Editing Strength Through Joy (section)

==Activities==
[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 146-1974-121-28A, KdF-Betriebssport.jpg|left|thumb|Dancing class of the KdF, 1933]]
[[File:Prora, KdF-Bad (2011-05-21) 19.JPG|left|thumb|[[Prora]], an unfinished KdF resort]]
[[File:Fest-Symphonie-Konsert N.S. Reichs-Symphonie-Orchester Franz Adam. Kraft durch Freude, Drittes Reich, Plakat. Third Reich Nazi Era concert poster. Münchner Stadtmuseum 2014.jpg|thumb|Poster promoting an N.S. [[Reich Symphony Orchestra]] performance]]
[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 183-2006-1128-504, KdF-Schiff "Robert Ley", Adolf Hitler an Bord.jpg|thumb|Adolf Hitler and Robert Ley aboard the ''[[Robert Ley (ship)|Robert Ley]]'' in 1939]]
[[File:Kraft-Zug.jpg|thumb|Travelers aboard a KdF train]]
[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 146-1987-085-21, KdF-Sport, Tennis.jpg|left|thumb|Tennis class of the KdF]]
Following its inception, KdF began to provide a wide range of activities at an affordable price, ranging from concerts and theatre trips to weekend trips and holidays. Workers could enter KdF competitions and win prizes that would send them and their families to local events, or on extended trips either in Germany or abroad. Many of their events occurring after the work day and on weekends: the government sought not only to create a positive and productive environment, but also to dissuade potential anti-state activities.

=== In the workplace ===
Borrowing from the [[Italian fascism|Italian fascist]] organization ''[[Opera Nazionale Dopolavoro|Dopolavoro]]'' ('After Work'), but extending its influence into the workplace as well through the Beauty of Labour department, the KdF rapidly developed a wide range of activities and quickly grew into one of Nazi Germany's largest organizations. Wardens were posted in every factory and workshop employing more than 20 people. It strove to improve the hygiene of workplaces, by providing toilets, locker rooms, and proper washing facilities. It also looked to improve air quality and reduce noise for workers. The government offered tax incentives as encouragement, and by 1938 the conditions of 34,000 workplaces had improved considerably.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Evans |first=Richard J. |title=The Third Reich in Power 1933–1939 |publisher=The Penguin Press |year=2005 |isbn=1-59420-074-2 |page=475}}</ref> This was largely achieved by workers completing renovations while on unpaid overtime.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Baranowski |first=Shelley |date=October 2007 |title="A Family Vacation for Workers: The Strength through Joy Resort at Prora" |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/199616586 |journal=German History |volume=25 |issue=4 |pages=539–559 |doi=10.1177/0266355407082773 |id={{ProQuest|199616586}}}}</ref>

KdF stressed that partaking in sports would encourage physical health and a healthy attitude, and as such the Sports Office began to organize physical education events for workers. Under supervision of the [[National Socialist League of the Reich for Physical Exercise]], by 1936 sports and physical training were implemented in factories, and employees under the age of 18 were required to spend time in their workweek performing exercise. The Sports Office also pushed employers to build recreation facilities on work grounds, such as tennis courts, and offered tax incentives as encouragement. Official estimates by the German Labour Front show that by 1939, approximately 3,000 sports facilities were created and over 12 million sports courses were organized through these efforts.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Noakes |last2=Pridham |first1=Jeremy |first2=Geoffrey|title=Nazism 1919–1945: 2. State, Economy, and Society 1933–1939 |publisher=University of Exeter |year=1984 |isbn=0-85989-290-5 |pages=346–347}}</ref> Overall, it sought heightened physical and mental health for workers, important aspects for potential citizens living in the 'people's community.'

The Leisure Time Office and Adult Education Office, seeking to educate adults in arts and culture as well as to ensure they spend their time profitably, took steps to provide access to events for workers. To do as such, exhibitions, concerts and cultural events were held within factories to ensure workers had the ability to attend. Exhibitions of art created by exclusively German artists, plays, musicals and concerts were organized and admission for workers was either very cheap or free. Some art exhibitions featured art created by workers, oftentimes created in classes organized by the KdF. At all exhibitions, the art was for sale.  In some cases, renowned composers such as [[Wilhelm Brueckner-Rueggeberg]] and [[Wilhelm Furtwängler]] led the [[Berlin Philharmonic]] orchestra in these performances, while at other times concerts would be conducted by local composers and played by local orchestras.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Timpe |first=Julia |title=Nazi-Organized Recreation and Entertainment in the Third Reich |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan UK |year=2016 |isbn=978-1-137-53193-3 |pages=77–78}}</ref>

