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63-678: The museum is located on Clayallee, an arterial road named after General Lucius D. Clay (1898–1978), in the Dahlem quarter of the southwestern Steglitz-Zehlendorf borough. Until German reunification in 1990, the area was located in the American sector of postwar West Berlin . The buildings near the US Army headquarters then housed an American movie theater, called Outpost , and the Nicholson Memorial Library. The museum

126-627: A German historical museum in Berlin a national priority of European importance in his speech on the State of the Nation before the German Bundestag on 27 February 1985. A commission consisting of 16 leading historians, art historians and museum directors worked out a concept for the museum in 1985/86 and put it up for discussion in public hearings in 1986. The final version became the basis for

189-548: A journal intended to support US foreign policy and win over German intellectuals. Copies of Der Monat were delivered along with supplies during the airlift. Clay also studied television propaganda and suggested that in Europe "you get this constant repeated propaganda without advertising and without break," but in the United States, "the advertising gives you a direct feeling of assurance that you haven't got propaganda in

252-581: A senior partner in Lehman Brothers investment banking house until his retirement in 1973. Meanwhile, Clay hired the American intellectual and former Army combat historian Melvin J. Lasky . Both developed the concept of a "cultural cold war" through which the Soviets would be fought at a psychological and intellectual level. Clay was instrumental in creating, funding, and promoting Der Monat ,

315-687: A waste of time". Clay did not see actual combat but was awarded the Legion of Merit in 1942 and the Army Distinguished Service Medal in 1944 and received the Bronze Star Medal for his action in stabilizing the French harbor of Cherbourg , which was critical to the flow of war matériel . In 1945, he served as deputy to General Dwight Eisenhower . The following year, he was made Deputy Governor of Germany during

378-719: Is located behind the Zeughaus in the museum's administrative building, which had belonged to the Prussian credit union Prussische Central-Genossenschaftskasse from 1899 to 1945 and later to the GDR state-run company Minol. The Zeughauskino , a movie theatre seating 164 guests, is an integral part of the German Historical Museum and is located in the Zeughaus. It has a separate entrance on the Kupfergraben side of

441-552: Is on logistics and sacrifices of life by the British-American airlift to West Berlin. Lectures and screenings are held regularly. Some of the largest objects in the permanent collection are presented in the open-air exhibition space and include a Handley Page Hastings transport plane deployed by the Royal Air Force in the Berlin airlift, a railway carriage from a French military train, the last guard house from

504-405: Is real and rapid improvement, I can only assume that German administration is unwilling to accept this responsibility." The results temporarily improved after Clay ordered them to make improvements within 60 days. In late 1948, Clay admitted he did not enjoy, in his position as Military Governor, having to regularly "sign many death warrants and to approve many life imprisonments." Nevertheless, he

567-870: Is under the aegis of the German Historical Museum. General Director of the Museum and President of the Foundation: The Zeughaus is closed for necessary renovations and for the renewal of the Permanent Exhibition since 28 June 2021. It is expected to open again at the end of 2025. The four floors of the I. M. Pei Exhibition Hall are devoted to the museum's temporary exhibitions. The specialised research library on German and general history as well as museum work contains more than 225,000 volumes, including 13,000 rare books, 40,000 volumes of magazines and newspapers, 5,000 volumes of militaria and 15,000 museum catalogues. The public reference library

630-832: The Allied Kommandatura and the following Berlin Blockade in 1948–49, the US, Britain and France formed the Western Allies and came in opposition to the Soviet occupation forces. The increasing tensions culminated in the Berlin Crisis of 1961 and the building of the Berlin Wall . A significant step towards the easing of tensions was made in the 1971 Four Power Agreement on Berlin , until the "Berlin question"

693-808: The Allied Military Government . Clay would later remark regarding the occupation directive guiding his and Eisenhower's actions that "there was no doubt that JCS 1067 contemplated the Carthaginian peace which dominated our operations in Germany during the early months of occupation." Clay was promoted to lieutenant general on 17 April 1945 and to general on 17 March 1947. Clay heavily influenced US Secretary of State James F. Byrnes ' September 1946 speech in Stuttgart , Germany. The speech, " Restatement of Policy on Germany ," marked

