monuments-men

in black-and-white) of portraits of Germanmilitary commanders from FrederickWilliam I to Hitler.A large heap of tapestries and altar clothslay damp and unwrapped by the door. Therewere 65 steel ammunition boxes and cases ofbooks, some with the stamp of the CrownPrince’s Library, and some china in boxes.The Art Experts FindTreasures of a Nazi FutureHancock telephoned another MonumentsMan at 12th Army Group Headquarters,Navy Reserve Lt. George Stout, one ofAmerica’s foremost experts in the field of artconservation. He told Stout that he was at amine “with 400,000 tons of explosives in it.I can’t tell you what else is down there, notover the phone, but it’s important, George.Maybe even more important than Siegen[another mine that contained works of artand treasures].”Because of the precarious conditions atthe depository, the Army ordered its evacuation,with the coronation paraphernaliagoing to headquarters and everything elsemoved to a place of safety. Stout was orderedto go to Bernterode to give technical adviceon the removal of the artworks and otherhistorical holdings.When Hancock and Stout went into themine and reviewed the treasures on May 1,Stout observed that the Germans were hiding“the most precious artifacts of the Germanmilitary state. This room wasn’t intended forHitler; it was intended for the next Reich, sothey could build upon his glory.” Laughing,Hancock replied, “And it didn’t even stay hiddenuntil the end of this one.”Hancock borrowed Stout’s Jeep and, withouta military guard, returned to First U.S.Army headquarters at Weimar with the threeboxes from the Hohenzollern Museum.After inspecting the contents, Hancock tookthe boxes to the Reichsbank at Frankfurt—this time with an armed escort. Anotherthorough inspection concluded that the objectshad suffered no damage, and the boxesThis Prussian crown was part of a collection of coronationparaphernalia found at Bernterode. Below:Two finely wrought swords of Frederick the Great.were repacked and deposited in the bank.The boxes contained, among other objects,the Prussian coronation paraphernalia.Back at Bernterode, Stout was planningthe evacuation of the remaining items in themine. Under the arrangement with the militarygovernment and local civilians, powerwas kept up to operate the elevator in themine shaft. Power at the mine, however, wasintermittent and the lighting insuffcient.Two shifts of soldiers working daily for threedays packed paintings, flags, and other textilesinto 180 packages and 40 bundles. Thecaskets were sewn and lashed in carpet wrappingto facilitate handling and to concealtheir identity.Fourteen French laborers, former plantworkers, helped move the objects to theelevator shaft. German crews operated theelevators. The cage of the elevator was toosmall for a few of the objects—large paintingsand the caskets—and the engineers hadto make temporary alterations to accommodatethem. The last to be hoisted was the casketof Frederick the Great, which weighedat least 1,200 pounds and filled the elevator,with not a half-inch to spare.As Frederick the Great’s casket neared thetop of the shaft, a radio in the distance blaredforth the “Star-Spangled Banner,” and justas the coffn came into view, the radio bandstruck up “God Save the King.” It was May8, V-E Day; the war in Europe was over.Captured Nazi DocumentsExamined at Marburg CastleA convoy carried the objects fromBernterode to Marburg, some 100 miles tothe southwest. The military government atMarburg took temporary custody of thebodies and the regimental flags in Schloss(Castle) Marburg, pending their final disposition.All other objects were delivered to theJubiläumsbau, or Jubilee Building, which wasthe home of the Kunsthistorisches Museum.Stout noted in his report that althoughthe municipal archives in the mine did notneed to be evacuated immediately, theywould face preservation problems over thenext several months. He also noted the presenceof explosives in the area of the mine.Hancock suggested the Army consider removingthe flags from Germany.In addition to housing the four caskets andarchives, Marburg Castle became home to aPolitical Document Center, operated by theAmerican State Department and the BritishForeign Offce. Throughout May, a collectionof German Foreign Offce documentsfrom other evacuation centers were movedto the castle. There an Anglo-American teamexamined and sorted the documents.The Supreme Headquarters AlliedExpeditionary Forces (SHAEF) directed theMonuments Men and Nazi TreasuresPrologue 15