The „Degenerate Art“ campaign in the context of Nazi art policy – ethical perspectives for today

The lecture sheds light on the Nazi campaign „Degenerate Art“ in the field of tension between aesthetics, ideology and memory. It will be shown that by no means all the artists concerned were political opponents of National Socialism, but that their works and attitudes have different ideological references. In the context of a „differentiating“ culture of remembrance based on contractualism, it is discussed how a distinction can be made between artistic resistance and ideological proximity – in order to create moral clarity and normative coherence in remembrance.

Prof Dr Dr Martin Langanke, born in Augsburg in 1972, has been Professor of Ethics at the Protestant University of Applied Sciences Rhineland-Westphalia-Lippe in Bochum since 2019. After completing his doctorate and habilitation, he now conducts research into issues of care and medical ethics as well as ethical aspects of dealing with the consequences of Nazi art policy.

An event organised by the Fritz Bauer Forum.

Featured image: Peter August Böckstiegel, Farm in Werther, 1921, drypoint etching. Signed, dated, localised and inscribed with technique, sheet size (W x H) 50 x 70 cm. Formerly Städtische Gemäldegalerie Bochum, date of confiscation, 8 September 1937 (Nazi inventory number 13280). Privately owned since 1945.