{{Short description|List of artists considered crucial to National Socialist culture}} {{DISPLAYTITLE:''Gottbegnadeten'' list}} {{more citations needed|date=March 2015}} [[File:Friedrich Kayssler.jpg|200px|thumb|[[Friedrich Kayßler]], one of the "irreplaceable actors" on the list]] The '''''Gottbegnadeten-Liste''''' ("God-gifted list" or "Important Artist Exempt List") was a 36-page list of artists considered crucial to [[Art of the Third Reich|National Socialist culture]]. The list was assembled in September 1944 by [[Joseph Goebbels]], the head of the [[Ministry of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda]], and Germany's supreme leader [[Adolf Hitler]].
==History== The list exempted the designated artists from military mobilisation during the final stages of [[World War II]]. Each listed artist received a letter from the German Propaganda Ministry which certified his or her status. A total of 1,041 names of artists, architects, music conductors, singers, writers and filmmakers appeared on the list. Of that number, 24 were named as especially indispensable; they thus became the equivalent of [[National Socialism]]'s "national treasures".
Goebbels included about 640 motion picture actors, writers and directors on an extended version of the list. They were to be protected as part of his [[propaganda film]] efforts, which persisted through the end of the war (and culminating in the expensive final [[Universum Film AG|UFA]] production ''[[Kolberg (film)|Kolberg]]'', released in January 1945).
Many of the cultural figures appearing on the list are no longer widely remembered but there are exceptions, including a number of renowned classical musicians such as the composers [[Richard Strauss]], [[Hans Pfitzner]], and [[Carl Orff]], the orchestral conductors [[Wilhelm Furtwängler]] and [[Herbert von Karajan]], and the [[Wagnerian]] [[baritone]] [[Rudolf Bockelmann]]. The only foreigner ''(Ausländer)'' on the list was Dutch actor [[Johannes Heesters]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Klee |first=Ernst |year=2007 |title=Das Kulturlexikon zum Dritten Reich: Wer war was vor und nach 1945 |location=Frankfurt am Main |publisher=Fischer |page=227 |isbn=978-3-10-039326-5 |language=de}}</ref>
== Special listed artists ==
===Architects=== * architect [[Leonhard Gall]] (1884–1952), "Reichskultursenator" * architect [[Hermann Giesler]] (1898–1987), "Reichskultursenator" * architect [[Wilhelm Kreis]] (1873–1955) * architect and critic [[Paul Schultze-Naumburg]] (1869–1949)
===Visual artists=== [[File:Arno Breker werkend.jpg|thumb|upright|Sculptor [[Arno Breker]]]] * sculptor [[Arno Breker]] (1900–1991), named as "Reichskultursenator" (Reich Culture Senator) * sculptor [[Fritz Klimsch]] (1870–1960) * sculptor [[Georg Kolbe]] (1877–1947) * sculptor [[Josef Thorak]] (1889–1952) * history painter [[Arthur Kampf]] (1864–1950) * painter [[Werner Peiner]] (1897–1984)
===Authors=== * [[Gerhart Hauptmann]] (1862–1946) * [[Hans Carossa]] (1878–1956) * [[Hanns Johst]] (1890–1979), "Reichskultursenator" * [[Erwin Guido Kolbenheyer]] (1878–1962) * [[Agnes Miegel]] (1879–1964) * [[Ina Seidel]] (1885–1974)
===Musicians=== [[File:Heinrich Schroth by Alexander Binder.jpg|thumb|upright|Actor [[Heinrich Schroth]]]] * [[Richard Strauss]] (1864–1949) * [[Hans Pfitzner]] (1869–1949) * [[Wilhelm Furtwängler]] (1886–1954){{sf |Rathkolb|1991|p=176}} (removed on December 7, 1944 because of his relationships with [[German resistance to Nazism|German resistance]].<ref>{{cite book|last1=Roncigli|first1=Audrey|title=Le cas Furtwängler|date=2009|publisher=Imago|location=Paris|page=171}}</ref>){{Better source needed |reason= Roncigli's book has many glaring factual errors; a lot of its assertions, including this one, are presented without any backing evidence. |date= September 2022}}
===Actors=== * [[Otto Falckenberg]] (1873–1947) * [[Gustaf Gründgens]] (1899–1963) * [[Johannes Heesters]] (1903–2011) * [[Friedrich Kayßler]] (1874–1945) * [[Eugen Klöpfer]] (1886–1950) * [[Karl Kneidinger]] (1882–1952) * [[Hermine Körner]] (1878–1960) * [[Heinz Rühmann]] (1902–1994) * [[Heinrich Schroth]] (1871–1945)
===Singers=== * [[Rudolf Bockelmann]] (1892–1958) * [[Josef Greindl]] (1912–1993) * [[Heinrich Schlusnus]] (1888–1952) * [[Wilhelm Strienz]] (1899–1987) * [[Peter Anders (tenor)|Peter Anders]] (1908-1954)
== Further listed artists on the "Führerliste" == There was also an extended list, the so-called "Führerliste" that included "God-gifted artists" who were not to be drafted but worked as "Künstler im Kriegseinsatz" (artists in the war effort).
