08.09.2026
ARoS presents German masterpieces from the Neue Nationalgalerie in Berlin
Discover a selection of masterpieces from one of the most groundbreaking periods of the 20th century and from one of Germany’s most important art collections in Berlin.
The exhibition Freedom's Fall – Art from Germany 1910–1945 presents more than 70 paintings and sculptures from the collection of the Neue Nationalgalerie, Germany’s national museum of 20th-century modern art.
Spanning four turbulent and traumatic decades, the exhibition explores the interplay between art and politics, the individual and society, and highlights how the far-reaching political and social changes in Germany left their mark on art.
“With Freedom’s Fall, we are bringing a major collection of German masterpieces to Denmark. These are works that are not only unique from an art-historical perspective but which, brought together, explore how art retains its voice in a world under political pressure, and how culture can become an ideological battleground. The exhibition offers our visitors a rare opportunity to experience how the art of that era both reflected and defied the forces that shaped Germany over four defining decades. We are incredibly grateful for the exceptional collaboration with the Neue Nationalgalerie, which makes it possible for us to show many of these works for the first time in Denmark,” says ARoS’s Museum Director Rebecca Matthews.
Look forward to masterpieces by, amongst others, Otto Dix (1891–1969), Hannah Höch (1889–1978), Wassily Kandinsky (1866–1944), Ernst Ludwig Kirchner (1880–1938), Paul Klee (1879–1940), Käthe Kollwitz (1867–1945) and Emil Nolde (1867–1956) in an exhibition that is highly topical in our times, when issues of freedom of expression, identity and political unrest once again concern us amidst a period of geopolitical upheaval.
Between Freedom and Oppression
The exhibition explores an era marked by war, upheaval, hope and totalitarian forces. Several of the works on display at ARoS were banned, and some were even confiscated under the Nazi regime; today, they stand as powerful testimonies to the role of cultural policy and to art’s ability to express resistance, humanity and hope. Freedom’s Fall also portrays Berlin in the years following the First World War – a city marked by the traumas of war and political unrest, but also by a vibrant cultural life, international exchange and radical artistic experimentation.
“Freedom’s Fall highlights the contrast between the exuberant, experimental art of the Weimar Republic and the fate suffered by those very same artists when the Nazis seized power. It shows how differently the artists reacted to their times, and how high the price could be for those who insisted on creating art on their own terms,” says ARoS’s curator Jakob Vengberg Sevel.
The exhibition brings together a wide range of artistic approaches. You can experience both abstract works that celebrate free creative expression and works that were commissioned or created under the Nazi regime’s strict rules governing artistic expression.
About Freedom’s Fall
Freedom's Fall was created in collaboration with the Neue Nationalgalerie in Berlin and has been on view in the United States at Kimbell Art Museum in Texas, the Minneapolis Institute of Art in Minnesota and Albuquerque Museum in New Mexico, before making its European debut at ARoS.
A catalogue is produced to accompany the exhibition, featuring an article by Dr. Irina Hiebert Grun from the Neue Nationalgalerie as well as two peer-reviewed research articles by Jakob Vengberg Sevel and Jens Tang Kristensen, situating the art of the period within its historical and political context.
In connection with the exhibition, ARoS will be showing the exclusive VR work SKÆBNEN by Christian Lollike on selected days in January and February 2027. Through an immersive virtual reality experience, you follow the lead character, Sofie Gråbøl, who is haunted by the son she has lost in war. The work has been created by Exit Stage with support from the A.P. Møller Foundation.
Freedom’s Fall is on view from 3 October 2026 to 21 February 2027.
The exhibition is curated by Jakob Vengberg Sevel, ARoS; Dr Irina Hiebert Grun, Neue Nationalgalerie; Dr Dieter Scholz, Alte Nationalgalerie (idea and concept); and George T.M. Shackelford, Kimbell Art Museum (idea and concept).
The exhibition has been realised with generous support from the Augustinus Foundation, the Aage and Johanne Louis-Hansen Foundation, the Beckett Foundation, the North Jutland Foundation, the Knud Højgaard Foundation, the Kemp & Lauritzen Foundation, the C.A.C. Foundation, the Lemvigh-Müller Foundation, the Associate Professor Peer Rander Amundsen Bequest (foundation), the Hofmann and Husman Foundation, the Aarhuus Stiftstidende Foundation, the Aage and Ulla Filtenborg Foundation of 8 November, the Goethe-Institut, the Arne V. Schlesch Foundation, the TOYOTA Foundation, and the Lizzi and Mogens Staal Foundation.
For further information, please contact:
ARoS Press and Communications
presse@aros.dk
+45 61904942