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756-644: The Berlin Airlift (1948–1949) when the USSR blockaded West Berlin . Clay was born on April 23, 1898, in Marietta, Georgia , the sixth and last child of Alexander S. Clay , who served in the United States Senate from 1897 to 1910. In 1918 Clay graduated from West Point , where he later taught. Clay held various civil and military engineering posts in the 1920s and 1930s, such as directing

819-1065: The Deutsches Historisches Museum , and the Institut für Zeitgeschichte in Munich . Near the Allied Museum, in Clayallee, the 1998 sculpture The Day the Wall Came Down by Veryl Goodnight remembers the joyous event of November 9, 1989, when the Berlin Wall was effectively neutralized. Five wild horses are shown jumping over actual remains of the wall. A statue of General Friedrich Wilhelm von Steuben stands nearby. 52°27′21″N 13°16′21″E  /  52.45583°N 13.27250°E  / 52.45583; 13.27250 Lucius D. Clay Lucius Dubignon Clay (April 23, 1898 – April 16, 1978)

882-527: The Gulf War of 1991 before being inactivated as part of the post-Cold War drawdown of the U.S. Army. Since October 1, 1993, these barracks are used by the Bundeswehr and are still named after Clay. The "General-Clay-March" by Heinz Mertins was written in his honor. Wiesbaden Army Airfield , near Frankfurt, Germany, was renamed "Lucius D. Clay Kaserne" in his honor on 14 June 2012. Wiesbaden Army Airfield

945-818: The North American Air Defense Command , the Continental Air Defense Command , and the United States element of NORAD , and was also a commander of the United States Air Force Aerospace Defense Command . Clay's other son, Major General Frank B. Clay , served in conflicts from World War II through the Vietnam War , and was an adviser to the US delegation at the Paris peace talks which ended US involvement in

1008-645: The Spree from Museum Island . The museum's attached Exhibition Hall was designed by I. M. Pei in the late 20th century. The Zeughaus is closed for renovation, while the Exhibition Hall remains open. The German Historical Museum is under the legal form of a foundation registered by the Federal Republic of Germany. Its highest-ranking body is the Board of Trustees (Kuratorium) with representatives of

1071-547: The Vietnam War . Clay was given a ticker-tape parade , among many other honors, upon his return to the United States on May 19, 1949. He appeared on the cover of Time magazine three times. Clay also received an honorary doctorate of the Freie Universität Berlin and became an honorary citizen of Berlin (West) in 1953. One of the longest streets in West Berlin was named Clayallee in his honor, as

1134-545: The highway to him. In 1978, a new U.S. Army base in Northern Germany north of the city of Bremen was named for Clay and until the end of the Cold War housed a forward-stationed brigade of the 2nd Armored Division , the 3rd Brigade, 2nd Armored Division, which had been based at Fort Hood , Texas, with the rest of the 2AD. This unit was redesignated as the 2nd Armored Division (Forward). 2AD (FWD) saw action in

1197-684: The British Empire , Military Order of the White Lion , Officer of the Military William Order , Commander of the Legion of Honour and Bundesverdienstkreuz (Grand Cross). In addition to military awards, he was also awarded the international human rights award Dr.-Rainer-Hildebrandt-Medaille . Deutsches Historisches Museum The German Historical Museum (German: Deutsches Historisches Museum ), known by

1260-640: The DHM. And thus the Zeughaus of 1695 – the oldest building on Unter den Linden – became the seat of the German Historical Museum. The first exhibitions were shown in the Zeughaus in September 1991. The DHM began expanding its collections shortly after its founding. Opening in December 1994, the former Permanent Exhibition, then entitled German History in Images and Testimonials , presented an initial cross-section of

