Voss, Hermann Georg August

Art historian, museum director

Born: 30.07.1884 in Lüneburg

Died: 28.04.1969 in Munich

Voss studied art history in Heidelberg. His dissertation on Wolf Huber was published in Leipzig in 1907 under the title "Der Ursprung des Donaustils". In 1912, Voss took over the management of the Neue Graphische Sammlung there. In 1919, he submitted his habilitation thesis on "Late Renaissance painting in Rome and Florence". In 1922, Voss was appointed curator of the Berlin Gemäldegalerie, where he worked until his appointment as director of the Wiesbaden Municipal Art Collection on April 1, 1935.

The establishment of a high-caliber collection of contemporary art in Wiesbaden had come to an abrupt end with the Nazi takeover in 1933. After the Kirchhoff Collection, which mainly comprised expressionist and early abstract works, was returned to the collector Heinrich Kirchhoff and comparable works were taken into storage, Voss had the task of filling numerous empty exhibition rooms. As a Renaissance and Baroque expert with a keen interest in 19th century art, Voss corresponded to the National Socialists' understanding of art.

He focused his acquisition policy accordingly. Due to a lack of funds, Voss enlarged the collection through loans or acquired desiderata in exchange for his own holdings. Numerous works, especially those of classical modernism, left the museum, declared as inferior depot goods. Voss also knew how to use his role as an appraiser and valuer for the Gestapo to make new acquisitions. As a result of this activity, several paintings from Jewish ownership came into the museum after 1938 at the latest.

The "Voss method" took on a new quality when he was appointed special representative for Hitler's planned "Führer Museum" in Linz in 1943. He retained his position in Wiesbaden until 1945. Between 1943-45, the art collection benefited from Voss's special commission: the large sums he paid to various galleries were apparently matched by generous donations.

Voss was arrested after the end of the war for his activities as a special commissioner; he was not charged before the Nuremberg Tribunal due to a lack of evidence. A reappraisal and reparations were thus prevented. His "German Self-Criticism", published in 1947, lacks any admission of guilt.

The Museum Wiesbaden has been conducting provenance research since 2009. To date, numerous restitutions have been carried out in order to make amends for the injustice for which Voss was responsible.