Otto Engelhardt-Kyffhäuser, Unteroffizier Berner

Back

				Price:

Description

‘Unteroffizier Berner’ (‘Corporal Berner’)
Biography: Otto Engelhardt-Kyffhäuser

Displayed at the Grosse Deutsche Kunstausttellung 1942 saal 30.

‘Unteroffizier Berner’ by Engelhardt-Kyffhäuser, displayed at the GDK 1942 room 30.

Depicted is ‘Unteroffizier Georg Berner’ (‘Corporal Georg Berner’). In the bottom right corner of the painting is written: ‘Utffz Georg Berner, 10. Komp. Schützen-Regiment 33’. At the request of German Art Gallery, the Bundesarchiv in Berlin was able to determine that the Schützen-Regiment 33 (Infantry Regiment 33) operated from 1 September 1939 in Poland. At Himmler’s request, Engelhardt-Kyffhäuser visited Poland in the first half of 1940 to watch the treck (migration) of the Volksdeutschen see also under). Based on the Nazi-Soviet Pact of August 1939, Russia and Germany had divided Poland whereby East Poland was occupied by Russia. Ethnic Germans from East Poland (the regions Galicia and Volhynia) and the Baltics subsequently moved to the Reichsgau Warthegau (West-Central Poland). Engelhardt-Kyffhäuser must have met Unteroffizier Georg Berner at that time in Poland. Georg Berner was born on June 4th, 1913. He died on January 28th, 1945, at the railroad station in Klarheim, Poland (NB Georg Berner is not the same as Emil Berner, the Knight’s Cross Winner (‘Ritterkreuzträger’), born in Stetten in 1921, who was the commander of 3rd Battalion of Flak-Regiment 18 in Rommel’s Africa Corps).

German War Art in the Pentagon
‘Very good, outstanding and brilliant in conception…’

House of Representatives, Committee on Armed Services, Investigation Subcommittee, Washington, D.C. , September 23, 1981
At September 23, 1981, the House of Representatives discussed the transfer to Germany of 6.337 pieces of war art that were seized from the German Government by the United States Army in March 1947. Below some remarkable quotes from the discussion.
George William Whitehurst (Member of the U.S. House of Representatives, journalist, professor) about the 6.337 pieces of German war art:
‘They are similar to the military works of art hanging on our own committee and subcommittee rooms. Part of the German collection is on display in the Pentagon…. This is war art, showing the life of German military personnel under the best and the worst conditions, as indeed soldiers, sailors, and airmen of all nations experienced it… ‘Asked by the Chairman about the value of the art: ‘Some of it is very, very good. The large canvas in my office is an outstanding work of art’.

Marylou Gjernes, Army Art Curator, U.S. Army Center of Military History, Department of the Army:
‘..The Air Force similarly favors retention of German war art integral to its museum operations at Wright Patterson Air Force Base, and a small exhibit of paintings that they have in the Pentagon.’…. ‘Some of the paintings and drawings are brilliant in conception and execution. They show by their artistry, color and mood, the spirit of combat, and the desolation, destruction and tragedy of war. There are illustrations of the despair and boredom of the troops…They are a testament to the sensitivity of the artist regardless of nationality. The collection ..is utilized in ongoing exhibition programs and displays to provide a unique view of World War II that supplements and supports the written history of the conflict..’


Extreme scarce work of art
Art works considered as overt propaganda were massively destroyed
In accordance with the Potsdam Agreement of August 1945, the Allied Control Council laws and military government regulations, all collections of works of art related or dedicated to the perpetuation of German militarism or Nazism, were destroyed. Thousands of paintings were considered of ‘no value’ and burned. Around 8,722 artworks were shipped to military deposits in the U.S. In 1986 the largest part was returned to Germany, with the exception of 200 paintings which were considered as overt propaganda: depictions of German Soldiers, war sceneries, swastika’s and portraits of Nazi leaders.

============================================ § ============================================