Reich Music Days

The Reich Music Days (German: Reichsmusiktage) took place from 22 to 29 May 1938 in Düsseldorf. They were a Nazi propaganda event under the patronage of Joseph Goebbels. Goebbels had originally planned an annual return of the Reichsmusiktage. These were held again in May 1939, but ceased to exist after the beginning of the Second World War. Context In the Ideology of the Nazis a distinction was made between German and national art on the one hand and “cultural Bolshevism” and “degenerate art” on the other. Content-related and stylistic arguments were increasingly replaced by racist statements. The Nazis tried to promote the Gleichschaltung of art through special events and festivals and to make it accessible to the population as “German”. These included the Reich Music Days, which were opened in Düsseldorf on 22 May 1938, the 125th birthday of Richard Wagner. They were under the patronage of Joseph Goebbels, who described them as an event for “declarations of musical policy principles and setting the course”. The event lasted from 22–29 May and was organized by Heinz Drewes, the head of the music department in the Reich Ministry of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda. “Degenerate M