Designers in The Third Reich

Many household artefacts dating from the Nazi era have a contemporary feel to them, such as the tableware created by Hermann Gretsch und Heinrich Löffelhardt, the ceramics of Otto Lindig or the glassware of Wilhelm Wagenfeld. However, it would be fundamentally wrong to conclude from this that the Nazis approved of the basic concepts of modernism - at least in as far as product design was concerned. Simplicity of form was a fundamental tenet of Nazi ideology; those in power wished to see the imposition of "eternal" or "timeless" designs that would prevent the further dissemination of what they perceived to be personalised and "degenerate" artistic concepts. Even after seizing power, the Nazis continued to permit the sale of furniture created by designers they considered unacceptable, such as Le Corbusier and Mies van der Rohe, even though the designers themselves had to remain anonymous.