On 31 Januar 2013, the exhibition “Die Verdammten” (The Damned) with lithographs by Otto Herrmann (1899-1995) will be opened at Erich Maria Remarque-Friedenszentrum (E.M.Remarque Peace Centre) in Osnabrück. The cycle was made in the late 1940s and thus immediately after the Second World War. The artist was inspired by Theodor Plievier’s novel “Stalingrad”. 70years after the end of the Battle of Stalingrad, the majority of these works will finally be presented to the public.
“The Damned” was first shown in 1950 at Galerie Valentien in Stuttgart and led to intense reactions, including violent protests, as the artist was accused to allegedly insult the Wehrmacht1. Today, these haunting works against war are hardly known, marginalised by a post-war public that wanted to forget. Therefore, it is more than pleasant that in Osnabrück, some 50 lithographs of this impressiv cycle (of up to 60 works) will be exhibited, supplemented by documents on the cycle’s history of reception and correspondence between Herrmann and Plievier. In 1950, the edition shown was sent by the artist to Franz Schoenberner, former editor of the satirical magazineSimplicissimus, who had gone to exile to New York .
The exhibition is a cooperation with Otto & Maria Herrmann Stiftung. At the time, further lithographs, drawings and documents by Herrmann can be seen at the special exhibition “Stalingrad” at Bundeswehr Museum of Military History in Dresden (14 December 2012 until 30 April 2013). At the opening, Karin Jabs-Kiesler (Mayor of the City of Osnabrück) and Natalie Kreisz (Otto & Maria Herrmann Stiftung) will speak.
Otto Herrmann: The Damned
31 January until 21 April 2013; Tu-Fr 1000-1300h/1500-1700h; Sa/Su 1100-1700h
Opening: 31 January 2013, 1930h
Erich Maria Remarque-Friedenszentrum
Markt 6
49074 Osnabrück
Germany
- Nazi Germany Armed Forces ↩