Hidden works of art come to light

From July 20, 2024, the 80th anniversary of the failed assassination attempt on Adolf Hitler, Neuhardenberg Castle will be showing a special exhibition of images of resistance: the drawings, paintings and prints, which were created in secret during the Nazi regime, could have meant a death sentence for their creators if they had been discovered due to their system-critical content. Hidden or buried, the artworks survived the years. Some of them are now on display for the first time as part of the exhibition Night-time in Germany. Persecution – Destruction – Resistance. Works from the Gerhard Schneider collection. Among other things, previously unknown drawings by the Jewish artist Ernst Kaufmann (1882-1964), which were created in the Theresienstadt concentration camp, will be shown. The exhibition, which makes a unique contribution to art during the Nazi era, can be seen at Neuhardenberg Castle until August 11. Admission to the exhibition is free of charge on the day of the opening.

Other artists from the Gerhard Schneider collection include Lea Grundig, Fritz Ketz, Carl Rabus, Georg Netzband, Renate Geisberg-Wichmann and Heinrich Stegemann. On Sunday, July 21, collector Gerhard Schneider will give a personal tour of the exhibition at 11:00 am. Another guided tour will take place on August 10 at 4:00 pm.

Neuhardenberg Castle, around 70 km east of Berlin, was a regular meeting place for the resistance group that planned the assassination attempt on Hitler on July 20, 1944 under Carl-Hans Graf von Hardenberg. On the day of the exhibition opening, a memorial to Carl-Hans Graf von Hardenberg and the German resistance will be dedicated in the palace park. The bronze sculpture Gegen den Strom (2012/16) by Sylvia Hagen is now permanently placed there.