1323-453: The German government during World War II. The soldiers were singled out for looking or sounding Jewish . At least 70 U.S. POWs soldiers died in the camp and on a death march near the end of the war. The commutation was partly due to the military botching the case. Prosecutors did not summon a single witness, despite dozens of witnesses saying they were willing to testify. Clay also reduced

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1386-563: The Italian architect Aldo Rossi in 1988. However, in 1989 the fall of the Berlin Wall led to a change of plans: on the day of reunification 3 October 1990, the Federal Government transferred the collection and premises of the former Museum für Deutsche Geschichte (Museum for German History) to the DHM; the last government of the GDR had already dissolved that museum in September 1990 and made its property and contents available to

1449-556: The United States, especially Senator Joseph McCarthy . In October 1948, however, the stay was removed for nearly everyone, excluding those convicted in the Malmedy massacre trial . Upon the lifting of the stay, Clay embarked on a spate of last-minute mass executions, believing that as time passed, pressure would increase for the death sentences to be commuted. In response, the German Catholic priests started objecting to not only

1512-475: The Zeughaus by Federal Chancellor Angela Merkel on 2 June 2006. As of 30 December 2008 the DHM assumed the legal form of a Public Law Foundation of the Federal Government (Stiftung öffentlichen Rechts des Bundes). Founded in 2009 to establish a centre for the remembrance and documentation of flight and expulsion, the Stiftung Flucht, Vertreibung, Versöhnung (Foundation Flight, Expulsion, Reconciliation)

1575-503: The acronym DHM , is a museum in Berlin, Germany devoted to German history . It describes itself as a place of "enlightenment and understanding of the shared history of Germans and Europeans". It is often viewed as one of the most important museums in Berlin and is one of the most frequented. The museum is located in the 17th-century Zeughaus (armoury) on the Unter den Linden , just across

1638-721: The blockade had been lifted on May 12, 1949. On May 15, 1949, Clay left Germany and was replaced by John McCloy as civilian high commissioner for Germany. Clay retired from the Army at the end of the month. In the same year, he was elected as an honorary member of the North Carolina Society of the Cincinnati . In 1950, he became the chairman of the Continental Can Company for 12 consecutive years. He retired from Continental Can in 1962 to become

1701-624: The borders of the American Zone in 1947 to stem the tide of Jewish refugees that was generating tension with the local populations. Clay was responsible for the controversial commuting of some death sentences, such as convicted Nazi war criminals Erwin Metz and his superior, Hauptmann Ludwig Merz. Metz and Merz were two notorious figures of the Berga concentration camp in which 350 U.S. POWs had been beaten, tortured, starved, and forced to work for

1764-465: The building of the Denison Dam . At the time of its completion, in 1943, the largest earthen dam in the world. From 1940 to the December 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor , Clay selected and supervised the construction of 450 airports, which were the foundation of America's civil aviation network, which was however criticised for pork barrel spending as Georgia's share of 33 airports strongly overstated

1827-545: The building. It is a listed building , owing to its interior design being an example of early 1960s architecture. Its main aim is to bring together historical and film-historical questions in a programme that is marked by film series to accompany exhibitions as well as thematic retrospectives. Since 2004 and as of 2022 the Berlin International Film Festival has used Zeughauskino a venue for "Retrospective and Homage" screenings. In 2015,

1890-411: The collection with more than 2000 exhibits. The façade of the Zeughaus was restored between 1994 and 1998 on the basis of historical documents. The building was closed from 1998 until 2003 while extensive restoration measures were carried out by the architectural office of Winfried Brenne. In the course of the construction of the new adjacent museum hall by I. M. Pei between 1998 and 2003, glass roofing

1953-475: The construction of dams and civilian airports. Because Clay's work involved large government projects, he became closely acquainted with the people and workings of the federal agencies and Congress . He achieved close working relationships with an associate of President Franklin Roosevelt , Harry Hopkins , and with House Majority Leader and Speaker Sam Rayburn . In Rayburn's state of Texas, Clay supervised

