Synopses & Reviews
Seeing Hitler's Germany is the first fully researched, wide-ranging study of commercial tourism during the Third Reich. The book demonstrates how effectively the Nazi regime coordinated all German tourism organizations. By investigating a range of "normal" experiences--such as taking a tour, visiting a popular sightseeing attraction, reading a guidebook or sending a postcard--
Seeing Hitler's Germany deepens our understanding of the popular legitimization of Nazi rule.
Synopsis
Seeing Hitler's Germany is the first fully researched, wide-ranging study of commercial tourism under the swastika. The book demonstrates how effectively the Nazi regime coordinated all German tourism organizations. At the same time, it emphasizes the apparent 'normality' of many everyday tourist experiences after 1933. These certainly helped some Germans and many foreign visitors to overlook the regime's brutality. However, tourism also celebrated the most racist, chauvinist aspects of the 'new Germany', which in turn became a normal part of being a tourist under Hitler. While violence and terror have continued to dominate many recent studies of the Third Reich, this book takes a different view. By investigating a range of 'normal' experiences - such as taking a tour, visiting a popular sightseeing attraction, reading a guidebook or sending a postcard - Seeing Hitler's Germany deepens our understanding of the popular legitimization of Nazi rule.
About the Author
Kristin Semmens is Lecturer and Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the University of Victoria, Canada.
Table of Contents
Introduction * The Gleichschaltung of Commercial Tourism * Nazi Tourist Culture * The Absent Swastika: 'Normal' Tourist Culture* 'Shoulder to Shoulder'? Commercial Tourism and Kraft durch Freude * International Tourism * Tourism at War * Conclusion * Index