=== At home and abroad ===
The Sports Office organized several sports events and classes throughout the operation of KdF. In the summer months, activities such as horse riding, sailing and swimming were offered<ref name=":1" /> with KdF emphasizing track and field activities. Gymnastics became an increasingly popular sport for German women during this time.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Krüger |first=Arnd |date=1993 |title=Germany and Sports in WWII |url=https://journals.humankinetics.com/view/journals/shr/24/1/article-p52.xml |journal=Canadian Journal of History of Sport |volume=24 |issue=1 |pages=52–62|doi=10.1123/cjhs.24.1.52 |url-access=subscription }}</ref> During the winter, KdF organized activities such as skiing, ice skating and winter hiking. Most of its activities and events occurred on weekends, and its volunteers, who were mostly unsalaried schoolteachers, taught exercise and sports classes. KdF would use local school [[gymnasiums]] or meeting halls and offer courses people could attend without prior registration, known as 'open courses,' for the price of 30 [[Pfennig|pfennings]] per 90 minutes. 'Closed courses' required participants to register for the entire course, cost 80 pfennings per 90 minutes, and often covered more skilled sports such as boxing, golf and rowing.  Activities organized early in KdF's existence often deliberately left out competition, training and expectations of high performance. This was intended to focus the course on the production of joy and improvement of the population's health.<ref>Bernett, Hajo (2017). ''Sport und Schulsport in der NS-Diktatur''. Brill | Schöningh. pp. 283–330. {{ISBN|978-3-657-78747-0}}.</ref> Another reason for it may have been that the government sought to prevent opposition between participating groups, and rather promote and encourage cooperation. In 1939, KdF was awarded the [[Olympic Cup]] by the [[International Olympic Committee]].<ref>{{cite web |author=Juergen Wagner |title=The olympic cup |url=http://www.olympic-museum.de/awards/olympic_cup.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060623145224/http://www.olympic-museum.de/awards/olympic_cup.htm |archive-date=2006-06-23 |access-date=2006-10-15 |work=olympic-museum.de}}</ref>
[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 146-1974-062-16, KdF-Theaterzug.jpg|left|thumb|A KdF ''Theaterzug'' delivering equipment]]
The Leisure Time Office offered a variety of different activities and discounts for workers. Offering discounted ticket packages to theatres for films, musicals and plays for workers in cities, KdF also organized events to occur in rural areas by utilizing buses, called ''Theaterzüge,'' equipped with film projectors and loudspeakers<ref>{{Cite web |title=Theater bus of the Nazi organization 'Kraft durch Freude' |url=https://www.alamy.com/stock-photo-theater-bus-of-the-nazi-organization-kraft-durch-freude-48338842.html |access-date=26 April 2022 |website=Alamy}}</ref> as well as organizing productions using mobile stages. With the approval of the propaganda ministry, the [[Großes Schauspielhaus|Great Theatre]] (''Großes Schauspielhaus)'' in Berlin was renamed the 'Theatre of the People' (''Theater des Volkes'') and was established as the official theatre of KdF, with numerous other KdF theatres opening in major cities.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Gadberry |first=Glen W. |title=Theatre in the Third Reich, the Prewar Years |publisher=Greenwood Press |year=1995 |isbn=0-313-29516-6 |location=Connecticut |page=11}}</ref> The Adult Education Office similarly used these theatres for showings of propaganda films, alongside the film buses. Employing civilian performers as well as organizing performances of their own orchestras, by 1938 KdF had sponsored and offered ticket packages to performances such as ''[[As You Like It]]'' by [[William Shakespeare]] and ''[[Journey's End]]'' by [[R.C. Sheriff|R.C. Sherriff]], but over time the performances would be replaced almost entirely by propagandistic pieces.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Mosse |first=George L. |title=Nazi Culture |publisher=Schocken Books |year=1966 |isbn=0-8052-0668-X |location=New York |pages=188–190}}</ref> Other notable performances included ''[[Wibbel the Tailor (play)|Wibbel the Tailor]]'' and ''[[The Land of Smiles]].'' Following the declaration of [[total war]], most musicians and performers utilized by the KdF were used for troop entertainment.
[[File:Bundesarchiv B 145 Bild-P050068, Jüterbog, Theatergruppe der KdF-Bühne.jpg|left|thumb|Traveling KdF theatre performers]]
The Office for Travel, Hiking, and Holidays offered various discounted vacation trips, ranging in length from day and weekend trips to one week or upwards of three weeks. Taking travelers via rail and bus to their destinations, within Germany or its occupied and annexed territories, the office organized activities such as hiking trips and swimming excursions.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Hamburger |first=Ernest |date=1945 |title=Significance of the Nazi Leisure Time Program |journal=Social Research |volume=12 |issue=2 |pages=227–249 |jstor=40982073 }}</ref> In most destinations hotelkeepers and some local businesses saw increased profits thanks to the increasing number of tourists, as did the ''[[Deutsche Reichsbahn]]'' (German National Railway). Popular extended holiday destinations included the Alps, the Black Forest, and the coasts of the North Sea and Baltic Sea, but most of the trips booked were overnight or over a weekend.<ref>{{Cite book |title=Nazi Germany and Southern Europe, 1933–45: science, culture and politics |editor=Fernando Clara |editor2=Cláudia Ninhos |year=2016 |isbn=978-1-137-55152-8 |location=London |page=41 |oclc=961903415}}</ref> Two weeks after the [[Anschluss]], when [[SS-Gruppenführer]] [[Josef Bürckel]] became ''Reichskommissar für die Wiedervereinigung'' ('Reich Commissioner for Reunification') as well as [[Gauleiter]], the first five KdF trains with some 2,000 Austrian workers left for [[Passau]] where they were ceremonially welcomed. While Bürckel announced that he did not expect all of the travelers to return as Nazis, he did expect them to look him in the eyes and say, "I tried hard to understand you."<ref>Anna Rosmus ''Hitlers Nibelungen'', Samples Grafenau 2015, pp. 142ff</ref> Many KdF travelers complained of their trips, noting poor travel conditions, second-class treatment by locals and the KdF alike, and little free time, thanks to the regimentation of activities.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Pine |first=Lisa |title=Life and Times in Nazi Germany |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing |year=2016 |isbn=978-1-4742-1795-8 |location=UK |pages=143–144}}</ref>
[[File:Wilhelm Walther, An, Bord, 1 EF, KDF', +, 1-131-132-8164.tif|thumb|Travelers aboard a KdF cruise enjoying an orchestra performance]]

