© Jan Windszus
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Art - People - Power
Schönhausen Palace as the scene of the Nazi "Degenerate Art" campaign
Zwei Angestellte des Kunstdienstes präsentieren Emil Noldes „Kreuzigung“, 1912, Öl/Leinwand, 220,5 × 193,5 cm (Wvz. Urban 477) vor dem Schloss Schönhausen, Foto: Günter Ranft (vermutlich) – Zwei Angestellte des Kunstdienstes präsentieren Emil Noldes „Kreuzigung“, 1912, Öl/Leinwand, 220,5 × 193,5 cm (Wvz. Urban 477) vor dem Schloss Schönhausen, Foto: Günter Ranft (vermutlich)
© Nolde Stiftung Seebüll
From the late summer of 1938, around 3,750 works of art that had previously been confiscated from German museums as part of the "Degenerate Art" campaign were stored at Schönhausen Palace. From the beginning of their rule in Germany, the National Socialists defamed modern art as "degenerate" or "decaying art". In July 1937, they had numerous works of art brought to Munich from German museums to be shown in a derisive manner in the "Degenerate Art" exhibition. Afterwards, in a further action, over 20,000 works of art were confiscated from around a hundred museums and taken to Berlin. From August 1938, a selection of around 3,700 works of art arrived at Schönhausen Palace. From here, they were to be sold abroad for foreign currency.
The extended permanent exhibition provides an insight into the cultural policy of National Socialism and shows Schönhausen Palace as an important arena for this policy. In the existing permanent exhibition - from the use of the palace as the summer residence of Queen Elisabeth Christine to the guest house of the GDR government - this closes a gap in the presentation of the history of the site.
Visitors can explore what happened in the palace in five rooms. They get to know selected players in the "exploitation" and learn how the sale was organized and implemented. They gain an insight into the biographies, motivation and scope of action of the people involved, the employees of the Nazi administration, the dealers who brokered the art sales and the collectors who bought the artworks stored in the castle. One room is dedicated to the artists affected. Here, the fates of some artists are presented as examples and their different experiences are made accessible through diaries and letters. Selected original works of art and the description of their paths to the present day illustrate the facets of the art policy of National Socialism and its consequences.
Translated with DeepL
The extended permanent exhibition provides an insight into the cultural policy of National Socialism and shows Schönhausen Palace as an important arena for this policy. In the existing permanent exhibition - from the use of the palace as the summer residence of Queen Elisabeth Christine to the guest house of the GDR government - this closes a gap in the presentation of the history of the site.
Visitors can explore what happened in the palace in five rooms. They get to know selected players in the "exploitation" and learn how the sale was organized and implemented. They gain an insight into the biographies, motivation and scope of action of the people involved, the employees of the Nazi administration, the dealers who brokered the art sales and the collectors who bought the artworks stored in the castle. One room is dedicated to the artists affected. Here, the fates of some artists are presented as examples and their different experiences are made accessible through diaries and letters. Selected original works of art and the description of their paths to the present day illustrate the facets of the art policy of National Socialism and its consequences.
Translated with DeepL
Runtime: from June 2026
Price: €8.00
Reduced price: €6.00
Reduced price: €6.00
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