Why Hitler adored Richard Wagner

Flip_flop_politics
Published on Aug 30, 2022
For years, Hitler was a star guest at the Bayreuth Festival, the consecration site par excellence for Wagner's operas. The dictator saw himself as a Wagnerian and basically became a part of the Wagner family, which managed the composer's legacy. He even interfered in the organization of the festival, helping to decide on the program and staging. The cult of Richard Wagner, who had died 50 years before Hitler came to power, was politically fueled by Hitler's presence. Wagner's music, in turn, fueled Hitler's delusions of grandeur. But how did Hitler come to idolize Wagner? Was it simply because of Wagner's anti-Semitism, which he gave free rein to in his infamous pamphlet "On Judaism in Music"? Was it the Germanic heroic sagas that Wagner set to music and that Hitler was able to exploit for his ideology? Was it the pull of Wagner's music? With scholars and musicians, this episode of Arts Unveiled explores how Hitler's fervent admiration of Wagner turned his music into the soundtrack of National Socialism. And what Hitler's appropriation of Wagner means for the way we deal with his music today.

00:00 Intro: Why Hitler idolized Wagner
3:56 Reason 1: Hitler loved heroic tales
7:15 Reason 2: Hitlerâ€™s own dashed dreams of becoming an artist
8:28 Reason 3: Hitler and Wagner were both anti-semites
14:57 Reason 4: Wagnerâ€™s Bayreuth Festival energized Hitler
17:39 Reason 5: The Wagners were a surrogate family for Hitler
20:44 Reason 6: Wagnerâ€™s operas became the soundtrack of dictatorship
22:17 Reason 7: Wagner encouraged Hitlerâ€™s megalomania

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