Editing Strength Through Joy (section)

== Organization ==
[[File:Robert Ley.jpg|thumb|Head of KdF, [[Robert Ley]]]]
On November 27, 1933, Strength through Joy was announced by [[Robert Ley]] as a subset of the German Labour Front whose goal was to provide Germans with access to once-privileged leisure activities such as cruises and the ownership of motorcars.<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 |page=40}}</ref> The government feared that increasing wages would dampen the [[German rearmament|rearmament process]] and decided to raise living standards differently to influence the opinion of Nazism, and paid for the program by taking deductions from workers' wages.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Semmens |first=Kristin |title=Seeing Hitler's Germany: Tourism in the Third Reich |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan |year=2005 |isbn=1-4039-3914-4 |location=New York |page=99}}</ref> By providing these luxuries, the government hoped that class divisions would be bridged leading to the building of a '[[Volksgemeinschaft|people's community]],' and that a common national consciousness would end class conflict and enable all classes to work together for the greater benefit of the nation. A key feature of the people's community was the overall good physical health of the German people, in order to produce a population fit for military service and for work. In addition, it was believed that if workers were given sufficient leisure time and provided with cleaner workplaces morale and productivity would increase, aspects needed of the working class for the rearmament. It initially was intended to focus on controlling evening and weekend leisure time, but after positive reception of KdF train trips, tourism became an important priority.<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 |page=131 |doi=10.1353/jsh.2004.0107 |jstor=3790030 |s2cid=143532651 }}</ref>

=== Departments ===
KdF had a number of individual departments. The [[Beauty of Labour]] (''Schönheit der Arbeit)'' department was devoted to improvements in the workplace, from general hygiene to reduction of sound pollution. Other departments included the Sports Office (''Sportamt),'' Adult Education Office (''Volksbildungswerk''), Leisure Time Office (''Amt Feierabend),'' the Office for Folklore and Homeland (''Amt für Volkstum und Heimat),'' and the Office for Travel, Hiking, and Holidays (''Amt Reisen, Wandern, und Urlaub).''

The Sports Office organized tennis, skiing, and likewise sports that the working class were previously unable to partake in. Its main concerns were in building 'everyday joy' and improving the health of the masses, and KdF took a keen interest in building the physicality and bodily strength of the German population.<ref name=":1">Timpe, Julia. (2013) ''[https://repository.library.brown.edu/studio/item/bdr:320472/PDF/ Hitler's Happy People: Kraft durch Freude's Everyday Production of Joy in the Third Reich.]'' PhD diss., Brown University.</ref> Physical education classes and gymnastic events were scheduled on weekends and after working hours, but also included skiing and hiking trips. It also encouraged workers to partake in physical exercise and sports, encouraging employers to provide access to facilities and equipment during work hours and after hours.

The Adult Education Office was headed by [[Fritz Leutloff]]. Its goal was to educate Germans on cultural and artistic topics. 'Popular education' programs had been taken over when the government began imposing [[Gleichschaltung]], but the programs offered by the Adult Education Office were not centralized by KdF until 1936 when the [[Reich Chamber of Culture|Reichskulturkammer]] and KdF began stern cooperation.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Tymkiw |first=Michael |title=Nazi Exhibition Design and Modernism |publisher=University of Minnesota Press |year=2018 |isbn=978-1-4529-5677-0 |page=106}}</ref> Plans had been proposed by 1939 to designate KdF as a chamber of culture, but ultimately fell through due to backlash from [[Alfred Rosenberg]] and [[Rudolf Hess]].

The Leisure Time Office enabled workers to attend theatres and concerts by organizing local events and offering discounted tickets. It also organized concerts and events to take place in factories. As the Adult Education Office focused more on propaganda and refined education, the Leisure Time Office was more concerned with the recreational aspects of spare time.

The largest and most profitable department was the Office for Travel, Hiking, and Holidays, headed by [[Bodo Lafferentz]]''.'' Organizing both domestic and international excursions, for the first time workers were able to travel at length. This was achieved by offering discounts on travel and tour packages, sending thousands of Germans on holidays before 1939.

The Office for Folklore and Homeland was tasked with organizing smaller Nazi organizations that promoted the 'folklore' and the idea of [[Lebensraum]], but was dissolved in 1934.