The conflict between Ernst Barlach, the most important German sculptor of the time, and the Third Reich is a remarkable episode in Hitler´s war against modern art. Rather than accept repression passively, Barlach denounced the confiscation and destruction of this work as ideologically inspired and continued on his independent course. The author´s discussion of Barlach´s art and of his insistence on creative freedom is joined to an analysis of his opponents´motives and tactics. Hitler´s illínformed rantings against modernism in German art were nevertheless an internally consistent and politically effective critique of liberal culture. That despite Hitler´s strictures some National Socislist advocated a "Nordic modernism" and tried to win Barlach to their cause exemplifies the cultural crosscurrents running throught the Third Reich. Peter Paret´s closely focused study of and artist in a time of crisis seamlessly combines the history of modern Germany and the history of modern art.