From 27.11.2025 to 12.4.2026, the GRASSI Museum of Applied Arts Leipzig is showing the exhibition FORMS OF ADAPTATION. ARTS AND CRAFTS AND DESIGN UNDER NATIONAL SOCIALISM.
The show takes a closer look at a chapter of German design history that has received little attention to date. It illustrates how political directives, ideological guidelines and economic conditions shaped and changed design. Around 400 exhibits from museums, archives and collections in Germany as well as the museum's own collection are on display.
The focus is on objects of everyday use - vases, jugs, furniture, textile works, tableware made of glass, porcelain, wood and metals - that were created between 1933 and 1945. These everyday objects are complemented by elaborate gold and silversmith's work as well as awards of honor and state prizes, which make the official representation of the regime visible. This variety of objects illustrates both the aesthetic requirements and the political instrumentalization of arts and crafts and design under National Socialism.
Exhibition themes
The first section of the exhibition spans the period from the Weimar Republic through the years of National Socialism to the early post-war period. Many of the objects on display were made in state-sponsored workshops, presented at official exhibitions and performance shows or produced using forced labor. Photographs, posters and contemporary documents complement the exhibits and illustrate how deeply the ideology of the regime intervened in design processes, choice of materials and production methods.
Thematically, this section deals with the political changes after 1933 as well as the design lines and material specifications promoted by the regime. Examples of such changes include popular, rural forms and decorations, which gained in importance, as well as the preferred use of "German" materials such as local woods, available metals (pewter, wrought iron) and rediscovered gemstones such as amber and coral agate. The exhibition also sheds light on the role of central Nazi organizations, the use of design as a propaganda tool and the self-staging of the regime at home and abroad, for example at the Milan Triennale or the World Exhibition in Paris. The first
The first section of the exhibition concludes with the topic of forced labor, which became an omnipresent phenomenon in the German economy during the war years.
THE GRASSI - a "shop window to the world" in transition
The second part of the exhibition focuses on the GRASSI itself and the Grassimessen trade fairs organized between 1933 and 1941. The museum played an ambivalent and at the same time central role during the Nazi era: it hosted propaganda exhibitions, including the travelling exhibition "Degenerate Art" (1938), and organized its own shows that conformed to official aesthetic guidelines.
At the same time, the Grassimessen provided a "shop window to the world" and allowed popular arts and crafts to coexist with modern, timeless forms of design. The fairs were an important place to negotiate and present national design concepts. At the same time, they offered space for diversity and contradictions - between adaptation to state requirements and the continuity of modernity. The exhibition therefore specifically highlights the biographies of several exhibitors in order to show the diversity and contradictions of the Grassimessen during the Nazi era. Here it becomes clear how designers and institutions operated between adapting to specifications and independent design.
The exhibition will be accompanied by an extensive supporting program of guided tours, readings and panel discussions.
Please note: The museum will be closed on 24.12.25 and 31.12.25.
The show takes a closer look at a chapter of German design history that has received little attention to date. It illustrates how political directives, ideological guidelines and economic conditions shaped and changed design. Around 400 exhibits from museums, archives and collections in Germany as well as the museum's own collection are on display.
The focus is on objects of everyday use - vases, jugs, furniture, textile works, tableware made of glass, porcelain, wood and metals - that were created between 1933 and 1945. These everyday objects are complemented by elaborate gold and silversmith's work as well as awards of honor and state prizes, which make the official representation of the regime visible. This variety of objects illustrates both the aesthetic requirements and the political instrumentalization of arts and crafts and design under National Socialism.
Exhibition themes
The first section of the exhibition spans the period from the Weimar Republic through the years of National Socialism to the early post-war period. Many of the objects on display were made in state-sponsored workshops, presented at official exhibitions and performance shows or produced using forced labor. Photographs, posters and contemporary documents complement the exhibits and illustrate how deeply the ideology of the regime intervened in design processes, choice of materials and production methods.
Thematically, this section deals with the political changes after 1933 as well as the design lines and material specifications promoted by the regime. Examples of such changes include popular, rural forms and decorations, which gained in importance, as well as the preferred use of "German" materials such as local woods, available metals (pewter, wrought iron) and rediscovered gemstones such as amber and coral agate. The exhibition also sheds light on the role of central Nazi organizations, the use of design as a propaganda tool and the self-staging of the regime at home and abroad, for example at the Milan Triennale or the World Exhibition in Paris. The first
The first section of the exhibition concludes with the topic of forced labor, which became an omnipresent phenomenon in the German economy during the war years.
THE GRASSI - a "shop window to the world" in transition
The second part of the exhibition focuses on the GRASSI itself and the Grassimessen trade fairs organized between 1933 and 1941. The museum played an ambivalent and at the same time central role during the Nazi era: it hosted propaganda exhibitions, including the travelling exhibition "Degenerate Art" (1938), and organized its own shows that conformed to official aesthetic guidelines.
At the same time, the Grassimessen provided a "shop window to the world" and allowed popular arts and crafts to coexist with modern, timeless forms of design. The fairs were an important place to negotiate and present national design concepts. At the same time, they offered space for diversity and contradictions - between adaptation to state requirements and the continuity of modernity. The exhibition therefore specifically highlights the biographies of several exhibitors in order to show the diversity and contradictions of the Grassimessen during the Nazi era. Here it becomes clear how designers and institutions operated between adapting to specifications and independent design.
The exhibition will be accompanied by an extensive supporting program of guided tours, readings and panel discussions.
Please note: The museum will be closed on 24.12.25 and 31.12.25.
