Works and destinies

By 1910 Berlin was already an international hub of the modern art world. No German city was home to more artists, gallery owners and collectors. They promoted avant-garde movements, established art as an integral part of the middle-class lifestyle, and increasingly challenged conservative structures in society.

When the Nazis took power in 1933, they sought to stifle this freedom-loving community. Modern art was mocked as “degenerate”, while supporters of the regime were legally authorised to threaten, persecute and disenfranchise Jews involved in the art world. Those who could not escape were driven to suicide or fell victim to the Shoah.

Even today, museums hold an unspecified number of works that once belonged to people persecuted by the National Socialists. We have a moral duty to uncover these tales of loss, trace descendants of the victims and offer to return their works. That is why every work created before 1945 is checked out to establish whether it changed hands as a result of Nazi persecution.