Art and Politics

Begin by asking students what art means to them. Next, ask students to name different types of art and write down these responses in a communal space.

Pull up the Visual Essay: Free Expression in the Weimar Republic by Facing History and Ourselves. Read the Introduction to the Visual Essay as a class and scroll through the different artworks. Prompt students to look at the art and think about what they see, what the piece represents, and whether or not it sheds a positive light on Germany. The brief descriptions accompanying each piece should help.

One of the pieces featured, Hannah Hoch, The Kitchen Knife, 1919, has a video (4.5 minutes) from Smarthistory that takes a deeper dive into the aspects of the piece. Show this video when you come to that piece.

After showing that video, ask students the following:

• Why could an art piece like this only be created in a democracy?
• How does this piece demonstrate art being a form of social criticism?

In pairs or small groups, have students respond to the three questions at the bottom of the visual essay (shown below). Give students approximately 10 minutes to discuss on their own before opening up into a class discussion to go over their answers.

1. Fritz Mackensen’s 1982 painting Der Saeugling (The Baby) is one example of the more traditional art that many Germans were familiar with before World War I. Compare and contrast this painting with the more modern Weimar-era works of art that follow in this visual essay. What differences do you notice? What might those differences reveal about tensions present within German society during the Weimar Republic?
2. What can we learn about history from artwork? How do the works of art here connect to what you have already learned about the Weimar era in Germany? How do they extend your knowledge of this era? How do they challenge your thinking about Weimar Germany?
3. Is freedom of expression important to a democracy? Under what conditions, if any, should such freedom be restricted?