1933-1945HGB. Eine Ausstellung des HGB-Archivs

The exhibition “1933-1945HGB” attempts to provide insight into the history of the HGB Leipzig (then Academy of Graphic Arts and Book Trade) during the Nazi era.

Research into the history of the HGB is hampered by incomplete records. The academy's archives were not kept continuously. Especially in times of political upheaval, documents were arbitrarily and deliberately destroyed or handled negligently. The documents from the period between 1933 and 1945 are particularly fragmentary. Numerous secondary sources must therefore be used to reconstruct the events. Research in the archives and library of the HGB, the state archives in Leipzig and Dresden, the digital holdings of the Leo Baeck Institute in New York, and a review of current literature on the subject form the basis for the exhibition material. Excerpts and reproductions from documents, archives, and magazines are presented in chronological order to provide insight into this chapter of the institution's history.

Important information can also be gleaned from biographical accounts of former teachers at the academy: the illustrator Hugo Steiner-Prag, artistic director of Propyläen-Verlag and president of the International Book Exhibition (1919–1927), had held a professorship at the academy since 1910. He was dismissed immediately in 1933 on account of his Jewish heritage. The painter and graphic artist Willi Geiger also lost his teaching position at the academy in 1933. In 1934, the Dresden Ministry appointed Walter Gasch, an active member of the NSDAP, as deputy director. In 1937, Hans-Alexander Müller, teacher of the woodcut class, and the graphic artist and illustrator Dr. Hellmuth Weissenborn were forced to leave the academy. Both were married to Jewish women. An important source of information about the period between 1940 and 1944 is the magazine “Wächterstraße 11” published by the Nazi Student Union, which contained soldiers' letters and reports from everyday life at the academy. The only new institution founded during this period was the Institute for Color Photography in 1940, whose director was involved with female students in documenting monuments as part of the “Führer's Monumental Painting Project.” A complete account of the events is not possible with the current state of knowledge, and gaps are highlighted in the exhibition.The exhibition also presents projects and publications by the university that have recently dealt with National Socialism and its effects. The presentation aims to encourage further joint research.

With the 1996 film essay “Dürer's Heirs” by Lutz Dammbeck, the exhibition on the upper floor of the HGB Gallery builds a bridge to the early GDR era and the connection between art and ideology.

In fall 2025, HGB Magazine #3 will be published as a result of the HGB seminar on right-wing continuities from 2021 to 2023. The seminar was conducted by Julia Blume, Nanne Buurman, and Julia Kurz, who also formed the editorial team for this themed magazine.