Art and architecture 1900 up to 1950

Ernst Barlach created his main works in Güstrow as the most important artist. There was no Mecklenburg school of the modern.

Neustrelitz and Schwerin palaces were used as museums after the Revolution in 1918. In 1930, Schwerin received large parts of the grand ducal palace furnishings in exchange for 1,300 hectares of land owned by the state. Other towns founded new museums of local history.

Home-oriented associations had a middle-class conservative character.

Under the National Socialists Barlach was banned from exhibiting and working just like other “degenerate” artists. The folklorist Richard Wossidlo was exploited and his collections were moved to a “peasants’ museum” in Schwerin Palace in 1937.

After the war cinemas, theatres and museums were reopened by the SMA in the state. The “Cultural Association” regulated on the one hand and, on the other hand, revived humanistic factionalism. Schwerin museum experienced losses through the Russian “Trophy Commission”. The theatres turned towards classical heritage and Soviet contemporary drama. Mobile films were played in villages from 1946. In 1947, 150 libraries were recorded in the state.

The Baltic seaside towns preserve their hotel architecture in a mixture of neo-styles known as 'resort architecture'. Each guest apartment has a balcony or a veranda.

New styles of houses are built in the villages following the designation of construction land and the introduction of zoning policies, especially in the government district of Köslin.

Gerhart Hauptmann has his summer retreat on the island of Hiddensee. Clara Arnheim and Henni Lehmann form the Hiddensee artists' guild in 1922 and organise exhibitions in the 'Blue Barn'. The Museum für Neuvorpommern und Rügen opens 1924 in St Catherine's Monastery in Stralsund.
'Degenerate' and Jewish artists are banned from practising their profession under the National Socialists. Erna Raabe and Käthe Loewenthal find safe refuge for a time with Hertha, Countess of Schwerin, in Schmuggerow.

After the war cinemas, theatres and museums were reopened by the SMA in the state. The collections owned by Stettin Museum are stored in Kiel. The “Cultural Association” regulated on the one hand and, on the other hand, revived humanistic factionalism. The theatres turned towards classical heritage and Soviet contemporary drama. Mobile films were played in villages from 1946. In 1947, 150 libraries were recorded in the state.