Between 1919 and 1933, under the direction of Max Sauerlandt, the museum acquired a large collection of Expressionist works.[2] After 1933, the Nazi campaign against "degenerate art" resulted in the loss of numerous contemporary works, as well as the forced departure of Sauerlandt. The building was partly destroyed by bombs in 1943; the rebuilding was finished in 1959.[1]
By Harold A. Hartog redesigning the central axis was donated that could be completed in 2006.
Faience and porcelain: most of the major 17th- and 18th-century porcelain manufacturers are represented.
Islam: the centrepiece is a collection of 71 tile fragments from the mausoleum of Buyan Kuli Chan (1348–1368) in Bukhara, Uzbekistan. The Islam section also includes pottery, carpets and books.
Early 16th-century carpet from Lüne Abbey, displayed only once a year for a few days between Easter and Pentecost.[5]
Art Nouveau: an ensemble of Art Nouveau furniture and exhibits, the "Paris Room", much of it acquired at the world's fair in Paris in 1900.[6] Including two greater-than-lifesized white sculptures from 1907, faience sculptures of girls by Richard Luksch, and the Swan Carpet (1897) by Otto Eckmann.
The Modern, 1914–1945: Expressionist works, including animal sculptures by Richard Haizmann, a maplewood sculpture of a woman by Ernst Heckel, works by Karl Schmidt-Rottluff and Ewald Mataré, and everyday objects in Bauhaus style.
Other collections include Baroque figurines; items from the Far East; design;[7] book art; graphic art; photography; and antique pottery, weaponry and statues