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2016-641: The database. It currently comprises around 500,000 objects and provides digital photos of some 70 percent of these objects. Reproduction rights for commercial purposes are managed by the DHM picture archive, which charges industry-standard usage fees. In cooperation with the Haus der Geschichte der Bundesrepublik Deutschland in Bonn the German Historical Museum operates a wide-ranging Internet service called LeMO (Lebendiges virtuelles Museum Online, or Living virtual Museum Online), with information on German history from 1871 to

2079-520: The executions, but the prosecutions of war criminals outright. However, their pleas failed to convince Clay to halt the executions. Between October 1948 and March 1949, over 100 Nazi war criminals convicted by U.S. military tribunals were hanged at Landsberg Prison . On June 25, 1948, one day after the Soviets imposed the Berlin Blockade, Clay gave the order for the Berlin Airlift , which

2142-692: The famous Berlin Checkpoint Charlie border crossing, and a rebuilt East German watchtower. In the former library building, documents are shown concerning every-day life of the Allied garrisons, the political situation under Cold War terms until the fall of the Wall, as well as methods to analyze the measures by the USA, Great Britain and France to maintain control in West Berlin. The collections include

2205-655: The federal government, the German Bundestag (Parliament) and the governments of the German Länder , or states. The museum was founded on 28 October 1987, on the occasion of the 750th anniversary of the founding of Berlin ; it was inaugurated in the Reichstag building in former West Berlin . After the success of an exhibition on Prussia , which was shown in the Martin-Gropius-Bau in 1981,

2268-407: The final disengagement of the Allied forces in the 1990s. The early period of partition plans evolved by the European Advisory Commission is documented. When in February 1945, the United States, Great Britain, and the Soviet Union decided to split the former German Reich into occupation zones at the Yalta Conference , including a fourth area assigned to the French, the German capital likewise

2331-465: The formal transition in American occupation policy away from the Morgenthau Plan of economic dismantlement to one of economic reconstruction . On March 15, 1947, Clay succeeded Joseph T. McNarney as military governor (or "high commissioner" ) of the US zone of occupied Germany —the head of the OMGUS, the " Office of Military Government, United States ." Clay's responsibilities covered a wide spectrum of social issues related to Germany's recovery from

2394-421: The founding of the DHM. The core of the museum's brief was to present German history in an international context. Multi-perspective perceptions aimed to encourage an understanding of the viewpoint of others in order to allow for a high level of reflection on history and culture in a time of the internationalisation of everyday life and the globalisation of work and commerce. On 28 July 1987, the partnership agreement

2457-420: The graves of Apollo 1 astronaut Ed White and Panama Canal chief engineer George W. Goethals . At Clay's grave site is a stone plate from the citizens of Berlin that says: "Wir danken dem Bewahrer unserer Freiheit" (We thank the Preserver of our Freedom). Lucius Clay was the father of two sons, both of whom became generals. Clay's son, General Lucius D. Clay Jr. , held the positions of commander-in-chief of

2520-408: The hasty convictions of some Buchenwald personnel following the end of the war. Evidence was sometimes questionable, and many witnesses claimed to have been beaten by Allied interrogators. Clay confirmed several death sentences as valid, commuted several, and had some like Koch released after they had served a reduced sentence because of questionable evidence. Under the pressure of public opinion, Koch

2583-444: The museum started a new project for Arabic- and Persian-speaking refugees and other Muslim visitors titled " Multaka - Museum as Meeting Point". This intercultural project organizes guided tours for refugees and migrants designed and offered for free by specially trained guides. The visitor-centered discussions with migrants in their language are focused on the historical origin and history of acquisition of cultural objects, including

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2646-491: The president. The George C. Marshall Foundation , which oversees Clay's correspondences with corporations, foundations, and committees, assembled an alphabetical list that gives a very good overview of Clay's broad range of activities in those fields. Clay served all of the following institutions in some capacity as an associate, as board member, or in a similar position. Clay died on April 16, 1978, in Chatham, Massachusetts . Clay lies buried in West Point Cemetery , between

