This drawing by Carl Spitzweg was seized in 1939 from Jewish music publisher Heinri Hinrichsen, who was killed at the Auschwitz death camp in 1942. It was acquired by Nazi art dealer Hildebrand Gurlitt — and later found among the spectacular collection of works hoarded by his son, Cornelius Gurlitt. The work was auctioned by Christie's at the request of Hinrichsen's heirs.

The watercolor by the Jewish painter Max Beckmann entered Gurlitt's collection only in 1945. Held by the allied occupation forces at the Central Collecting Point in Wiesbaden from 1945-1950, it was returned to Hildebrand Gurlitt in 1950. Before working for the Nazi regime, Gurlitt had collected and exhibited modern art, curating Beckmann's last exhibition in 1936 before the artist fled Germany.

This work was owned by lawyer and art collector Fritz Salo Glaser. Artists of Dresden's avant-garde scene were his guests in the 1920s — as was the young Hildebrand Gurlitt. It is not known how Gurlitt came to possess the painting. It was confiscated in 1945 and later returned. Of Jewish heritage, Glaser only narrowly avoided deportation to the Theresienstadt concentration camp in 1945.

This painting by the famous impressionist is not suspected to have been looted. The artist sold it to the Durand Ruel Gallery in 1907. The Jewish art merchant and publisher Paul Cassirer is said to have given it to Marie Gurlitt as a present, and she left it to her son Hildebrand Gurlitt in 1923.

A short handwritten note allowed provenance researchers to identify this work by the French painter as a looted work of art. The picture was seized from the collection of Jewish politician and resistance leader Georges Mandel, who was executed by French fascists near Paris in 1944. German Culture Minister Monika Grütters (right) handed over the work to Mandel's heirs in January 2019.

The activist group Provenance Research Gurlitt identified this painting by French neo-impressionist Paul Signac as stolen Jewish property in October 2018. Gaston Prosper Levy fled Nazi-occupied France in 1940. Occupying soldiers are believed to have looted his art collection shortly before his escape. The painting was returned to Levy's family in 2019.

Hildebrand Gurlitt must have acquired this work by the French sculptor between 1940 and 1945. Previously belonging to the Frenchman Eugene Rudier, it entered circulation in 1919 at an auction by Octave Henri Marie Mirbeau, who is said to have received it as a present from the artist.

This copper engraving by Albrecht Dürer once belonged to the Falkeisen-Huber Gallery in Basel. It is not known how it got there or how long it was there however. In 2012 the engraving turned up in Cornelius Gurlitt's collection. "Old masters" like Dürer were very important to the National Socialists' view of art and were often exploited for propaganda.

The provenance of this drawing is completely unknown. It is certain, however, that Hitler considered Norwegian artist Edvard Munch's work "degenerate art." Some 82 pieces by Munch were confiscated in German museums in 1937.

Hitler venerated 18th-century French painting. He secured exceptional paintings for his own collection by targeting the collection of the Rothschild Family after the annexation of Austria. Hildebrand Gurlitt supplemented them with drawings by renowned French painters. He acquired this work by Boucher from a Parisian art merchant in 1942.

Cornelius Gurlitt hoarded the sculpture along with many other artworks for decades in his Munich apartment. Before his death in 2014, he consented to have his stocks researched and — should they include articles of stolen art — have them returned to their rightful owners in accordance with the Washington Principles on Nazi-looted art.

Six years after WWII ended, the Goethe-Institut was officially launched, replacing the Deutsche Akademie (DA). In the beginning, the institute concentrated primarily on training foreign German language teachers. In this picture, language students from Ghana are seen taking a walk with their host family in Murnau, Bavaria.

In the early years, the aim of the institute was to transmit a positive image of Germany after WWII. In 1952, the first institute was opened in Athens, Greece. Other cities followed, like in Mumbai, India (pictured), where the institute is named after German Indologist, Max Mueller. In Germany, courses were offered in idyllic locations.

Politically, the Goethe-Institut was Germany's attempt at starting afresh because ultimately, the Deutsche Akademie, which was founded in 1925, had become a tool for Nazi propaganda. In 1945, the American occupying forces dismantled the Akademie, which they thought was a "Europe-wide propaganda and spying hub" for the Nazis. This picture shows language students in Schwäbisch Hall in the 1970s.

In the following years, more and more Goethe Institutes opened in different countries across the world, for example in North and West Africa, where, in the 1950s and 1960s, new countries emerged after the end of colonialism. The institute and its representatives were popular in Asia as well. German saxophonist, Klaus Doldinger (far right), is seen here with musicians in Pakistan.

Language labs were the trend for learning German in the 1980s. The institute has since realigned itself strategically by forming a wide global network through its affiliations with German cultural institutions that are active abroad. Today, nearly 169 institutes in 98 countries disseminate information on German culture and language.

In 1987, Dutch comedian Rudi Carrell caused a stir when he presented a sketch on a German TV program, showing people hurling brassieres and women's panties at Iran's revolutionary leader, Ayatollah Khomeini. An angry Tehran dismissed German diplomats, canceled flights to Germany, and closed down the Goethe-Institut there.

After the fall of the Iron Curtain, the Goethe-Institut spread its wings towards eastern Europe. The founders of the first institutes in the former communist countries had to improvise a lot. In 1992, the German Foreign Minister, Klaus Kinkel, inaugurated the Goethe-Institut in Moscow. The institute not only grew outside Germany, but also within the former East Germany.

The terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 in the US also shifted the focus of the Goethe-Institut. Intercultural dialogue and understanding became its top priorities. The institute now focuses on strengthening civil society and preventing conflict. This picture shows the art and music project "Kunstdisco" in Seoul, South Korea.

In 2016, the Goethe-Institut started the "Kultursymposium Weimar," where thinkers from all over the world discuss pressing questions of our times. In 2019, the festival was themed "Die Route wird neu berechnet" (The route is being recalibrated), where participants discussed technological changes in society. In this picture, Taiwanese dancer and inventor, Huang Yi, dances with the robot KUKA.

The institute regularly organizes the "Deutschlandjahre" (The Year of Germany) events together with the Foreign Office. The event's aim is to promote a well-rounded image of the country. The "Deutschlandjahr" 2018/19 in the US saw a total of two million guests attending 2,800 events. The previous year's events were held in Mexico, where Chancellor Angela Merkel was a guest.

The COVID pandemic triggered a wave of digitalization within the institute. Helmed by President Carola Lentz and Secretary General Johannes Ebert, the institute is celebrating its 70th anniversary in November 2021. A book by Carola Lentz has been released to mark the event, and an interactive website introduces readers to the institution's eventful history.