Most famously, the office also offered discounted cruise trips to German citizens. Although not initially planned to be a program offered by KdF, the initial successes of the cruises led to six large ships, including the [[MV Wilhelm Gustloff|MV ''Wilhelm Gustloff'']], being built specifically for use by KdF while a further six were chartered. They were first ships to be built specifically for cruises. They were collectively known as the KdF fleet, with the [[MV Robert Ley|MV ''Robert Ley'']] being considered as its flagship. Through these cruises Nazism was promoted internationally, and KdF travelers therefore were expected to represent it positively by dressing modestly and behaving appropriately. Ship events included [[Masquerade ball|masquerades]], political and educational lectures, and events dedicated to displaying customs of individual German regions, such as shows of dance groups performing dances from their home regions.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Timpe |first=Julia |title=Nazi-Organized Recreation and Entertainment in the Third Reich |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan UK |year=2016 |isbn=978-1-137-53193-3 |page=28}}</ref> Drinking alcohol was prohibited, and the government planted spies on ships instructed to pose as passengers and monitor participants' behavior. Cruise trips were sometimes offered as prizes in KdF competitions, but were largely affordable; an eighteen-day trip to [[Madeira]] cost 120 [[Reichsmark]]s, the equivalent to about four weeks' average salary at the time, and a seven-day trip to Norway cost about 50 Reichsmarks. Although cruises were inexpensive, workers were often greatly underrepresented on these voyages, with most of KdF's cruise participants being from the middle class. Following [[Operation Barbarossa|Germany's invasion of the Soviet Union]], tourism opportunities were suspended and the organization shifted to more domestic activities and troop entertainment; up until this point, KdF had sold more than 45 million package tours and excursions, totaling over 700,000 German travelers.<ref name="Kraft-durch-Freude-tourism 2007, p.125">[[Hasso Spode]], Some quantitative aspects of Kraft-durch-Freude-tourism. In: Dritsas, Margerita (ed.): European Tourism and Culture, Athens 2007, p. 125</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Spode |first=Hasso |date=2004 |title=Fordism, Mass Tourism and the Third Reich: The "Strength through Joy" Seaside Resort as an Index Fossil |journal=Journal of Social History |volume=38 |issue=1 |pages=127–155 |doi=10.1353/jsh.2004.0107 |jstor=3790030 |s2cid=143532651 }}</ref>
[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 183-H27992, Lazarettschiff "Wilhelm Gustloff" in Danzig.jpg|left|thumb|The cruise ship [[MV Wilhelm Gustloff|''Wilhelm Gustloff'']] served the Strength Through Joy program during 1937–1939]]
The Nazi government also sought to attract tourists from abroad, a task performed by {{lang|de|[[Hermann Esser]]|italic=no}}, one of the secretaries of the {{lang|de|Ministerium für Volksaufklärung und Propaganda}} ('[[Ministry of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda]]'). A series of multilingual and colourful brochures, titled ''Deutschland'', advertised Germany as a peaceful, idyllic and progressive country, on one occasion even portraying the ministry's boss, {{lang|de|[[Joseph Goebbels]]|italic=no}}, grinning in an unlikely photo series of the [[Cologne carnival]].<ref>{{cite journal|title=Shown here, Goebbels at right|url=http://www.spiegel.de/images/image-56994-galleryV9-jvoz.jpg|format=JPG|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180831002333/http://www.spiegel.de/images/image-56994-galleryV9-jvoz.jpg|archive-date=2018-08-31|website=spiegel.de}}</ref>