2709-423: The program being thrown at you." After OMGUS ended, Clay served the United States in other capacities. He had previous experience in 1933 with managing and organizing projects under the New Deal and later became one of Dwight Eisenhower 's closest advisers and assisted him in securing the 1952 Republican nomination and helping him select members of his cabinet upon ascension to the presidency. When Eisenhower

2772-416: The reconstruction of an espionage tunnel built during the Operation Gold conducted by the American and British intelligence services in 1955. Part of the hall is reserved for temporary exhibitions on themes of modern-day relevance. The Allied Museum has the legal status of a non-profit association , whose members are the Federal Republic of Germany, the state of Berlin, France, the UK and the US, as well as

2835-405: The sentence of Ilse Koch , the "Beast of Buchenwald", who had been convicted of murder at the Nuremberg trials , and who had been accused of having gloves and lampshades made from prisoners' skin . Clay later said he commuted Koch's sentence since none of the documents about Koch actually mentioned the fact or included any evidence of her committing murder. The reductions in sentences were based on

2898-411: The situation. Two years later Clay accompanied Kennedy on his trip to Berlin. During his famous Ich bin ein Berliner speech, Kennedy said, "I am proud .. to come here in the company of my fellow American, General Clay, who has been in this city during its great moments of crisis and will come again if ever needed." That mention triggered enthusiastic cheers from the hundreds of thousands gathered to hear

2961-412: The state's importance economically, militarily or population-wise. By March 1942, Clay had risen to the position of being the youngest brigadier general in the army, a month short of his 44th birthday. All the while, he had acquired a reputation for bringing order and operational efficiency out of chaos, and for being an exceptionally hard and disciplined worker, who went long hours and "considered lunch

3024-408: The then Governing Mayor of (West) Berlin , Richard von Weizsäcker , commissioned four prominent historians – Hartmut Boockmann , Eberhard Jäckel , Hagen Schulze and Michael Stürmer – to prepare a memorandum, which appeared in January 1982 under the title Deutsches Historisches Museum in Berlin. The project enjoyed great support from Federal Chancellor Helmut Kohl , who termed the founding of

3087-439: The visitors' own understanding of their country's cultural heritage . In 2019 the four founding museums in Berlin joined six similar museums in the United Kingdom, Italy, Greece and Switzerland, creating the international Multaka network. The German Historical Museum has the most extensive object database of all museums in Germany that can be consulted on the Internet. The collections of the museum are recorded and administered in

3150-466: The war in addition to strictly military issues. He commissioned Lewis H. Brown to research and write " A Report on Germany ", which served as a detailed recommendation for the reconstruction of postwar Germany and served as a basis for the Marshall Plan . Clay promoted democratic federalism in Germany and resisted US politicians who sought to undo a constitution that a Constituent Assembly in Bavaria had adopted on 26 October 1946. He also closed

3213-401: Was a senior officer of the United States Army who was known for his administration of occupied Germany after World War II . He served as the deputy to General of the Army Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1945; deputy military governor, Germany, in 1946; Commander in Chief, United States Forces in Europe and military governor of the United States Zone , Germany, from 1947 to 1949. Clay orchestrated

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3276-471: Was crucial to American occupation authorities prosecuting major Nazi war criminals on their own in the Subsequent Nuremberg trials . In 1946, Clay announced to West German officials that he was disappointed with their results from denazification tribunals: "I do not see how you can demonstrate your ability for self-government nor your will for democracy if you are going to evade or shirk the first unpleasant and difficult task that falls upon you. Unless there

3339-416: Was divided into four sectors. In late April, Soviet Red Army troops fought their way into the city during the Battle of Berlin and enforced the unconditional surrender by the German Wehrmacht armed forces. In Summer they pulled out from the city's Western sectors according to the agreements concluded. In the beginning East-West conflict, first marked by the withdrawal of the Soviet representatives from

