Berlin’s Lost Art Resurfaces at Flea Market, New York Auctions

Paintings lost from Berlin museums in World War II and its chaotic aftermath have resurfaced decades later as far afield as Istanbul and Moscow, and as close to home as a local flea market.

About 600 19th-century paintings vanished from the Nationalgalerie’s collection during the war. Some were plundered from storage in flak towers; others were loaned to German embassies around the world, from where they were looted or sold. Still others were taken by Soviet and U.S. troops, surfacing in recent years in private collections.