Is the admission to the exhibition free?

Yes, the exhibition is free and can be visited without registration.

When is the exhibition open?

The exhibition runs from 22.01.2026 to 26.04.2026 and is accessible daily from 7:00 AM to 9:00 PM.

Where is the exhibition taking place?

At the Gustav Stresemann Institute e.V. in Bonn-Bad Godesberg, Langer Grabenweg 68, 53175 Bonn.

Is the venue accessible for those with disabilities?

Yes, the GSI describes its central areas such as seminar rooms, restaurant, and hotel as level-access and accessible.

Are there parking facilities?

Yes, the GSI has a paid parking lot with 63 spaces and charging points for electric vehicles.

How do I get to GSI using public transport?

From Bonn Central Station, take the U-Bahn 16 or 63 towards Bad Godesberg to Max-Löbner-Straße. From the ICE station Siegburg Bonn, take line 66 to Robert-Schuman-Platz.

Rose Valland in Bonn: An exhibition about courage, art, and memory

Name: Exhibition Rose Valland: In Search of Expropriated Art
Start: 2026-01-22T19:00:00+01:00
End: 2026-04-26T23:00:00+02:00
Location: Gustav-Stresemann-Institut e.V.

Rose Valland in Bonn: An exhibition about courage, memory, and looted art

At the Gustav Stresemann Institute in Bonn, the traveling exhibition Rose Valland: In Search of Expropriated Art offers a unique artistic experience of significant historical depth. The exhibition honors a woman who gave art her name in occupied Paris: Rose Valland secretly documented the Nazi art theft and contributed to the return of around 60,000 artworks to France after the war.

An art historian in resistance

Rose Valland, born in 1898 in Saint-Étienne-de-Saint-Geoirs and died in 1980 in Ris-Orangis, worked at the Musée du Jeu de Paume in Paris from 1932. During the German occupation, she remained there and observed the systematic looting of museums and private collections up close. Thanks to her proficiency in German and her precise memory, she recorded details about artworks and their destinations. This silent, risky work made her one of the most important figures in provenance research and memory culture. Her biography compellingly connects art history, the history of resistance, and the question of just restitution of looted goods.

What the exhibition is about

The exhibition is based on the presentation Rose Valland, à la recherche de l’art spolié from the Musée Dauphinois in Grenoble and focuses on Valland's contribution to addressing the Nazi art theft. The focus is not on spectacular masterpieces but on the invisible pathways of art: on inventories, lists, transports, ownership relations, and the moral responsibility of museums, archives, and institutions. It is precisely in this that the aesthetic and educational power of this exhibition lies: it shows how closely art, history, and justice are interconnected.

A place for political education and cultural experience

The Gustav Stresemann Institute in Bonn has been established as a European conference and educational center for decades, providing a suitable setting for this exhibition with its accessible spaces. The presentation is freely accessible and open daily from 7:00 AM to 9:00 PM. This combines low-threshold access with high content precision. For visitors, an exhibition experience emerges that focuses more on insight than on staging: those who engage with the content encounter an exemplary figure of memory culture and a central question of museum work: Who owns art, and how can looted cultural property be responsibly remembered?

What visitors can expect

A concentrated, educational, and simultaneously moving exhibition about a woman who achieved great things in the shadows of history is expected. The exhibition provides access to provenance research, restitution, and the consequences of art theft in National Socialism. It appeals to art enthusiasts as well as anyone interested in contemporary history, museum practices, and cultural education. Those who visit the exhibition experience a quiet but powerful plea for historical accuracy and moral vigilance.

Conclusion: Rose Valland: In Search of Expropriated Art is an exhibition for all who want to understand art not just by looking but in its historical context. This artistic experience impressively connects knowledge, responsibility, and memory. A visit to Bonn is worthwhile for everyone who values cultural education as a vibrant aesthetic experience.