1943

parts of the museum collection were moved in several transports from Elberfeld to the Ehrenbreitstein fortress. In May 1943, the Barmen Hall of Fame burned down and with it valuable remaining stocks in the basement depot. During the bombing raid on Elberfeld on June 25, 1943, the museum was severely damaged, the second floor completely destroyed. Only the outer walls of the corner Wall/Turmhof remained. 

 

The art collection stored in the house of the Von der Heydt family on Kerstenplatz burned. The explosion of a fuel barrel destroyed the entire contents of a depot in Cologne-Mülheim and with it the part of the museum’s ceramic collection stored there.