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In March [[1943]], [[Hermann Voss]], an art historian from [[Weiesbanden]] took over the Sonderauftrag Linz <ref name="museum-security"></ref>. The art for the Führermuseum was purchased using funds from by sales of Hitler’s book [[Mein Kampf]] and stamps showing his portrait. <ref name="museum-security"></ref> <ref name="DW">{{Citation|last=DW Staff|title =The Mystery of Hitler's Lost Art Collection |publisher=[[www.dw-world.de|Deutsche Welle]] |date=24 August 2008 |url= http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,1564,1689856,00.html/ |accessdate=13 December 2008}}</ref> [[Gottfried Reiemer]] also worked on the project. |
In March [[1943]], [[Hermann Voss]], an art historian from [[Weiesbanden]] took over the Sonderauftrag Linz <ref name="museum-security"></ref>. The art for the Führermuseum was purchased using funds from by sales of Hitler’s book [[Mein Kampf]] and stamps showing his portrait. <ref name="museum-security"></ref> <ref name="DW">{{Citation|last=DW Staff|title =The Mystery of Hitler's Lost Art Collection |publisher=[[www.dw-world.de|Deutsche Welle]] |date=24 August 2008 |url= http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,1564,1689856,00.html/ |accessdate=13 December 2008}}</ref> [[Gottfried Reiemer]] also worked on the project. |
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The art was mostly stored in the ''Führerbau'' (Hitler’s office building) in [[Munich]].<ref name="DHM"></ref> In February 1944, Voss and Reimer moved the paintings to the salt mines of [[Altaussee]] to protect them from increased bombing. <ref name="museum-security"></ref> <ref name="intelligent-TV"></ref> In total, at least 10,000 art objects were collected for the project. Some of the art collected included Vermeer’s "[[Portrait of the Artist in His Studio]]," works by [[Breughel]], [[Durer]], [[Fragonard]], [[Rembrandt]], and [[Rubens]]. <ref name="intelligent-TV"></ref> Detailed records of the collection were kept at [[Schloss Weesenstein]], a 13th-century castle once home to the [[King of Saxony]]. <ref name="intelligent-TV"></ref> |
The art was mostly stored in the ''Führerbau'' (Hitler’s office building) in [[Munich]].<ref name="DHM"></ref> In February 1944, Voss and Reimer moved the paintings to the salt mines of [[Altaussee]] to protect them from increased bombing. <ref name="museum-security"></ref> <ref name="intelligent-TV"></ref> In total, at least 10,000 art objects were collected for the project. Some of the art collected included Vermeer’s "[[Portrait of the Artist in His Studio]]," works by [[Breughel]], [[Durer]], [[Fragonard]], [[Rembrandt]], and [[Rubens]]. <ref name="intelligent-TV"></ref> Detailed records of the collection were kept at [[Schloss Weesenstein]], a 13th-century castle once home to the [[King of Saxony]]. <ref name="intelligent-TV"></ref> In 2008 the German Historic Museum of Berlin published a data bank with pictures which so called " Sonderauftrag Linz" collected for the "Führermuseum". |
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There is some debate about whether art for the Führermuseum was stolen or purchased. [[Hanns Christian Löhr]] argues in "The Brown House of Art" that only a small portion of the collection – possibly 12 percent – came from seizures or expropriation.<ref name="DW"></ref> Hermann Voss’ secretary argues that the collection only came from legal sources.<ref name="museum-security"></ref> However, [[Jonathan Petropoulos]], a historian at [[Loyola College]] in [[Baltimore]] and an expert in wartime looting, argues that most of the purchases were not [[arms' length]] in nature. <ref name="Boston Globe">{{Citation|last=Robinson|first=Walter|date=25 November 1997|title="Sotheby's takes work tied to Nazis off block"|url=http://web.archive.org/web/20030418024422/http://www.boston.com/globe/nation/packages/paintings/112597.htm|accessdate=13 December 2008}}</ref> [[Gerard Aalders]], a Dutch historian, said those sales amounted to ''technical looting,'' since the Netherlands and other occupied countries were forced to accept German reichsmarks that ultimately proved worthless. Aalders argues that ''If Hitler's or Goering's art agent stood on your doorstep and offered $10,000 for the painting instead of the $100,000 it was really worth, it was pretty hard to refuse,''. Aalders adds that Nazis who encountered reluctant sellers threatened to confiscate the art or arrest the owner. <ref name="Boston Globe"></ref> |
