Why did Nazi Germany promote the aryan (master race) as having blue eyes and blond hair?

Question

First off, German people tend to be of slavic descent (most slavs have darker hair). Hitler was reported to have blue eyes, but quite dark hair.

And, what was wrong with Red hair and Green eyes. Red hair is almost exclusively Northern European, and probably in most cases people with red hair have the fairest skin tone.

Is it exaggerated how much emphasis Nazi Germany put on blond hair and blue eyes?

Answer 1

It was very much exaggerated as you mentioned, it was propaganda to stop other Northern European countries feeling a kinship with the germans and to distance them from everyone else. As you say most Europeans have brown hair. Hitler of course himself had very dark hair, although their was rumours that he was grey and it dyed.

Answer 2

Blond hair and blue eyes were the Aryan ideal, but there were several other acceptable hair and eye colors. Somewhere on my shelf of books about Nazi Germany, there is a book with a picture of a guy holding a bunch of swatches of synthetic hair up to a kid's head, to see if it matches. The Germans actually considered themselves lower on the Aryan chain than the Scandinavians, but figured the Germans were the only ones who could get anything done. In response to many of the posters above: Hitler was not half-Jewish. A few generations back a female relative married a guy with a Jewy name, but Hitler had no blood relation. I'm sorry I can't be more specific, but I've been reading about Heydrich lately and haven't memorized Hitler's family tree.

Answer 3

The Nazis promoted a form of racism that ranked "Aryans" as the superior racial type. However, even the most rabid nazi recognized that the vast majority of Germans displayed a number of traits that made them indistinguishable from the majority of other Europeans. So they created a system that categorized the "type" of Aryans people were. The highest quality Aryan, so to speak, were the "Nordic" types, those with the blond hair blue eyes, and preferably high-browed, narrow long faces. From there the system incorporated other traits, with the people considered "Aryan" while still displaying less than perfect Aryan features. This permitted the majority of Germans, and Nazi leaders, to be comfortably labeled Aryan despite their not--so- Aryan features. This was why members of the Nazi party had to prove their ancestry back for about two centuries, to ensure that non-Aryan blood was not present. For the SS, the standard was even further back, though by the end of the war some very non-Aryan types were being recruited into the Waffen-SS. Apparently, the need for cannon fodder was enough to overcome even their uber-racist worldview.

Answer 4

its a propaganda question that has always puzzled me as well, especially as ALL europeans are descended from the celts from the greeks to the irish ( lots of thumbs down from the welsh, scottish and irish coming my way i think because this also includes the british as well ) and they are made up from red heads, brown hair, blonds, its strange really but in the end its just propaganda

there probably is somewhere way back in the mists of time something stating a race in Germany is 6 foot tall and had blond hair and blue eyes but i'm betting they came from the far north cos mostly those people in europe are considered norse,danish, finnish or Swedish ( scandinavian )

Answer 5

For Hitler, the ideal "Aryan" was blond, blue-eyed, and tall. He believed that these characteristics were a sign of racial purity. After Hitler took power, Nazi teachers in school classrooms began to apply the "principles" of racial science. They measured skull size and nose length, and recorded the color of their pupils' hair and eyes to determine whether students belonged to the true "Aryan race." Jewish and Romani (Gypsy) students were often humiliated in the process.

The concept of the 'Aryan' was designed to propagate a steroetype. The idea has been dramatised, however, it was a frightening reality of the time that if you had darker features that were recognised by the Nazi party as undesirable (Jewish, Polish, Gypsy - whoever made the hit list), you could be in real trouble.

If you can't believe how much emphasis was put on the Aryan stereoype, check out the Lebenborn breeding programme. The programme aimed to promote the growth of "superior" Aryan populations. It did this through providing excellent health care and by restricting access to the programme with medical selections that applied eugenic and "race" criteria. German soldiers and "Nordic" women in occupied countries were encouraged (the women were often forced) to participate, which could be referred to as supervised selective breeding.

Answer 6

Something I have wondered about too. Hitler was dark haired etc so why did he wand everyone to be blond? Red hair & green eyes - yeah that's me! I hope that someone here can explain the reasons behind Hilters reasoning - if there is an explantion.

Answer 7

I think blonde hair is sexiest, but brown hair can be really sexy too. Black hair will be never sexy. It's just really boring and boring and flatters few constitution. Blonde hair looks best with blue eyes.

Answer 8

I have usually thought blonde was beautiful, i may always think the same.

Answer 9

the people with blonde hair and blue eyes were the herrenvolk (scandinavian descent)

aryans were just pure germans

it's just been mixed up over time



by saying hitler promoted just blonde hair and blue eyes made him seem more extreme to ally countries.

Answer 10

Because that is the whitest you can get, it is basically the opposite of a black person, black people doesn't get blue eyes or blonde hair



An arab, can get green eyes

Answer 11

I don't know it is so hypocritical of them, Hitler had brown hair and blue eyes. Also surely wouldn't people just dye their hair blonde?

Answer 12

BECAUSE THEY WERE NO ARYANS AND THEY WERE BLUE EYED AND BLOND!



THE WORD ARYAN HAS ITS ORIGIN IN SANSKRIT, MAX MÜLLER TOOK THE WORD FROM THE VEDAS, THE AUTHORS OF THE VEDAS CALLED THEMSELVES "ARYA" WHICH MEANS "NOBLE". THEY LIVE IN THE AREA WHICH MAKES TODAYS INDIA, IRAN,AFGHANISTAN AND PAKISTAN. THEY WERE NO BARBARIANS AS THE WESTERN "WHITE ARYANS" SAY... SEE ALL THOSE CONTRIBUTIONS OF THE ARYANS AND THEIR SUCCESSORS IN SCIENCE, PHILOSOPHY, ASTRONOMY, MEDICINE ETC... CAN THAT BE FROM BARBARIANS???

THERE ARE STILL NO PROOFS FOR ALL THOSE "ARYAN THEORIES" OF THE WEST...

WE SHOULD STOP MISUSING AND INSULTING THE NAME OF THE ANCESTORS OF THOSE NATION.

Answer 13

hitler had blonde hair but died it black for the camera because footage was in black and white so it made him more striking. it was about being pure. those who were dark had been contaminated by other races. the blonde blue eyed people were the purest.

Answer 14

Maybe it started in America with the kkk with blond/blue being the opposite (for the most part) of black/brown.