A museum for a Hitler supporter?

From 1911 onward, the Swiss sculptor and painter Johann Bossard systematically expanded his life's work: In the Lüneburger Heide region of northern Germany, about 30 kilometers from Hamburg, he spent decades creating an art complex, including a studio, his home and an art temple. It is considered unique as it is one of the last remaining dwelling places of Expressionist artists in Europe. Today, the ensemble is called the Kunststätte Bossard, or Bossard Site of Arts, managed by the Kunststätte Johann and Jutta Bossard Foundation.

The site was awarded the Europa Nostra Prize, a European Union cultural heritage prize, in 2012. The site is soon to be expanded to include a museum, costing almost €11 million ($11.9 million). Half of the money has been pledged by the German government.

In Jesteburg, where the art center is located, critics have voiced their concerns about the project since the beginning of this year for various reasons. They cite problems with nature conservation, a lack of transparency and infrastructure restrictions. Residents anticipate significant costs the community would have to bear. "It is completely unclear what costs will be incurred for the expansion of the infrastructure," says Holger Daedler, resident and entrepreneur in Jesteburg.

He belongs to the "Alliance against the Bossard Art Bunker," which now has more than 40 members. "The current art temple is very impressive," says Daedler, but in addition to the unanswered questions about the future infrastructure, he is also worried that the museum could become a place of pilgrimage for right-wing extremists.

After all, based on his correspondence, Johann Bossard, founder of the art center, was an anti-Semite and a fervent admirer of Adolf Hitler. Bossard rejected the Weimar Republic, so from 1921 onwards, he developed his estate into a Gesamtkunstwerk, which he saw as a center of counterculture. He hoped for political change with the Nazi seizure of power in 1933. Soon after, he had a swastika placed in the mosaic floor of his residence.

'Racial-esoteric traditions of thought'

The director of the Kunststätte, Gudula Mayr, has pointed out in the past that Bossard was never a member of the Nazi Party. In 2018, the foundation conducted a research project on the activities of Johann Bossard and his wife Jutta during the Nazi era. The results showed that the art professor's ideologies corresponded with "racial-esoteric traditions of thought" and Bossard welcomed the "National Socialist promises," including their "visions of a 'new man' and a great German future."

When Bossard came to realize in the course of the 1930s that the Nazis were not fond of Expressionist art, his admiration of the party diminished. Whether that also led him to change his attitudes, however, remains unclear. With regard to the planned new museum, there are concerns that the building could become a site of homage to Johann Bossard.

"The new building, as an art gallery in the Lüneburger Heide, is to reflect the art and cultural history of the region from 1830 onwards," says Gudula Mayr. In addition, rooms are planned for exhibitions of modern and contemporary art, for educational opportunities and a permanent exhibition about the Bossard couple. "This permanent exhibition will also provide information about Bossard's political views and place them in the context of his art. This aspect cannot be comprehensively illuminated in the Kunststätte at the moment because there is a lack of space for it," says Mayr.

Bossard Museum or not?

In a meeting on November 14, 2019, the Budget Committee of the German Parliament discussed so-called subsidies for investment in cultural measures at institutions in Germany. The list included 81 applications for subsidies from all over the country, including one with the misleading designation "Bossard Museum Jesteburg." So, this means a museum about Johann Bossard after all?

The committee decided to support the project in Jesteburg with half of the estimated cost: €5.38 million. "Bossard himself was not discussed critically at the meeting of the budget committee," said committee spokesman Otto Fricke. "The measure is intended to support a 'Museum Lüneburger Heide,' which ties in with the existing art institution."

The artist Bossard and his Gesamtkunstwerk were not, to the knowledge of the budget committee, central to the planning. "I consider the measure to be fundamentally correct if an art gallery is created there that shows regional artists, particularly those who are open-minded and decidedly Nazi-critical artists."

Nevertheless, Fricke announced that he would contact Federal Commissioner for Culture and the Media, Monika Grütters, to inquire about the management of the Kunststätte. If Johann Bossard himself were to become the focus of the expansion, the federal subsidies would have to be reassessed: "No pilgrimage site for right-wing extremists may be created."

Number of visitors to increase dramatically

A prerequisite for federal funding is the completion of the new building by 2023, and whether this is achieved also depends on whether the planned investment sum of €10.76 million can be raised. In addition to the federal funds, the district of Harburg has committed to investing €2 million.

The remaining €3.38 million must come from donations, if possible by the end of the year, because otherwise the schedule would be in jeopardy — and with it the federal funds. According to unconfirmed data, a total space of around 2,400 square meters (26,000 square feet) is to be created, and an architectural competition will have to be announced before the actual implementation. In other words, time is running out.

That is also why the Federal Taxpayers' Association is interested in the project. It has criticized the fact that almost €7.4 million from tax funds have been promised for a project for which no overall concept has yet been presented.

The plans in Jesteburg are ambitious. Some 10,000 people visit the Kunststätte every year, and the new museum is expected to increase that number to 25,000-30,000. Some people in Jesteburg still fear that a large proportion of future visitors might share the political views of the artist Johann Bossard. One should not lose sight of this possibility, said Holger Daedler. "Otherwise, there is the  danger that neo-Nazis and fascists will use their own means to demean and discredit democracy."