Description
This collection is comprised of
photographs, negatives, lectures, transcripts, correspondences, and other ephemera
documenting Alois Schardt's career as a German art historian and museum director before,
during, and after World War II. After being forced from job at the National Gallery of
Berlin in 1933, Schardt was censored by the Nazi party. He left for the United States in
1940 with his photographs. The bulk of this collection consists of photographs and
negatives, primarily of Christian art and architecture. His photographs for publication can
also be found in the collection. Also present are lectures in English, transcripts of
Schardt's published and unpublished manuscripts, and personal and professional
correspondence.
Background
Alois Schardt was a German art historian and museum director. He was already serving as
director of the Moritzburg Museum in Halle in 1933 when he was appointed director of the
National Gallery in Berlin, replacing Ludwig Justi, who was forced from his job by the
Nazis. Schardt was dismissed within months, and his newly-hung galleries, like those of
Justi before him, were not opened to the public. Later he was forbidden to teach at the
Martin-Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg, to speak in public, or to publish. He left for
the United States in 1940, bringing some installation photographs with him.
Extent
6.5 Linear Feet
(18 boxes)
Restrictions
Contact Library Reproductions and
Permissions.
Availability
Open for use by qualified researchers.