Art Collection

The Art – Paintings and Sculptures collection comprises a remnant of the holdings of the Royal (later State) Zeughaus in Berlin, featuring depictions of Prussian and German military history; works collected by the MfDG from 1952 on; and artworks acquired by the DHM.

The MfDG concentrated on artworks intended to illustrate the emergence of the GDR, the “first” German workers’ and peasants’ state, and to convey its ideology. The DHM collects paintings and sculptures from the late Middle Ages on, which, as historical sources, reflect the events, key figures, religion, and economic, social and cultural history of the periods in which they were created.

The collection of works of art fostered or commissioned under the National Socialism is unique: the DHM is responsible for managing the so-called Haus der Deutschen Kunst and the German War Art Collection. Both collections belong to the Federal Republic of Germany as the legal successor to the German Reich, which was dissolved in 1945.