Object Details
- Creator
- Horn, Walter William, 1908-1995
- Subject
- Smith, John T.
- Sennhauser, Hans Rudolf
- Harbison, Peter
- Dupree, A. Hunter
- Kunzelman, Charles J.
- von Hummel, Helmuth
- von Hummel, Edeltraut
- Shapiro, Meyer
- Koehler, Wilhelm Reinhold Walter
- Charles, Fred
- Eggenbacher, Christopher
- Duft, Johannes
- Panofsky, Erwin
- University of California, Berkeley
- Allied Forces. Supreme Headquarters. Monuments, Fine Arts and Archives Section
- Place of publication, production, or execution
- United States
- Physical Description
- 2.7 Linear feet
- Arrangement
- This collection is arranged as 5 series. Series 1: Biographical Materials, 1908-1989 (0.3 linear feet; Box 1, 4) Series 2: Correspondence, circa 1937, 1949-1992 (1.2 linear feet; Box 1-2, 4, OV 5) Series 3: U.S. Army Monuments, Fine Arts & Archives Section Files, circa 1938-1989 (0.6 linear feet; Box 2-4, OV 5-6) Series 4: University of California, Berkeley Administrative Files, 1938-1976 (0.1 linear feet; Box 3) Series 5: Photographs, 1989 (1 folder; Box 3)
- Access Note / Rights
- Use of original papers requires an appointment.
- Summary
- The papers of art historian and World War II Monuments Man Walter W. Horn measure 2.7 linear feet and date from 1908 to 1992, with the bulk of material dating from 1943 to 1950. Walter Horn taught art history at the University of California, Berkeley from 1938 to his retirement in 1974. During World War II, Horn served as Head of the U. S. Army Intelligence Unit of the Monuments, Fine Arts, and Archives Section (MFAA.) The papers contain biographical materials; professional correspondence; records documenting his service in the MFAA; administrative files relating to his work at the University of California, Berkeley; and scattered photographs.
- Citation
- Walter Horn papers, 1908-1992, bulk 1943-1950. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
- Funding
- Funding for the processing of this collection was provided by the Samuel K. Kress Foundation.
- Use Note
- The Archives of American Art makes its archival collections available for non-commercial, educational and personal use unless restricted by copyright and/or donor restrictions, including but not limited to access and publication restrictions. AAA makes no representations concerning such rights and restrictions and it is the user's responsibility to determine whether rights or restrictions exist and to obtain any necessary permission to access, use, reproduce and publish the collections. Please refer to the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for additional information.
- Related Materials
- Walter Horn papers, 1917-1989, are located at The Getty Research Institution Special Collections.
- Biography Note
- Walter William Horn (1908-1995) was a professor of art history at the University of California, Berkeley. During World War II, he served in the Army Intelligence Unit of the Monument, Fine Arts and Archives Section (MFAA.)
- Walter Horn was born in Waldangelloch, Germany and graduated from the Gymnasium in Heidelberg in 1926. He studied at the Universities of Heidelberg, Berlin and Hamburg. In 1934 he received his Ph.D. in art history from the University of Hamburg, studying under Erwin Panofsky. His dissertation on the facade of the Church of St. Gilles was published in 1937. Horn fled Nazism in Germany and immigrated to the United States.
- In 1938 Horn accepted a position at the University of California at Berkeley as a lecturer in art history, becoming the first state sponsored teacher of art history within California. He quickly became a professor and co-founded the university's Department of Art History.
- Horn married twice. His first wife was Ann Binkley Rand. His second marriage was to Alberta West Parker, a physician. They had three children, Michael Peters, Peter Matthew, and Rebecca Ann.
- In 1943, Horn became a naturalized American citizen and was soon inducted into the U.S. Army. He was assigned to the Detailed Interrogation Center, and by 1945 was serving as a lieutenant in the Third Army Intelligence Center. His German language skills were put to use interrogating prisoners of war and personnel of the Gestapo and S.S. Horn later continued his interrogation work in the Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force (SHAEF). After the war, Horn was assigned to the Army Intelligence Unit of the Monuments, Fine Arts & Archives Section (MFAA) and became one of the Monuments Men responsible for tracking and recovering art works and other cultural heritage objects that had been systematically looted and hidden by the Nazis.
- Horn led the team of Monuments Men who recovered the stolen Crown Jewels or Imperial Regalia of the Holy Roman Empire. The Crown Jewels, including a crown and sceptre, were discovered walled up in a passage in Nuremburg. Horn also recovered a collection of gold coins valued at $2,000,000 in 1946. He tracked the coins primarily through interrogations of Edeltraut von Hummel. Edeltraut's husband Helmuth von Hummel served as the chief secretary to Martin Bormann, leader of the Nazi Party Chancellery.
- After the war, Horn resumed teaching at the University of California, Berkeley, where he served as Chairman of the Department of Art History until his retirement in 1974. He also helped establish the University Art Museum. In 1949, the school implemented a requirement that all employees must sign a loyalty oath to affirm their allegiance to the state constitution and disavow any intent to overthrow the government. There was substantial outcry among the university faculty and several professors who refused to sign were fired. Horn signed the loyalty oath under protest in 1950. He wrote a letter to the press explaining his decision and expressing his concerns.
- In 1979, a decades long collaboration with distinguished architect Ernest Born resulted in The Plan of St. Gall, a three volume work on medieval architecture. The book was praised as a monumental undertaking by the scholarly community upon its publication.
- Walter Horn died of pneumonia in 1995.
- Language Note
- Collection is in English. Some records are written in German and a few in French.
- Provenance
- Walter Horn donated his papers to the Archives of American Art in 1989. Additional papers were donated by his wife Dr. Alberta Parker Horn in 1998 and 2002.
- Location Note
- Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution, 750 9th St. NW, Washington, D.C. 20001
- Record number
- (DSI-AAA_CollID)9658
- (DSI-AAA_SIRISBib)211866
- AAA_collcode_hornwalt
- Type
- Photographs
- Theme
- Research and writing about art
- Archives of American Art
- Topic
- World War, 1939-1945 -- Art and the war
- Art thefts -- Germany -- History -- 20th century
- Crown jewels -- Holy Roman Empire
- Theme
- Research and writing about art
- Record ID
- AAADCD_coll_211866
