Berlin, indelibly smeared more than 70 masterpieces in the museums of the center. Right-wing accusations

BERLIN – This is not a lucky moment for Berlin’s museums. Three years ago, the news of the theft of a hundred-kilo gold coin with the effigy of Queen Elizabeth from the Bode Museum went around the world. The “large maple leaf” was never found and, according to researchers, never will be. Perhaps it was merged by the Turkish-Lebanese clans that had orchestrated the sensational coup. But now incredible new news shakes the capital. Strangers have spotted at least seventy objects in the ‘Museumsinsel’, the oasis in central Berlin that includes some of the most important museums in the capital. IS probably the most serious attack on ancient art ever launched in Germany.

On October 3, according to the Berlin criminal police, someone sprayed an oily substance on dozens of masterpieces kept at the Pergamon, the Neues Museum and the Alte Nationalgalerie. Indelibly stained sculptures, 19th century paintings, Egyptian sarcophagi and other works. The main suspect is now an old acquaintance from coronavirus denial rallies: Attila Hildmann, a vegan chef also known for his fierce anti-Semitism and conspiracy theories.

In June, Hildmann had been kicked off the steps of the Altes Museum, where he used to hold his delusional mini-rallies. The Preussischer Kulturbesitz Foundation, which runs the museum, subsequently displayed a huge banner against racism, nationalism and anti-Semism at the entrance.

The banning of the ladder and the removal of the foundations had drawn Hildmann’s ire. Throughout the summer he had incited his followers on Telegram, where more than 100,000 people follow him, against the museum oasis, arguing that the Baal altar that is preserved in Pergamum would actually be “the throne of Satan.” And that museums would be the “center of global Satanists and coronavirus criminals.” At night they attracted followers of the devil who performed heinous rites, abusing children and sacrificing human beings. Non-unusual follies in esoteric settings, revived in anger by the chef shouting “disgusting Satanists”.

Hildmann also included Angela Merkel in her diatribes, recalling that the chancellor lives near ancient museums, which would confirm her supposed “demonic” nature. Prosecutors in Berlin and Brandenburg had been investigating since last summer for hate speech. But now the shadow of a much more egregious suspicion looms over the former vegan cooking star.