3402-475: Was in office, Clay served as his unofficial emissary in Europe. One of his first duties as Eisenhower's emissary and, as the national chairman of the Crusade for Freedom , was to dedicate the city of Berlin's Liberty Bell . In 1954, he was called upon by Eisenhower to help forge a plan for financing the proposed Interstate highway system. During the Berlin Crisis of 1961 , President John F. Kennedy asked him to be an adviser and to go to Berlin and report on

3465-436: Was inaugurated in 1998, on the fiftieth anniversary of the Berlin airlift , in the presence of Chancellor Helmut Kohl . Entrance is free. Since the closure of Berlin Tempelhof Airport in 2008, the Allied Museum has announced its interest in relocating to the old airport at some point. The museum shows an important part of the military and political scenery of the Cold War in Berlin, from immediately after World War II and

3528-406: Was once more installed above the Schlüterhof, the inner courtyard with the masks by Andreas Schlüter . The new building by I. M. Pei with a surface area of 2,700 m (29,000 sq ft) on four floors, and structurally engineered by Leslie E. Robertson Associates, was opened for temporary exhibitions in 2003. The Permanent Exhibition German History in Images and Artefacts was inaugurated in

3591-495: Was only later authorized by President Harry Truman . That was an act of defiance against the Soviets, an incredible feat of logistics (at one point, cargo planes landed at Tempelhof every four minutes, 24 hours a day), a defining moment of the Cold War , and a demonstration of American support for the citizens of Berlin. Clay is remembered for ordering and maintaining the airlift, which would ultimately last 324 days and ended on September 30, 1949. He resigned his post days after

3654-434: Was rearrested in 1949, tried before a West German court, and, on 15 January 1951, sentenced to life imprisonment. According to BBC journalist Tom Bower , despite Clay's mixed record, he was one of only two prominent American and British officials, the other being British diplomat Patrick Dean , who were both competent and showed some level of genuine commitment to denazification. According to Donald Bloxham, Clay's influence

3717-401: Was signed between the Federal Republic of Germany and the state of (West) Berlin concerning the establishment of the temporary trusteeship of the German Historical Museum as a private limited company. Originally the museum was to be located near the Reichstag Building at the Spreebogen, the government complex at the bend of the River Spree. The architecture competition for the project was won by

3780-402: Was solved after the East German Peaceful Revolution and the fall of the Berlin Wall on 9 November 1989. The former movie theater, a protected monument built in 1953, houses a collection of Berlin maps with planned sectors, pictures of Red Army forces marching into Berlin, uniforms, the first post-war editions of Berlin newspapers, denazification documents, CARE packages . Particular emphasis

3843-502: Was the Clay Headquarters Compound, which was located on the street. It held the headquarters of the Berlin Brigade , U.S. Army Berlin (USAB), and the U.S. Mission in Berlin. Marietta, Georgia , named one of its major streets Clay Road , and South Cobb High School's football stadium is named "Clay Stadium" in honor of his work in creating what is now Dobbins Air Force Base there. While now called South Cobb Drive ( State Route 280 ), it still carries memorial signs at each end dedicating

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3906-686: Was used extensively in "Operation Vittles," aka the Berlin Airlift. The name "Lucius Clay" features in the song " The Legend of Wooley Swamp " by the Charlie Daniels Band . Clay had just died (of emphysema and heart failure) around the time the song was written. Clay's decorations include: the Army Distinguished Service Medal with two Oak Leaf Clusters , Legion of Merit , Bronze Star Medal , World War I Victory Medal , Army of Occupation of Germany Medal , American Defense Service Medal , American Campaign Medal , European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal , World War II Victory Medal , Army of Occupation Medal , Order of Kutuzov First Class , Order of

3969-502: Was willing to and did approve most death sentences imposed by American military tribunals. He also approved all but one of the sentences imposed in the Subsequent Nuremberg trials. Near the end of the occupation, Clay openly admitted his hopes for denazification were failing. In June 1948, a blanket stay of execution had been granted to all of the Nazi war criminals on death row in the U.S. occupation zone. This came after false allegations of torture were propagated by several politicians in

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