Abstract des Autors

In the depiction of the male nude in art both nationalist Socialist and Aryan romantic attempted to transcend sensuality and to glorify superiority. Fascism was puritanical. It was preoccupied with the nude male as a representational icon of political power. The strong body signified the strong state. Aryan fascist art represented an aggressive nationalism based on a militant masculinity expressed symbolically through images of the naked muscular male body. This preoccupation with the male physique was racial. Perfection of the male body symbolized perfection of mind and soul and represented racial superiority reflected in political supremacy. The muscular male body represented political will, power and dominance. However, until the Third Reich, in culture the 'male body had never before been elevated so self-consciously, into a central political symbol'. Its elevation was the outcome of Greek inspiration, Aryan romanticism, fin de siecle naturist theosophy, the impact of Great War imagery, but also the conviction and projection of the Fascist vision and the genius of Arno Breker. Verf.-Referat