Accession No. RARE.2026.0027: Purchased, 2024 July
[identification of item], Heinrich Hoffmann Presentation Album Documenting the Construction of Haus der Deutschen Kunst, SPEC.RARE.MMS.0437, Rare Books and Manuscripts Library, Ohio State University
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Processed by: David Mezick, 2026 March; Finding aid written by: David Mezick, 2026 March
The Haus der Deutschen Kunst (House of German Art) is a museum or art exhibition building in Munich, Germany at the southern end of the Englischer Garten (English Garden). It is now referred to as the Haus der Kunst. Adolf Hitler commissioned architect Paul Ludwig Troost (1878-1934) to design the building in 1933, and it was built between 1933-1937. It was the first major architectural project commissioned by Hitler and the Nazi Party. The building was designed symmetrically in a simplified Neoclassical style. Each of side features a portico with colossal order, unfluted columns. The inaugural exhibition in 1937, the "Große Deutsche Kunstausstellung" (Great German Art Exhibition), was intended to showcase what Hitler and the Nazis regarded as the finest German art. The building and exhibitions held there during the Nazi regime embodied Nazi cultural policy and propaganda, which rejected modernism and was based on racist, fascist, and nationalist thinking.
Heinrich Hoffmann (1885-1957) was Adolf Hitler's official photographer and a member of his inner circle. He joined the German Nazi Party in 1920. Starting in 1921, Hoffmann was the only person allowed to photograph Hitler. His photographs were used in propaganda, and he received royalties from all uses of Hitler's image.
The Heinrich Hoffmann Presentation Album Documenting the Construction of Haus der Deutschen Kunst, dated 1933-circa 1937, contains photographs taken by Heinrich Hoffmann that document the design, construction, and opening of the Haus der Deutschen Kunst (House of German Art). The presentation album was likely created to commemorate the opening of the building. Most of the photographs show the different stages of construction, and there are a couple photographs of the finished exterior of the building. The album also includes a photograph of the architect Paul Ludwig Troost and several photographs of Adolf Hitler. The photographs show Hitler looking at a maquette, or model, of the building, laying the first cornerstone at the groundbreaking ceremony, and speaking at the opening ceremony on July 18, 1937 for the inaugural exhibition, the "Große Deutsche Kunstausstellung" (Great German Art Exhibition).
Forms part of the Herman J. Albrecht Library of Historical Architecture.