The Journey of Pictures – Hitler's Cultural Policy, Art Trade and Storage in the Salzkammergut during the Nazi Era
During the Second World War, the Salzkammergut was like no other region in Austria a transshipment point and rescue place for important works of art from European art history. Adolf Hitler had works of art stored in the Aussee salt mine for his planned "Führermuseum" in Linz. Important Austrian museums are also temporarily using tunnels, churches or restaurants in St. Agatha, Bad Aussee, Altaussee and Bad Ischl/Lauffen as temporary storage and shelters.
Art transports Altaussee Salt Mine, 1943/44 © Federal Monuments Office Archive, Photo: Eva Kraft
The exhibition goes in search of exemplary pictures that were collected, stored, robbed, Aryanized, forcibly sold, moved, sold or rescued in the Salzkammergut during the 2nd World War. The paths of the works of art all over the world represent the continuation of the "journey". The exhibition includes masterpieces by Arnold Böcklin, Lovis Corinth, Francisco José de Goya, Francesco Guardi, Oskar Kokoschka, Franz von Lenbach, Hans Makart, Edvard Munch, Moritz von Schwind, Max Pechstein, Giovanni Battista Tiepolo, Titian and Ferdinand Georg Waldmüller. The contemporary installation "Ruinenwert" (2019) by the German artist Henrike Naumann expands on the exhibition architecture staged by the artist and architect duo Nicole Six and Paul Petritsch.
20 March to 8 September 2024
