Nazi-Designated `Degenerate' Sculptures Unearthed From Berlin Bomb Rubble
Eleven sculptures by artists condemned as “degenerate” by the Nazis were unearthed from World War II rubble near Berlin’s city hall, where building is about to start on a new underground train line.
The sculptures, including bronzes by Edwin Scharff, Marg Moll and Karl Knappe, survived both the vilification of the Nazis and Allied fire-bombing in the war. The last objects in the trove were unearthed at the end of last month in excavations aimed at finding remnants of medieval history. The works will be exhibited at Berlin’s Neues Museum from tomorrow.
In 1937, the Nazis seized more than 20,000 modern works that they saw as contrary to Aryan ideals from German museums. That year, Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels staged the exhibition “Degenerate Art,” which first opened in Munich, where it attracted more than 2 million people before moving on to other German and Austrian cities.
The Nazis auctioned the seized artworks 1938, mainly abroad for hard currency. What couldn’t be sold was stored in Berlin by a department of the Goebbels Propaganda Ministry. It is not yet known how the sculptures found their way to Koenigstrasse 50, the house that once stood on the site of the discovery....
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The sculptures, including bronzes by Edwin Scharff, Marg Moll and Karl Knappe, survived both the vilification of the Nazis and Allied fire-bombing in the war. The last objects in the trove were unearthed at the end of last month in excavations aimed at finding remnants of medieval history. The works will be exhibited at Berlin’s Neues Museum from tomorrow.
In 1937, the Nazis seized more than 20,000 modern works that they saw as contrary to Aryan ideals from German museums. That year, Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels staged the exhibition “Degenerate Art,” which first opened in Munich, where it attracted more than 2 million people before moving on to other German and Austrian cities.
The Nazis auctioned the seized artworks 1938, mainly abroad for hard currency. What couldn’t be sold was stored in Berlin by a department of the Goebbels Propaganda Ministry. It is not yet known how the sculptures found their way to Koenigstrasse 50, the house that once stood on the site of the discovery....