Urte Evert, head of the museum, revealed in the Spandau newsletter three months ago that “Hitler’s Bronze Horses” will come to the citadel of Berlin-Spandau in the summer and will be on view from autumn 2022. But one important detail remained open in the spring: Where is the huge sculpture actually going on the huge cultural fortress? The Tagesspiegel newsletter for Berlin-Spandau now reports on this in its current issue.
“The concept envisages bringing one of the horses into the existing exhibition in the room with other National Socialist monuments,” said Spandau City Councilor for Culture Frank Bewig, CDU, in the hallways of the town hall. The sculpture will of course be commented on and also prepared for tactile tours. And above all: the “striding horses” are set up separately to take their momentum.
The horses weigh more than a ton and are three meters high, museum director Urte Evert told the Tagesspiegel. And she also announced in the Tagesspiegel last year: “The monument will not be glorified.”
“So that these large bronzes do not completely dominate the room, the second horse will be placed in the newly prepared display depot of the so-called Bastion Queen,” says City Councilor for Culture Bewig. bastion queen? What is meant by this is the citadel courtyard, which is to the far right of the entrance – here is a graphic of the area: It is about location number 6. In front of it there was a very cozy corner with langos, tomatoes, knobs at the last Christmas market.
“It will be housed there together with other controversial objects in such a way that accompanying events on the topic of ‘dealing with problematic culture of remembrance’ can be held,” said the City Councilor for Culture.
In Berlin there are always arguments about ‘toxic’ sculptures, which some would rather not see anymore and others even destroy, as here in Zehlendorf and here recently on the bridge of the citadel. There the steel helmet was stolen, the history of which the museum actually wanted to comment on with signs. Access to the horse is only possible during guided tours or special events.
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The wild story of this mighty sculpture goes like this: The work of art was designed by Josef Thorak, one of Adolf Hitler’s ‘God-gifted’ favorite sculptors.
They stood at the Reich Chancellery until 1943, were later hidden, stood unnoticed next to the sports field of a Soviet barracks in Eberswalde/GDR, were sold for millions in 1989 during the reunification period and smuggled to West Germany by Nazi art fans and only rediscovered in 2015. Until the end, the horses were parked at the LKA in Rhineland-Palatinate. Next stage: Spandau.
