The Local Administrations of the Reichskammer der Bildenden Künste in the Ostmark

Abstract

After the Anschluss in March 1938, German Reich laws, including the Reich Chamber of Culture Act of 1933, were also implemented in Austria, marking the beginning of the enforced conformity of all cultural workers. The Reichskammer der Bildenden Künste (Reich Chamber of Fine Arts, RdbK) became the central organ for the administration of artists and art production, and membership became a prerequisite for practicing the profession. The admissions procedure tested not only the artists’ ability, but also their political reliability and “ancestry,” enabling the Nazi regime to gain complete control of the arts and enforce its ideological doctrine.

Regional offices of the RdbK were established in the seven districts of the Ostmark, headed by artists loyal to the party. The Reich Chamber in Vienna―headed by the painter Leopold Blauensteiner―had the largest administrative structure; in 1938, its quarters were set up in the Künstlerhaus on Karlsplatz. The representatives of the different categories of the arts came from the regional artistic community and included both established artists and politically active younger ones. In the smaller districts, the administrative structure envisioned only one director per chamber.

This article examines the Reich Chamber of Fine Arts in the Ostmark, analyzes its organizational structure, and documents the political and ideological continuities of the most important officials of the district chambers.