Berlin Town Hall Discoveries Go On Display

The ten “modernist” sculptures that were discovered during an excavation of Berlin’s town hall between January and last month are now on display. Nearly 80 years ago, they fell victim to the Nazis’ purges of “degenerate” art, when they gathered almost 15,000 pieces and sold or destroyed them. Often by Jewish artists, they were said to clash with the ideals of nationalism and Aryan supremacy. These particular pieces were thought to be kept by a stockbroker who rented the building and helped Jews under Nazi rule. For the most part, they depict the female form and pregnant women. The sculptures were created by artists Anni Mewes, Edwin Scharff, Otto Baum, Naum Slutzky, Karl Knappe, Marg Moll, Gustav Heinrich Wolff, Otto Freundlich, and Emy Roeder.