===Authors=== [[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 183-S61180, Hans Grimm.jpg|upright|thumb|Writer [[Hans Grimm]]]] * [[Hans Friedrich Blunck]] (1888–1961) * [[Friedrich Griese]] (1890–1975) * [[Josef Weinheber]] (1892–1945) * [[Gustav Frenssen]] (1863–1945) * [[Hans Grimm]] (1875–1959) * [[Max Halbe]] (1865–1944) * [[Heinrich Lilienfein]] (1879–1952) * [[Börries Freiherr von Münchhausen]] (1874–1945) * [[Wilhelm Schäfer]] (1868–1952) * [[Helene Voigt-Diederichs]] (1875–1961)
===Composers=== [[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 183-13756-0005, Berlin, Arbeiterkonferenz der Schriftsteller und Komponisten cropped to single out Ottmar Gerster.jpg|upright|thumb|Conductor and composer [[Ottmar Gerster]]]] [[File:Carl Orff by Hans Holdt, 1940.jpg|thumb|upright|Composer [[Carl Orff]]]] * [[Johann Nepomuk David]] (1895–1977) * [[Werner Egk]] (1901–1983) * {{ill|Gerhard Frommel|de}} (1906–1984) * [[Harald Genzmer]] (1909–2007) * [[Ottmar Gerster]] (1897–1969) * [[Kurt Hessenberg]] (1908–1994) * [[Paul Höffer]] (1895–1949) * [[Karl Höller]] (1907–1987) * [[Mark Lothar]] (1902–1985) * [[Joseph Marx]] (1882–1964) * [[Gottfried Müller (composer)|Gottfried Müller]] (1914–1993) * [[Carl Orff]] (1895–1982) * [[Ernst Pepping]] (1901–1981) * [[Max Trapp]] (1887–1971) * [[Fried Walter]] (1907–1996) * [[Hermann Zilcher]] (1881–1948){{sf |Rathkolb|1991|p=176}}<ref>{{cite book |last=Rathkolb |first=Oliver |date=2021 |title=Carl Orff und der Nationalsozialismus. Publikationen des Orff-Zentrums München, Band II/2 |publisher=Schott Music GmbH & Co. |location=Mainz |pages=121–24|isbn=978-3-79-572755-0}}</ref>
===Conductors=== [[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 183-R92264, Herbert von Karajan.jpg|upright|thumb|Conductor [[Herbert von Karajan]]]] * [[Hermann Abendroth]] (1883–1956) * [[Karl Elmendorff]] (1891–1962) * [[Robert Heger]] (1886–1978) * [[Oswald Kabasta]] (1896–1946) * [[Herbert von Karajan]] (1908–1989) * [[Johannes Schüler]] (1894–1966) * [[Karl Böhm]] (1894–1981) * [[Eugen Jochum]] (1902–1987) * [[Hans Knappertsbusch]] (1888–1965) * [[Joseph Keilberth]] (1908–1968) * [[Rudolf Krasselt]] (1879–1954) * [[Clemens Krauss]] (1893–1954) * [[Hans Schmidt-Isserstedt]] (1900–1973) * [[Carl Schuricht]] (1880–1967)
===Instrumentalists=== [[File:Walter-Gieseking.jpg|thumb|upright|Composer and pianist [[Walter Gieseking]]]] * [[Ludwig Hoelscher]] (1907–1996), cellist * [[Elly Ney]] (1882–1968), pianist * [[Walter Morse Rummel]] (1887–1953), pianist * [[Günther Ramin]] (1898–1956), organist and choirmaster * [[Walter Gieseking]] (1895–1956), pianist * [[Wilhelm Stross]] (1907–1966), violinist * [[Gerhard Taschner]] (1922–1976), violinist
