Hitler listens to the Berlin Philharmonic, directed by Wilhem Furtwangler.

Photograph | Digitized | Photograph Number: 44684

Overview

Caption: Hitler listens to the Berlin Philharmonic, directed by Wilhem Furtwangler.

During the Great Depression, the Berlin Philharmonic was struggling economically until Josef Goebbels signed the orchestra and its members to a Nazi civil service contract in 1933. The orchestra became a part of the Strength through Joy (abreviated KdF) recreation organization that, when not performing mandatory concerts for Hitler, were part of the affordable entertainment offered to German citizens through the Ministry of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda. Members of the orchestra were completely exempt from all military service, which kept them playing until less than a month before the Red Army reached Berlin in 1945.
Photographer: Heinrich Hoffmann
Date: 1933 - 1945
Locale: Berlin, [Berlin] Germany
Variant Locale: Berlin-Buckow
Berlin-Mariendorf
Berlin-Ploetzensee
Berlin-Reinickendorf
Berlin-Tempelhof
Berlin-Wannsee
Berlin-Schlachtensee
Berlin-Duppel
Photo Credit: United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, courtesy of Gretchen Van Pool

Photo Source: United States Holocaust Memorial Museum

Copyright: United States Holocaust Memorial Museum

Provenance: Gretchen Van Pool

Keyword: CIGARETTE CARD CONCERTS HITLER, ADOLF ORCHESTRAS/BANDS PROPAGANDA RECREATION
Photo Designation: NAZISM - GERMANY (1933-1945) -- Cultural Affairs -- Concerts