The Akademie der Künste has one of the largest Exile Archives on art and literature in any German-speaking country, with over 300 artistic estates and collections from or on figures working in the arts who emigrated under the Nazi regime.

Collage of open passports from the beginning of the twentieth century. — Passports from the exile archives
© Akademie der Künste, Berlin

The Academy is firmly committed to regularly including topics dedicated to ‘art in exile’ in its exhibitions, events, educational programmes, cooperation projects and publications.

Concept, texts and image selection: Anneka Metzger, in collaboration with Werner Heegewaldt und Sabine Wolf; image research and copyrights: Noemi von Alemann; digitization: Susanne Reinhardt, Florian Unger

Black and white portrait photo of Alex Wedding — Alex Wedding (1905–1966), author (pseudonym of Margarete Weiskopf)
© Akademie der Künste, Berlin

Black and white portrait photo of Hanns Eisler with round glasses and a cigarette. — Hanns Eisler (1898-1962), composer
Akademie der Künste, Berlin © Photo: Gerda Goedhart

Black and white portrait photograph of Elisabeth Bergner wearing a hat — Elisabeth Bergner (1897-1986), actor
© Akademie der Künste, Berlin, Photo: Sascha Stone

Black and white photograph of Werner Richard Heymann sitting on a park bench — Werner Richard Heymann (1896–1961), composer, conductor
Akademie der Künste, Berlin © Photo: Fritz Eschen

Black and white portrait photograph from the 1930s of Lilian Harvey and Gene Raymond — Lilian Harvey (1906–1968), actor, singer, dancer (with Gene Raymond)
© Akademie der Künste, Berlin

Black and white portrait photograph of Bruno Taut — Bruno Taut (1880–1938), architect
© Akademie der Künste, Berlin, Photo: Shimonura, Kioto, 1934

Black and white portrait photograph of Bertolt Brecht — Bertolt Brecht (1898–1956), playwright, poet, director
© Akademie der Künste, Berlin

Black and white portrait photograph of Elisabeth Hauptmann — Elisabeth Hauptmann (1897–1973), publisher, author
© Akademie der Künste, Berlin

Without the extensive sources in the Exile Archives, it would have been impossible for the Academy of Arts to initiate and host such a range of events dealing with the topic of exile over the past years and decades. The literary estates of writers exiled between 1933 and 1945, such as Walter Benjamin, Bertolt Brecht, Carl Einstein, Georg Kaiser, Heinrich Mann, Anna Seghers, and Arnold Zweig, have provided the basis for scholarly editions still valid today. In addition, the Academy has held major retrospective exhibitions on literary works by Peter Weiss, the artists George Grosz and John Heartfield, photographer Ellen Auerbach, musicians Artur Schnabel, Paul Dessau and Hanns Eisler, artists in the cabaret scene such as Friedrich Hollaender, Mischa Spoliansky and Werner Richard Heymann, and actors Elisabeth Bergner, Tilla Durieux, Fritz Kortner and Helene Weigel.

Black and white portrait photograph of Walter Benjamin — Walter Benjamin (1892–1940), essayist, critic, philosopher, translator
© Akademie der Künste, Walter Benjamin Archive, Hamburger Stiftung zur Förderung von Wissenschaft und Kultur

Black and white photo of Theodor W. Adorno — Theodor W. Adorno, (1903-1969), philosopher, sociologist, music theorist, composer
© Akademie der Künste, Berlin, T.W. Adorno Archive, Frankfurt/Main, Photo: Franz Röhn

Black and white photo of Heinrich Mann — Heinrich Mann (1871-1950), novelist and essayist
© Akademie der Künste, Berlin

Scwarz-weiss Foto von Artur Schnabel at the piano — Artur Schnabel (1882–1951), composer, pianist
© Akademie der Künste, Berlin

Black and white portrait photograph of Anneliese Landau. — Anneliese Landau (1903-1991), musicologist
© Akademie der Künste, Berlin

Black and white portrait photo of Ralph Benatzky with mountains in the background. — Ralph Benatzky (1884–1957), composer, author
© Akademie der Künste, Berlin

Black and white portrait photo of Fritz Kortner with a cigar — Fritz Kortner (1892-1970), actor, director, author
© Akademie der Künste, Berlin, Photo: Rolf Schäfer

Black and white portrait photograph of Wieland Herzfelde — Wieland Herzfelde (1896–1988), publisher, author
© Akademie der Künste, Berlin, Photo: Christian Kraushaar, 1960

The overview below, sorted alphabetically, is linked to the Archives Database (in German language) and to individual objects from the holdings on exiled artists and writers. The Archives also comprise the Jüdischer Kulturbund Collection (Jewish Cultural Association), containing archives on another 68 people, as well as the Exile Collection of the Performing Arts Archives, a collection specifically dedicated to the exile of theatre practitioners during the Nazi era.