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History of the air raid shelter in Haus der Kunst
Stiftung Haus der Kunst München, gemeinnützige Betriebsgesellschaft mbH PrinzregentenstraSSe 1 80538 Munich, Germany +49 89 21127 113 mail @ hausderkunst.de www.hausderkunst.de Director and Managing Director: Okwui Enwezor Financial Director: Marco Graf von Matuschka Chairman of Supervisory Board: Minister of State Dr. Wolfgang Heubisch
The construction of an air raid shelter was planned when the “Haus der Deutschen Kunst” [House of German Art] was built between 1933 and 1937. This plan, regarded as one of the first official measures taken directly after Hitler seized power, was to condition the public for an impending war. The 292 square meter symmetrical space – divided into cabinet-like elements – was made of reinforced concrete and, with its three-meter thick ceiling, could provide shelter for 300 people. According to Paul Ludwig Troost, a building was to be considered a synthesis of the arts and serve a self-portraying and representative function. For this reason materials selected for the shelter’s interior were also used in other parts of the Haus der Deutschen Kunst. Thus, the shelter’s shower and toilet areas were tiled with the same kind of ceramic tiles – still visible today – used in the sanitary facilities for exhibition hall visitors. Beginning on March 18, 1944, air raids also took place during the day in Munich. Because the Haus der Deutschen Kunst was open to the public until at least end of November 1944, it can be assumed that the air raid shelter was used as such by both visitors and employees. As of 1941, paintings and art objects that were part of Adolf Hitler’s private collection and those belonging to members of the Haus der Deutschen Kunst’s board of directors were also stored here. After the Second World War, the former air raid shelter was rented by various firms and institutions as a storage facility. As of 1974 the Bavarian Red Cross stored material there for disaster control. For the past decade, the shelter has been used as a depository for excavation finds by the Archäologische Staatssammlung [State Archeological Collection].
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Exhibitions have been presented since April 2011 in the space’s 14 underground, cabinet-like rooms as part of the cooperation between Haus der Kunst and the Goetz Collection. The series began with the exhibition “Aschemünder” (09.04 - 29.09.11), which responded to the theme inherent in the premises: An air raid shelter signifies refuge and protection in times of war, but it can also communicate a feeling of imprisonment and confinement. The works by David Claerbout, Willie Doherty, Harun Farocki, Omer Fast, Mona Hatoum, and others referred to war, dictatorship, torture, and persecution.
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