"The journey of the pictures"

Lentos Linz: Focus on Hitler’s looted art

Model of the "Führer Museum" in Linz, which was also to house a picture gallery.(Bild: Archiv der Stadt Linz)

Mining tunnels in the Salzkammergut once protected world art from the bombs. The exhibition "The Journey of the Paintings" at the Lentos Art Museum in Linz presents 80 of these works for the first time and traces their eventful history. Many of the paintings were destined for the "Führer Museum" in Linz.

"The subject is delicate and complex," says Elisabeth Nowak-Thaller, organizer of the exhibition "The Journey of the Paintings" at Lentos in Linz, which for the first time reveals the dimensions of the storage of artworks in the mining tunnels in the Salzkammergut.

Robbers' camp and emergency depot
During the Second World War, the world's most important paintings - estimated at around 8,000 - and sculptures were protected from bombing here. On the one hand, this was Nazi looted art: "Hitler collected, i.e. he bought and looted works of art - not only for the Führer Museum in Linz, but for museums throughout the German Reich," says expert Birgit Schwarz. On the other hand, the Austrian museums used a tunnel in Lauffen near Bad Ischl as an emergency depot in 1944/45.

1945: Recovery of looted art by the Ausseer and the Allies(Bild: Bundesdenkmalamt Archiv, Foto: Eva Kraft)

The mistrust is still great
The exhibition at Lentos presents over 80 paintings and objects that were collected, stored, salvaged and rescued in the Salzkammergut during the war years. All of the exhibits are on loan from public museums in Austria, Germany and France. "We were only able to obtain some of the works from abroad with special permission at the highest level," says Nowak-Thaller.

To Hitler's annoyance
Masterpieces from the 8th to the 20th century, including works by Böcklin, Goya, Munch and Makart, are displayed in a lavish, dense "Petersburg hanging" - a presentation style that Hitler hated. The journey to and from the Salzkammergut is meticulously narrated for each work. Anthonis van Dyck, for example, painted "Jupiter as Satyr" around 1616. After many stops, the painting was purchased in 1938 for the "Linz special commission", stored in Altaussee in 1944 and recovered by the Americans in 1945; today it has found a "home" in a museum in Cologne.

The experts Elisabeth Nowak-Taller and Birgit Schwarz.(Bild: Dostal Harald)

(Bild: Dostal Harald)

Furniture is also on display
The "Ruinenwert" installation by Henrike Naumann is a particularly successful refreshment. She stages furniture for the living room of the Nazi era and rooms of power in the middle of the top-class show.

(Bild: Dostal Harald)

Two more exhibitions
"The Journey of Images" as part of the Salzkammergut 2024 Capital of Culture has two further parts: In Bad Aussee, they shed light on the art dealer Wolfgang Gurlitt (from March 28); contemporary "abducted" works of art are presented in Lauffen near Bad Ischl (from April 27).

Many supporters
According to Gernot Barounig, Commercial Director of Lentos, the total budget for the three exhibitions is 800,000 euros, one third of which is covered by the current budget and two thirds by special funds from the Capital of Culture, the Ministry of Culture, the City of Linz, the Future Fund, the National Fund, the sponsors Raiffeisenlandesbank Oberösterreich and Uniqa as well as the Friends of Lentos, who financed the book published to accompany the exhibition.

"Die Reise der Bilder - Hitlers Kulturpolitik, Kunsthandel und Einlagerungen in der NS-Zeit im Salzkammergut", exhibition at LentosLinz, March 20 to September 8, Tue - Sun 10 am to 6 pm, Thu 10 am to 8 pm, Mon closed.