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Surreal citrus: When citrons, lemons and bitter oranges were the stuff of majesty and wonder Have you ever thought of citrus fruits as celestial bodies, angelically suspended in the sky? Perhaps not, butJ. C. Volkamer (1644-1720) did commissioning an extravagant and breathtaking series of large-sized copperplates representing citrons, lemons, and bitter oranges in surreal scenes of majesty and wonder. Ordering plants by post mostly from Italy, Germany, Northern Africa, and even the Cape of Good Hope, the Nuremberg merchant Volkamer was a devotee of the fragrant and exotic citrus at a time when the fruit were still largely unknown north of the Alps. His garden came to contain a wide variety of specimens, and he became so obsessed with the fruits that he commissioned a team of artists and copperplate engravers to create 251 plates of 174 different citrus species as illustrations for a two-volume treatise on the citrus. The first volume appeared in 1708, with the impressively lengthy title The Nuremberg Hesperides, or Thorough Description of the Noble Citron, Lemon and Bitter Orange Fruits: How They may be Properly Planted, Cultivated, Tended and Raised in This and Neighbouring Regions. Few colored sets of Volkamer s work are still in existence today. TASCHEN s limited edition publication draws on the two recently discovered hand-colored volumes in the city of Furth s municipal archive in Schloss Burgfarrnbach. This reprint also includes 56 recently discovered illustrations that Volkamer intended to publish in a third volume, making up an at once meticulous and magical line-up of botanical beauty and fantastical imagination. Limited edition of 995 numbered copies bound in ultra-smooth full calf leather and featuring wood-free felt-marked paper from the Gmund paper mill."

Best known for his fêtes galantes such as the famous Pelerinage a l'ile de Cythere, Antoine Watteau (1684-1721) was a major proponent in the revival of the Baroque style and the formation of the Rococo movement. This book features a chronological summary of the artist's life and work, covering the cultural and historical importance of the artist.

A compelling exploration of the many issues surrounding the restoration and restitution of Nazi-stolen art at the end of World War II At the end of World War II, the US Office of Military Government for Germany and Bavaria, through its Monuments, Fine Arts, and Archives division, was responsible for the repatriation of most of the tens of thousands of artwork looted by the Nazis in the countries they had occupied. With the help of the US Army’s Monuments Men—the name given to a hand-picked group of art historians and museum professionals commissioned for this important duty—massive numbers of objects were retrieved from their wartime hiding places and inventoried for repatriation. Iris Lauterbach’s fascinating history documents the story of the Allies’ Central Collecting Point (CCP), set up in the former Nazi Party headquarters at Königsplatz in Munich, where the confiscated works were transported to be identified and sorted for restitution. This book presents her archival research on the events, people, new facts, and intrigue, with meticulous attention to the official systems, frameworks, and logistical and bureaucratic enterprise of the Munich CCP in the years from 1945 to 1949. She uncovers the stories of the people who worked there at a time of lingering political suspicions; narrates the research, conservation, and restitution process; and investigates how the works of art were managed and returned to their owners.

The headquarters of the NSDAP on Königsplatz in Munich was the first large-scale building project of the National Socialists in Germany. The monumental forum was completed in 1937 and the classicist square was an ideal venue for National Socialist parades.

Der größte Teil der aus vielen Ländern Europas stammenden nationalsozialistischen Raubkunst befand sich bei Kriegsende 1945 in Depots in der amerikanischen Besatzungszone. Die Sicherstellung und Rückführung dieser Kunstwerke sowie ausgelagerter deutscher Museumsbestände lag in Händen der 'Monuments, Fine Arts & Archives Section' der amerikanischen Militärregierung. Das reich bebilderte Buch behandelt die Geschichte der größten amerikanischen Kunstsammelstelle, des in den ehemaligen NSDAP-Gebäuden am Königsplatz in München eingerichteten Central Collecting Point. Ausländische Raubkunst wurde hauptsächlich von hier aus restituiert. Im Mittelpunkt stehen Standort, Einrichtung, Mitarbeiter und Arbeit der Institution in den Jahren 1945 bis 1949. Einzelne Restitutionsvorgänge werden exemplarisch untersucht. Die Geschichte des aus dem Collecting Point hervorgegangenen Zentralinstituts für Kunstgeschichte und die Ausstellungspolitik des Amerika-Hauses werden im Rahmen der 'Re-Education' und des Wiederaufbaus der Münchner und westdeutschen Kunst- und Kulturszene nach 1945 beleuchtet.

For its magnificent baroque gardens, Herrenhausen has long been among the most beloved landmarks of Hanover, Germany. Soon it will be cause for even greater celebration with the completion of a major project to rebuild the royal summer residence that was once the centerpiece of the Great Garden. In 2009, Hamburg-based architectural firm Jastrzembski Kotulla began reconstructing Herrenhausen Palace, which was leveled in World War II, and restoring it faithfully to a design by royal builder George Ludwig Friedrich Laves. With essays by renowned experts, Schloss Herrenhausen: Architecture—Gardens—Intellectual History gives a comprehensive overview of the history of Herrenhausen. Founded in the sixteenth century by the Welf dynasty and built up over the course of several centuries, the residence developed into an international intellectual and cultural center and even played host to polymath Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz, in whose honor the new building will be a made into a center for science. Other essays turn the focus on Herrenhausen’s intellectual history; its Great Garden, commissioned by Sophia of Hanover from French gardener Martin Charbonnier; and plans for the reconstruction that were not carried through.