===Theater and opera=== [[File:Heinrich George by Hugo Erfurth, c. 1930.jpg|thumb|upright|Actor [[Heinrich George]]]] * [[Raoul Aslan]] (1886–1958), director and actor * [[Heinrich George]] (1893–1946), actor * [[Werner Krauß]] (1884–1959), actor * [[Karl-Heinz Stroux]] (1908–1985), actor and director * [[Heinrich Schlusnus]] (1888–1952), singer * [[Wilhelm Strienz]] (1899–1987), singer * [[Paula Wessely]] (1907–2000), actress
===Fine Arts=== [[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 183-2008-0208-501, Ludwig Dettmann.jpg|thumb|upright|Painter [[Ludwig Dettmann]]]] * [[Claus Bergen]] (1885–1964), marine painter * [[Ludwig Dettmann]] (1865–1944), war painter (member of the [[Berlin Secession]]) * [[Fritz Mackensen]] (1866–1953), painter * [[Franz Stassen]] (1869–1949), painter * [[Clemens Klotz]] (1886–1969), architect * [[Alfred Mahlau]] (1894–1967), painter * [[Ernst Neufert]] (1900–1986), architect * [[Bruno Paul]] (1874–1968), architect * [[Richard Scheibe]] (1879–1964), sculptor * [[Joseph Wackerle]] (1880–1959), sculptor
==Special film-list initiated by Goebbels== [[File:Wolf Albach-Retty by Willinger, Vienna.jpg|thumb|upright|Actor [[Wolf Albach-Retty]]]] * [[Wolf Albach-Retty]] (1908–1967) * [[Willy Fritsch]] (1901–1973) * [[Attila Hörbiger]] (1896–1987) * [[Viktor de Kowa]] (1904–1973) * [[Harry Piel]] (1892–1963) * [[Hans Albers]] (1891–1960) * [[Karl Dannemann]] (1896–1945) * [[O. W. Fischer]] (1915–2004) * [[Hans Holt]] (1909–2001) * [[Paul Hörbiger]] (1894–1981) * [[Ferdinand Marian]] (1902–1946) * [[Armin Schweizer]] (1892–1968) * [[Hermann Thimig]] (1890–1982)
==See also== * [[Reserved occupation]] * [[Reich Cultural Senate]] * [[List of honorary professorships awarded by Adolf Hitler]]
==References== {{reflist}}
*Maximilian Haas: ''Die Gottbegnadeten-Liste (BArch R 55/20252a)'' in: Juri Giannini, Maximilian Haas und Erwin Strouhal (Hrsg.): ''Eine Institution zwischen Repräsentation und Macht. Die Universität für Musik und darstellende Kunst Wien im Kulturleben des Nationalsozialismus''. Mille Tre Verlag, Vienna 2014, pp. 239–276. {{ISBN|978-3-900198-36-7}}. * {{cite book |last=Rathkolb |first=Oliver |title=Führertreu und gottbegnadet: Künstlereliten im Dritten Reich |date=1991 |publisher=ÖBV |location=Vienna}}
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