshaus Neukladow (1).JPG, Guest house in Kladow
Kladow () is the southernmost district of the Borough of Spandau in Berlin, Germany.
Geography
Located approximately 17 Km from central Berlin (Charlottenburg), the district of Kladow is bordered by the District of Gatow to the north, by the Ha ...
Grabow manor.jpg, Manor in Grabow
Grabow () is a town in the Ludwigslust-Parchim district, in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Germany. It is situated on the river Elde, 7 km (4.35 mi) southeast of Ludwigslust, and 34 km (21.12 mi) northwest of Wittenberge. It ...
Seestraße 43 Potsdam.jpg, Country home in Potsdam
Potsdam () is the capital and, with around 183,000 inhabitants, largest city of the German state of Brandenburg. It is part of the Berlin/Brandenburg Metropolitan Region. Potsdam sits on the River Havel, a tributary of the Elbe, downstream of B ...
See also
*
List of German artists
Bibliography
* Jose-Manuel GARCÍA ROIG, ''"Tres arquitectos del periodo guillermino. Hermman Muthesius. Paul Schultze-Naumburg.
Paul Mebes"'', Valladolid (Spain), 2006, , Universidad de Valladolid, Spain
References
Notes
Sources
*Adam, Peter. ''Art of the Third Reich'' (1992). New York:
Harry N. Abrams, Inc.
Abrams, formerly Harry N. Abrams, Inc. (HNA), is an American publisher of art and illustrated books, children's books, and stationery.
The enterprise is a subsidiary of the French publisher La Martinière Groupe. Run by President and CEO Michael ...
*Barron, Stephanie, ed. Degenerate Art:' The Fate of the Avant-Garde in Nazi Germany'' (1991). New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc..
*Grosshans, Henry. ''Hitler and the Artists'' (1983). New York: Holmes & Meyer.
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Schultze-Naumburg, Paul
1869 births
1949 deaths
People from Naumburg (Saale)
People from the Province of Saxony
Nazi architecture
20th-century German architects
German art critics
Architects in the Nazi Party
Nazi Party politicians
Militant League for German Culture members
Members of the Reichstag of the Weimar Republic
Members of the Reichstag of Nazi Germany
Academic staff of Bauhaus University, Weimar
19th-century German architects