There is some debate about whether art for the Führermuseum was stolen or purchased. [[Hanns Christian Löhr]] argues in "The Brown House of Art" that only a small portion of the collection – possibly 12 percent – came from seizures or expropriation.<ref name="DW"></ref> Hermann Voss’ secretary argues that the collection only came from legal sources.<ref name="museum-security"></ref> However, [[Jonathan Petropoulos]], a historian at [[Loyola College]] in [[Baltimore]] and an expert in wartime looting, argues that most of the purchases were not [[arms' length]] in nature. <ref name="Boston Globe">{{Citation|last=Robinson|first=Walter|date=25 November 1997|title="Sotheby's takes work tied to Nazis off block"|url=http://web.archive.org/web/20030418024422/http://www.boston.com/globe/nation/packages/paintings/112597.htm|accessdate=13 December 2008}}</ref> [[Gerard Aalders]], a Dutch historian, said those sales amounted to ''technical looting,'' since the Netherlands and other occupied countries were forced to accept German reichsmarks that ultimately proved worthless. Aalders argues that ''If Hitler's or Goering's art agent stood on your doorstep and offered $10,000 for the painting instead of the $100,000 it was really worth, it was pretty hard to refuse,''. Aalders adds that Nazis who encountered reluctant sellers threatened to confiscate the art or arrest the owner. <ref name="Boston Globe"></ref> |
Revision as of 09:43, 30 April 2009
The Führermuseum (English, Führer museum) was an unrealized museum complex planned by Adolf Hitler for the Austrian city of Linz to display the collection of art plundered or purchased by the Nazis throughout Europe during World War II.
Design of the Museum and complex
The plans for the Linz complex designed by Albert Speer included a monumental theatre, an opera house and an Adolf Hitler Hotel, all surrounded by huge boulevards and a parade ground. [1]. A library would house at least 250,000 books; the museum itself would have a colonnaded facade about 500 feet (150 meters) long, in a the design paralleling that of the Haus für Deutsche Kunst already erected in Munich. It would stand on the site of the Linz railroad station, which was to be moved four kilometers to the south. [2].
The complex was meant to rival or beat the Louvre or Smithsonian in scale.
Museum Collection
On 21 June 1939, Hitler set up the Sonderauftrag Linz (Special Commission: Linz) in Dresden and appointed Dr Hans Posse, director of the Dresden picture gallery, as special envoy for the Führermuseum. [3][4] Posse died in 1943, and the collection was administered by Robert Oertel and Gottfried Reimer.[3]
In March 1943, Hermann Voss, an art historian from Weiesbanden took over the Sonderauftrag Linz [4]. The art for the Führermuseum was purchased using funds from by sales of Hitler’s book Mein Kampf and stamps showing his portrait. [4] [5] Gottfried Reiemer also worked on the project.
The art was mostly stored in the Führerbau (Hitler’s office building) in Munich.[3] In February 1944, Voss and Reimer moved the paintings to the salt mines of Altaussee to protect them from increased bombing. [4] [2] In total, at least 10,000 art objects were collected for the project. Some of the art collected included Vermeer’s "Portrait of the Artist in His Studio," works by Breughel, Durer, Fragonard, Rembrandt, and Rubens. [2] Detailed records of the collection were kept at Schloss Weesenstein, a 13th-century castle once home to the King of Saxony. [2] In 2008 the German Historic Museum of Berlin published a data bank with pictures which so called " Sonderauftrag Linz" collected for the "Führermuseum".
