The Legacy of Jugend
Alas, largely due to Germany's terrible losses in the two World Wars, much of its cultural heritage has been ignored by the rest of the world. Jugend and Jugendstil are hardly known outside of Germany itself except to a few collectors.
This is a tragedy. Why should Germany be known for lederhosen, fat little cherubic doll ornaments, and rustic wood carvings instead of the much richer artistic legacy one can see in Jugend's pages?
But there are some lights. Though it's not known by name, Jugend has had lasting influence in the art world. For instance, Heinrich Kley's works were very influential for Walt Disney, and his mark can be seen in movies like Fantasia and Snow White, in the time before the death of Disney when his movies were as much works of true visual art as they were motion pictures. Jugend along with other art nouveau movements also led to the mainstreaming of art, with everyday functional objects blended with art and style becoming popular among the ordinary people.
In addition, Jugend's founder Georg Hirth was instrumental in founding the modern artistic world of Munich, providing the nurturing gathering spot for Munich's artists and thinkers to gather and to find ways to share their images and thoughts. Many Jugendstil works of architecture still stand in Munich, many built by Hirth's friends, and the art world of Germany in his time would doubtless have been very different without Jugend.
