Conductor Herbert von Karajan joined Adolf Hitler's National Socialist German Workers' Party (NSDAP), not once, but twice — once in Austria and once in Germany. Yet the celebrated classical musician was still feted after World War II as one of the greatest conductors of all time.

Hitler's master architect Albert Speer served 20 years in prison due to his Nazi past, but then in the 1970s he published books about his life as a Nazi, and they were wildly successful.

Wieland Wagner, a family friend of Adolf Hitler, made a name for himself in the 1950s as the director of the prestigious Bayreuth Festival, acclaimed for his innovative opera stagings.

Composer Richard Strauss, the conductor Wilhelm Furtwängler, the sculptors Arno Breker and Willy Meller all benefited from National Socialism as well, and were largely able to resume their work after the end of the war.

Their names were on the so-called list of "divinely gifted," artists and cultural figures which Adolf Hitler drew up in August 1944 during the final phase of the Second World War. Those on the list fell under special protection and did not have to do military service.

Germany's denazification process

Starting in 1945, people with close ties to Hitler had to undergo a so-called denazification process led by the Allies. It aimed to remove those who had been in the Nazi party from positions of power in the new postwar society.

"In the process of democratization, it was a security procedure during which people had to fill out very precise questionnaires in order to determine who was allowed to stay in which professions," historian Hanne Lessau told DW.

Those in public service or high-ranking professionals fell under increased scrutiny. False statements in the questionnaires — especially about having joined the Nazi party or not — were met with harsh punishment by the allies, especially the US.

After a two-year-ban, conductor Wilhelm Furtwängler managed to demonstrate he had never been a Nazi and was allowed to conduct the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra again.

Hitler's ties with the Wagner family

Meanwhile, the Bayreuth Festival director at the time, Winifred Wagner, had to give up her position.

The grandson of composer Richard Wagner, Wieland Wagner, was also on Hitler's list of favored artists. Richard Wagner had founded the prestigious Bayreuth Festival, which took place for the first time in 1876. In 1908, his son Siegfried Wagner, and later his daughter-in-law Winifred Wagner, took over the management. The couple supported Adolf Hitler as early as the 1920s, even before he came to power. Winifred Wagner had even traveled to Munich to witness the 1923 putsch.

"Hitler had the friendliest of family connections. Wieland, the first-born of Siegfried and Winifred Wagner, was the designated crown prince, the center of attention and personally privileged by Hitler," says Sven Friedrich, director of the Richard Wagner Museum in Bayreuth.

The stage designer and opera director was a typical representative of his generation, explains Freidrich: Wieland Wagner "did exactly what millions of his peers did, he suppressed everything. After the war, he always said 'Hitler is finished for me.'"

Yet, Wieland Wagner did more than simply stay silent in the face of Nazi atrocities, like millions of other Germans. "For me, the limit is always where people do things for their own benefit that they didn't have to do," says Wagner expert Sven Friedrich, pointing out that Wieland Wagner used the Nazi system to his advantage to get rid of his rival, the successful set designer Emil Preetorius. Wagner denounced him as being sympathetic to Jewish people, which initially led to Preetorius being forbidden to work.

Nevertheless, Wagner was merely fined during the course of his denazification proceedings and still allowed to run the prestigious Bayreuth Festival after the war, where he had a successful career, and is credited with revitalizing the festival and distancing it from its associations with Hitler.

Questionable commissions

In 2021, Wolfgang Brauneis curated the exhibition "Die Liste der 'Gottbegnadeten Künstler des Nationalsozialismus in der Bundesrepublik" ("'Divinely Gifted': National Socialism's Favored Artists in the Federal Republic") at the German Historical Museum in Berlin.

While researching, he discovered that many renowned artists supported by the Nazis continued to have successful careers after 1945.

"Although the new, progressive art scene actually ignored these artists, they still received an incredible number of well-paid commissions in public spaces, town halls, schools, theaters and hospitals after 1945," Brauneis told DW.

Their pasts didn't seem to dissuade anyone from giving them work — even for those who had openly supported the Nazi party.

Sculptor Willy Meller, for example, was commissioned by the Nazi Party to create the large sculpture of a torchbearer for the Ordensburg Vogelsang complex. Then, after the war, in 1962, he presented his sculpture "The Mourner" at the memorial hall in Oberhausen, Germany, that commemorates victims of the Nazi regime.

Hardly anyone protested the work of a Nazi-associated artist like Meller being at a Holocaust memorial site, points out Wolfgang Brauneis. He finds the example of "The Mourner" statue particularly concerning: "You stand in front of the first documentation center and a monumental figure made by one of the most important Nazi representatives is unveiled. It's incomprehensible."

Yet, these days, Meller's sculpture is accompanied by informative panels that explain the context.

"In this way, the work itself is no longer so central," says Brauneis. For him, it's a positive example of how society can come to terms with history — albeit a rare one.

How to deal with the 'Divinely Gifted' today

Brauneis' exhibition about the "divinely gifted" list brought renewed attention to the topic. The local press urged Berlin politicians to question public work produced post-1945 by the artists in question and take action.

But now, several years down the line, he regrets that the topic has largely faded into obscurity and hopes the public will once again take an interest: "Otherwise, these artists will still be honored by having their pieces in public spaces."

This article was translated from German.