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Restitution of the celestial globes: Spandau exhibition opens on October 7th!
On October 7, 2025, the Spandau Citadel will open the exhibition “Questioning Objects – Finding Answers” with the restitution of historical celestial globes.
Restitution of the celestial globes: Spandau exhibition opens on October 7th!
The exhibition “Questioning Objects – Finding Answers” opens in the commandant’s house of the Spandau Citadel on October 7, 2025 at 4 p.m. The event promises to be a remarkable highlight of the cultural engagement with the history of museum objects: As part of this opening, two celestial globes from the 17th century will be restituted to the Church of St. Nikolai in Spandau. These globes are the result of extensive provenance research, which was led by provenance researcher Friederike Klose and deals with the origin and history of objects from the Spandau City History Museum.
The handover of the celestial globes is carried out by Dr. Ralf Hartmann, the head of the cultural department, to Sabine Müller, the director of the Spandovia Sacra Museum in St. Nikolai. These objects will be open to the public as part of the exhibition until April 12, 2026. In addition to the celestial globes, the exhibition also focuses on objects from Ernst Hammler's household that were sold under duress during the Nazi era, as well as the provenance research of the “Eagle of the Eagle Pharmacy,” which is decorated with a black crown.
Background of provenance research
The exhibition illustrates how new questions can change the classification of objects. In recent years, provenance research has increasingly focused on the legacy of National Socialism as well as the confiscation of art and cultural assets during the Soviet occupation and in the GDR. In the German Historical Museum, for example, collections that come from the Museum of German History (MfDG) are examined, which often leads to interesting overlaps. The sand in the wound of this story is the fact that many objects in the MfDG's holdings can also be identified as Nazi looted property. [DHM]
Provenance research is a gentle but necessary process of coming to terms with the past and remembering the people affected. This is not just about returning physical objects, but also about appreciating and understanding their history and meaning.
A national responsibility
In Germany, numerous projects are dedicated to the repatriation process of cultural objects. The German National Library is currently working on the restitution of various collections. An example of this is the return of a book to the heirs of Emil and Jenny Baerwald, which was originally confiscated after their emigration. The book could now be returned in the summer of 2022 thanks to the clarification of provenance issues [DNB].
These restitutions are important to respect the cultural identity and heritage of people whose art and possessions were lost through various historical circumstances. The task of provenance research is not only to analyze individual objects, but also to explore the stories behind these objects, which are often associated with tragedy and loss.
The exhibition “Questioning Objects – Finding Answers” offers a space for these important discourses and is therefore more than just a collection of exhibits, but a living contribution to cultural history and the examination of our past.
Melanie Alperstaedt can be contacted via email for feedback on the exhibition alperstaedt@zitadelle-berlin.de and by telephone at (030) 354944 – 400.
Details about the exhibition:
- Datum: 7. Oktober 2025 bis 12. April 2026
- Ort: Zitadelle Spandau, Am Juliusturm 64, 13599 Berlin-Spandau
- Eröffnung: 7. Oktober 2025, 16 Uhr