A huge wall panel measuring approximately four by six meters, made up of 1057 porcelain tiles depicting some famous characters in German history, was considered hopelessly lost. But at the end of July, parts of the panel, packed in 16 boxes, returned to Berlin, to the Royal Porcelain Manufactory (Königliche Porzellan-Manufaktur) – from where it was taken in 1893 as an exhibit for the Chicago World’s Fair.

Goddess Germany – patroness of science and art

The creator of the composition Glory of Germania, then Artistic Director of the Royal Porcelain Manufactory, Alexander Kips, placed the long-haired, blonde, blue-eyed goddess Germany at the center of the image. Her head is decorated with a wreath of oak leaves, a sword is lowered in her left hand, and a heraldic eagle on one head is clearly visible on a bright orange robe on her chest. In the background, on the right, stands the Cologne Cathedral.

Around Germany are mythical and real historical characters. Among them were the German printer and the first printer in Europe Johannes Gutenberg, the German painter, engraver and graphic artist Albrecht Dürer, the German philosopher, mathematician and founder of the Berlin Academy of Sciences Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz, Johann Friedrich Böttger, the German alchemist and naturalist who received white porcelain in 1708, among many others. The goddess Germany in this image symbolizes a country that has its people and all progressive peoples of science and art under its protection.

Panel found in nursing home

The Kips panel was the main decoration of the German Pavilion and, after the exhibition ended, the painting, made in porcelain, became the property of the German American Heritage Institute and adorned the ballroom of the Germany Club in Chicago until it was dissolved. in 1985. After that, the traces of an amazing work of art were lost.

Perhaps the image would still be considered lost if it had not been taken up by the professor of German studies at Loyola University in Chicago and the son of German immigrants Reinhard Andress (Reinhard Andress). Thanks to his efforts, the panel was discovered in 2018 in the attic of a Chicago nursing home, in the building in which, as it turned out, former members of the Club of Germany once stayed. After the panel was discovered, it was donated to the Royal Porcelain Manufactory.

Preparations for transport from the US to Germany took four years. And now, 130 years later, the “Glory of Germania” porcelain panel is back in Berlin. Some damaged parts of the painting will now be restored, so access to it will be limited for at least two years. Where it will finally be placed has not yet been decided. However, it is already clear that the painting will be exposed and everyone will be able to see it again.