During actions against so-called “degenerate art” in 1937 and 1938, 56 works of modern painting (including Lyonel Feininger’s painting “Schären-Kreuzer” and Pablo Picasso’s “Akrobat und jungerHarlekin“) were confiscated in Elberfeld, and 83 works of graphic art were confiscated in Barmen. Many works owned by the Barmer Kunstvereinwere returned to their donors, as were the loans from the von der Heydt family, in order to protect them from the Nazis.