Forgotten
Life Stories

  • Foto von Bleichröder
    Kunstwerk aus der Sammlung von von Bleichröder

    James von Bleichröder

    Ein Exzentriker aus gutem Hause

  • Foto Hess
    Kunstwerk aus der Sammlung von Hess

    Alfred, Tekla und Hans Hess

    Ein Feuerwerk der Avantgarde

    Geschmäht, verfolgt, verjagt

    Geschmäht, verfolgt, verjagt

With their passion for art they shaped European cultural life. Then they were persecuted, dispossessed, expelled, and murdered by the National Socialists – simply because they were Jews. Here we tell some of their life stories.

  • Foto Kien
    Kunstwerk aus der Sammlung von Kien

    Julius Kien

    Escape to Australia

  • Foto Davidsohn
    Kunstwerk aus der Sammlung von Davidsohn

    Julius und Semaya Franziska Davidsohn

    Gezielter Kunstraub

    Ausgeplündert, deportiert, ermordet

    Ausgeplündert, deportiert, ermordet

  • Foto Biermann
    Kunstwerk aus der Sammlung von Biermann

    Aenne Biermann

    The Photographer

    Beraubt, verfolgt, vertrieben

    Beraubt, verfolgt, vertrieben

News

More to come

These biographies are just a few examples of countless stories of persecution. Additional biographies will be added at regular intervals. Do visit the website again to take a look.

A commemorative project

When museums research the provenance of their works, they uncover the history not only of ownership but also of the owners. With the multimedia project “Art, Looting, and Restitution – Forgotten Life Stories” the Stiftung Preußischer Kulturbesitz (Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation) and the Bayerische Staatsgemäldesammlungen (Bavarian State Painting Collections), in conjunction with the broadcasters Rundfunk Berlin Brandenburg (rbb) and Bayerischer Rundfunk (BR), seek to commemorate the victims of persecution and dispossession. Who were the people concerned and what happened to the art that they owned? What does it mean for their descendants to have a piece of looted art returned?