Following [[Operation Barbarossa|Germany's invasion of the Soviet Union]], tourism opportunities were suspended and the organization shifted to more domestic activities and troop entertainment; up until this point, KdF had sold more than 45 million package tours and excursions, totaling over 700,000 German travelers.<ref name="Kraft-durch-Freude-tourism 2007, p.125">[[Hasso Spode]], Some quantitative aspects of Kraft-durch-Freude-tourism. In: Dritsas, Margerita (ed.): European Tourism and Culture, Athens 2007, p. 125</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Spode |first=Hasso |date=2004 |title=Fordism, Mass Tourism and the Third Reich: The "Strength through Joy" Seaside Resort as an Index Fossil |journal=Journal of Social History |volume=38 |issue=1 |pages=127–155 |doi=10.1353/jsh.2004.0107 |jstor=3790030 |s2cid=143532651}}</ref> By 1939, it had 7,000 employees and over 135,000 volunteers.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Shelley |first=Baranowski |title=Strength through joy: consumerism and mass tourism in the Third Reich |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2004 |isbn=978-0-521-70599-8 |page=49 |oclc=1055679453}}</ref>

=== Wartime activities ===
[[File:Fo30141711030011 Kranselag på soldathjemmet i Stavern 1941-05-01 (NTBs krigsarkiv, Riksarkivet).jpg|thumb|A KdF construction located within [[Norway]]]]
KdF formed 'troop-care units' (''Truppenbetreuung'') in 1935, and after the [[invasion of Poland]] in 1939 the Ministry of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda created the 'Caring for the Troops' department of KdF, with Goebbels appointing [[Hans Hinkel]] as its head. The equivalent of the United States' [[United Service Organizations|USO]], the troop-care units utilized portable stages and civilian performers such as musicians and actors, hiring them for up to 100 Reichsmarks per day. Many of the hired performers had little experience or were considered third-rate. By the end of 1941 it had become a massive program, as troop-care units had staged over 300,000 performances across every theater of war, including Africa.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Baranowski |first=Shelley |title=Strength Through Joy: Consumerism and Mass Tourism in the Third Reich |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2004 |isbn=0-521-83352-3 |pages=203–205}}</ref>

Hinkel described the units in official propaganda as equally essential as the [[Wehrmacht]], stating that soldiers and artists had a special bond through their allegiance to Hitler, and were "an essential part of modern war and human leadership in National Socialist [[Pan-Germanism|Greater Germany]]."<ref>{{Cite book |last=Steinweis |first=Alan E. |title=Art, Ideology, & Economics in Nazi Germany |publisher=University of North Carolina Press |year=1993 |isbn=0-8078-2104-7 |pages=149–151}}</ref> Seeking also to ensure the heightened physical and mental health of troops, other forms of light KdF entertainment were made available such as art exhibitions and sports. Entertainment by troop-care units was not exclusive to the Wehrmacht, as they were also tasked to put on shows for SS guards in concentration camps and 'Ethnic Germans' living in occupied territory.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Timpe |first=Julia |title=Nazi-Organized Recreation and Entertainment in the Third Reich. |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan UK |year=2016 |isbn=978-1-137-53193-3 |page=142}}</ref> Germany's troop-care units remain a lightly researched topic.

Several KdF cruise ships were requisitioned into the [[Kriegsmarine]] and converted to serve as hospital ships. The ''Robert Ley'' was requisitioned in August 1939 and converted to serve as a hospital ship after only six months of operation. The ship would be converted several times to serve different purposes throughout World War II and was bombed by the [[Royal Air Force]] in the port of Hamburg on 9 March 1945 where the wreckage remained afloat until June 1947, when it was towed to the UK and scrapped. The ''MV Wilhelm Gustloff,'' requisitioned in September 1939, was designated as ''Lazarettschiff D'' and converted to serve as a hospital ship. In November 1940, medical equipment was removed from the ship and it was converted to serve as a barracks ship. Tasked with transporting civilians and military personnel during [[Operation Hannibal]], the ''Lazarettschiff D'' was sunk on 30 January 1945 while returning to Germany from [[Prussia]], killing an estimated 9,934.<ref>{{Cite web |title=A Memorial to the Wilhelm Gustloff |url=https://www.feldgrau.com/WW2-Germany-Wilhelm-Gustloff-Cruise-Liner/ |access-date=24 April 2022 |website=Feldgrau|date=4 August 2020 }}</ref> It was one of the deadliest [[List of maritime disasters in World War II|maritime disasters in history]].