Kunstfreiheit: Eine deutsche Ideologie

The ‘freedom of art’ is frequently praised by German politicians and creative artists as a great good. The fact that the Grundgesetz of the Federal Republic of Germany grants art a higher degree of freedom than expressions of mere opinion is unique in the world: Everywhere else, art is subsumed under general freedom of expression and does not enjoy preferential treatment. This book begins at the starting point of Germany's special path in terms of artistic freedom in the 19th century, when art was declared ‘free’ but was in reality strictly limited: Due to the aesthetic idealism prevalent at the time, it had to be autonomous and ‘uninterested’, i.e. neither ‘lewd’ nor political. With the increasing politicisation and eroticisation of the arts in the 20th century, however, the original premises of ‘artistic freedom’ have eventually become outdated. In some respects, this is irrelevant: Freedom of expression has now been streched to such an extent that it is rarely necessary to invoke an additional measure of artistic freedom. However, state subsidisation of art can lead to the financing of works that convey messages that run counter to general social values. The resulting problem is explained in the last part of the volume in relation to anti-Semitism in the cultural sector.