Two horses can be seen in Berlin, a third is on the grounds of a high school in Ising am Chiemsee Photo: Fredrik von Erichsen/dpa
From BZ/dpa
Two sculptures from Adolf Hitler’s New Reich Chancellery used as Nazi propaganda are back in Berlin.
The larger-than-life work “Stepping Horses” by the sculptor Josef Thorak (1889-1952) was delivered to the Museum of the Citadel in the Spandau district on Friday. Alongside Arno Breker (1900-1991), Thorak was one of the most important Nazi artists.
A sculpture will be part of the exhibition “Unveiled. Berlin and its monuments”. There, objects from the period from 1849 to 1986 show how the respective state power wanted to shape the Berlin cityscape. The second horse complements a display depot in the bastion Queen with further objects of the culture of remembrance.
The bronze works were discovered in 2015 during a raid in Bad Dürkheim in Rhineland-Palatinate on suspicion of receiving illegally obtained federal assets. The federal government had demanded the return of the horses and other sculptures because they had become its property as a result of the unification treaty.
The two bronze horse sculptures were delivered to the citadel on Friday Photo: Britta Pedersen/dpa
An entrepreneur stated that he had legally bought the works. After a settlement, the man released the bronze horses, leaving the other sculptures with him.