The cultural life during the Annexation
The cultural life never stopped during the Annexation. It was a major issue for the Nazi authorities in order to germanise the two territories. The cultural life participated to unify the mindset of populations on the two sides of the Rhine.
Indeed, the authorities invested a lot in the culture and leisure activities the minute that they annexed the territories. This cultural policy involved, in particular, the development of municipal theatres, music schools, brass bands and choirs, as well as the organisation of dance dinners, fairs, and circus tours aimed particularly at younger children. Thereby, leisure activities should serve both to normalise the process of annexation and to disseminate the regime’s cultural and artistic norms. In Forbach, cultural activities during the war have been listed: Restaurants open until 11 pm, movie theaters in Petite-Rosselle, Stiring and Forbach, the city’s orchestra, choirs, concerts, variety shows, theatre and the traditional fair.
Within this context, cinema holds a special place. Thanks to its network of venues, its accessibility, its low prices (although ticket prices vary depending on the comfort of the seats and the location), and the quality of its program, it has become the most important and most popular leisure activity.
In Strasbourg, venues were full during the war. The number of tickets went from 1.6 million in 1941 to more than 4.2 million in 1943. On average, each resident went to a movie theater twice in a month, like people in the big German cities. However, it was in Metz that became a spectacular phenomenon. In 1943, on average, each resident went 41.7 times a year, an absolute record in the Reich. More than 2.2 million tickets were sold in the five venues of the centre city during the 1943-1944 season, that is, a daily average of 6 000 spectators.
It was such a success that the Rex, the bigger venue in Moselle with 1,200 seats, had to create a booking system to limit the long queue in autumn 1943. The same system was set up in Strasbourg.
Photo 51 : Mémorial Alsace-Moselle, fonds PIEMONT – Glass plate. Advertisement for the Circus Helene Hoppe, performing in Strasbourg from 15 to 31 July 1944
Photo 52 : City’s archives of Metz – An advert placed by the Rex in the Metzer Zeitung newspaper on November 4, 1943 to announce the introduction of a ticket pre-sale scheme due to the large crowds attending screenings. Audience members could either visit the cinema in the morning to book their seats or telephone the cinema directly.
Photo 53 : Archives cinématographiques de l’est – Photograph of the shopfront of the Rex in February 1941 for the premiere of Quax, the Bruchpilot (1941, Kurt Hoffmann). This cinema was located in Chaplerue; the building has since been replaced.