»Die Kunstpädagogik muss wieder anknüpfen, wo sie durch Hitler abgebrochen wurde«: Franz Roh als Stimme im Münchner Rundfunk 1945 bis 1950

The art historian Franz Roh (1890–1965) worked for Radio Munich in the American occupation zone from October 1945 onwards. Using manuscripts and archival materials, the paper reconstructs how Roh, as an observer, educator, and norm-setting actor in postwar cultural broadcasting, commented on the cultural new beginning and communicated it to a mass audience. Roh supported his plea for contemporary art not only by pointing to the former persecution of modernism as “degenerate” but also with reflections on “cultural misunderstanding,” which he discussed in his book Der verkannte Künstler (1946). Though his arguments were compatible with the cultural-political objectives of reeducation pursued by the American occupying power, he came to them of his own accord and was more than simply an instrument.