There is some debate about whether art for the Führermuseum was stolen or purchased. Hanns Christian Löhr argues in "The Brown House of Art" that only a small portion of the collection – possibly 12 percent – came from seizures or expropriation.[5] Hermann Voss’ secretary argues that the collection only came from legal sources.[4] However, Jonathan Petropoulos, a historian at Loyola College in Baltimore and an expert in wartime looting, argues that most of the purchases were not arms' length in nature. [6] Gerard Aalders, a Dutch historian, said those sales amounted to technical looting, since the Netherlands and other occupied countries were forced to accept German reichsmarks that ultimately proved worthless. Aalders argues that If Hitler's or Goering's art agent stood on your doorstep and offered $10,000 for the painting instead of the $100,000 it was really worth, it was pretty hard to refuse,. Aalders adds that Nazis who encountered reluctant sellers threatened to confiscate the art or arrest the owner. [6]
As the Allies approached Linz, the commandant of the Linz collection ordered the salt mines and artworks destroyed, but this order was not carried out. Most of the collection was recovered, but some was not. Some argue that stolen artwork is hanging in museums and collections around the world. [5] This is discussed in the documentary The Rape of Europa.
Museum Collection after War
After World War II, the American Art Looting Investigation Unit (ALIU) of the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) made thirteen detailed reports on the Linz museum and the Nazi plundering of art. [7]. These reports were synthesised into four consolidated reports; the fourth of these was written by S. Lane Faison covering the Führermuseum.[7] These reports focussed on returning art to rightful owners.
In Eastern Europe, Stalin charged Mikhail Khrapchenko with taking many of the Führermuseum artworks to stock Soviet art galleries.[2] Khrapchenko said "it would now be possible to turn Moscow’s Pushkin Museum into one of the world’s great museums, like the British Museum, the Louvre, or the Hermitage."
In 2009, The Linz Castle Museum will hold an exhibition about the Führermuseum. [1]
External links
- 2004 article from Die Welt (in German)
- OSS Report on Hitler's Museum (from Prof. Jonathan Petropolous)
- Online database of Linz Special Collection at The German Historical Museum covering 4747 works. "It shows paintings, sculptures, furniture, porcelain, and tapestries that Adolf Hitler and his agents purchased or appropriated from confiscated property between the end of the 1930s and 1945, primarily for a museum planned for Linz, but also for other collections."
Further reading
- Schwarz, Birgit: Hitler's Museum. Die Fotoalben Gemäldegalerie Linz, Wien, Böhlau Verlag, 2004. ISBN 3-205-77054-4.
- Löhr, Hanns Christian, "The Brown House of Art, Hitler and the "Sonderauftrag Linz", Berlin Akademie Verlag, 2005. ISBN 978-3-05-004156-8.
Notes
- ^ Bell, Bethany (3 November 2008), Hitler’s Austrian ‘culture capital’, retrieved 13 December 2008
- ^ a b c d e Hitler’s Museum, retrieved 13 December 2008
- ^ a b c Enderlein, Angelika; Flacke, Monika, Database on the Sonderauftrag Linz (Special Commission: Linz), retrieved 13 December 2008
- ^ a b c d e Lohr, Hanns (20 November 2000), No Looted Art in Hitlers Museum in Linz, retrieved 13 December 2008
- ^ a b c DW Staff (24 August 2008), The Mystery of Hitler's Lost Art Collection, Deutsche Welle, retrieved 13 December 2008
- ^ a b Robinson, Walter (25 November 1997), "Sotheby's takes work tied to Nazis off block", retrieved 13 December 2008
- ^ a b Petropolous, Prof. Jonathan, Linz: Hitler's Museum and Library: Consolidated Interrogation Report No. 4, 15 December 1945, The Reports of the Office of Strategic Services Art Looting Investigation Unit, retrieved 13 December 2008