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.