For decades, a secret cache of 1,500 artworks worth hundreds of millions of euros lay hidden in a modest Munich apartment. The collection, amassed by Nazi art dealer Hildebrand Gurlitt and later kept by his son Cornelius, has now been unveiled in two exhibitions in Bern and Bonn.
Hildebrand Gurlitt, a quarter Jewish, initially lost his job as a curator under the Nazis. He then turned to working for them, selling confiscated 'degenerate' art abroad and acquiring Old Masters for Hitler's planned Führermuseum. After the war, he convinced the Allies he was a victim and became a museum director, but secretly kept a vast collection.
His son Cornelius inherited the hoard in 1956 and lived as a recluse, surviving on occasional sales to Swiss dealers. In 2012, police investigating tax evasion raided his flat and discovered the artworks. Cornelius died in 2014, leaving the collection to the Kunstmuseum in Bern.
German authorities are now tracing the provenance of each piece. Some have been returned to heirs of original owners, like a Matisse from the Rosenberg family. However, many works remain unclaimed, and the investigation continues. The exhibitions allow the public to see these long-hidden treasures.
