Führerbau

The Führerbau (Führer’s building), together with the Verwaltungsbau (administration building) and the Ehrentempel (Temples of Honor), were erected at Arcisstraße 12 in Munich between 1933 and 1937, based on plans drawn by [about:blank Paul Ludwig Troost], Hitler’s favorite architect. The building housed Hitler’s office and those of his deputies. On 25 September 1937, the building was inaugurated during a visit by Benito Mussolini, and in 1938 British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain and Hitler signed the [about:blank Munich Agreement] there. The Führerbau served as the central storage for artworks acquired by the Linz Museum Project. On 2 December 1943, Hans Reger, the architect in charge at the Führerbau, received 262 Schloss paintings sent from Paris and earmarked for the Linz Museum. On 29-30 April 1945, no sooner had the SS guards abandoned their guard posts than local residents stole at least 1,500 objects_, _including the 262 paintings from the Schloss Collection. Some objects were illegally removed in the first days of the U.S. occupation of Munich. Starting in May 1945, the U.S. occupation forces used the building as a Central Collecting Point (MCCP) for tens of thousands of objects recovered by U.S. troops across Bavaria and other parts of Germany. Allied cultural specialists processed, catalogued, inventoried and packed them for shipment to their countries of origin from 1945 to 1951.

Literature: “Das Parteiviertel der NSDAP.” Munich Documentation Center for the History of National Socialism. [about:blank https://www.ns-dokuzentrum-muenchen.de/zentrum/historischer-ort/parteiviertel/]. Accessed 10 May 2021. Hopp, Meike and Leonhard Weidinger. Rekonstruktion des “Führerbau-Diebstahls” Ende April 1945 und Recherchen zum Verbleib der Objekte. Summarischer Projektbericht, Zentralinstitut für Kunstgeschichte, 2018. [about:blank https://www.zikg.eu/forschung/projekte/projekte-zi/fuehrerbau-diebstahl]. Accessed on 10 May 2021. Hopp, Meike and Stephan Klingen. “Vom »Führerbau« zum Central Collecting Point. Verlagerung von Kunst- und Kulturgut am Beispiel München 1942-1949.” Schölnberger, Pia and Sabine Loitfellner (ed.). Bergung von Kulturgut im Nationalsozialismus. Mythen – Hintergründe – Auswirkungen (Schriftenreihe der Kommission für Provenienzforschung, Bd. 6). Böhlau, pp. 69–84. Edsel, Robert M. The Monuments Men. Allied Heroes, Nazi Thieves, and the greatest Treasure Hunt in History. Center Street, 2009. Krause, Alexander. The Palais Pringsheim - the Führerbau - the Amerika Haus - the Hochschule Für Musik und Theater (University of Music and Performing Arts). [about:blank Allitera-Verlag], 2010. Löhr, Hanns Christian. Das Braune Haus der Kunst. Hitler und der »Sonderauftrag Linz« – Kunstbeschaffung im Nationalsozialismus. Gebrüder Mann Verlag, 2016. Birgit Schwarz, Hitlers Museum. Die Fotoalben Gemäldegalerie Linz: Dokumente zum “Führermuseum.” Theiss, 2004. Breitenbach, Edgar. “Historical Survey of the Activities of the Intelligence Department, MFA & a Section, OMGB, 1946-1949.” College Art Journal. Vol. 9, No. 2 (Winter, 1949-1950), pp. 192-198.