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X-Rays Reveal Nazi Symbols Hidden Beneath Postwar Painting
A painting found in a German family home has revealed how Nazi-era imagery may have been hidden beneath a more acceptable postwar scene. The work is linked to Erich Mercker, a Munich painter who lived from 1891 to 1973. Mercker had a successful career and painted several works during the Nazi period. Some included hidden Nazi symbols and political themes.
One of his known works, “Die Stätte des 9. November,” showed the Feldherrnhalle in Munich. The site carried strong meaning for the Nazi Party. It was tied to Adolf Hitler’s failed 1923 coup, also known as the Beer Hall Putsch.
Postwar versions removed Nazi symbols
After World War II, Mercker continued to paint the same Munich scene. But later versions appeared different. He removed soldiers, wreaths, and Nazi symbols. He also replaced the Nazi flag with the blue-and-white flag of Bavaria.
The works appeared under less politically charged titles, including “Feldherrnhalle” and “München am Odeonsplatz.”
Filmmaker and producer Dr. Thomas Schuhbauer found one version in his parents’ home. They had received it as a wedding gift in 1966.
At first, the painting looked like a postwar version of the scene. It showed the Bavarian flag and no clear Nazi symbols. But some details raised questions. The Nazi memorial at the Feldherrnhalle was still partly visible. That memorial was destroyed after Germany’s surrender in 1945. Reddish paint traces also appeared near the flag.
X-ray scans reveal hidden image
Schuhbauer contacted Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin, known as HZB. He began working with Dr. Ioanna Mantouvalou, a physicist at TU Berlin and HZB. Mantouvalou specializes in X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy, or XRF.
X-ray scans have revealed Nazi symbols hidden beneath a postwar painting linked to Munich artist Erich Mercker.
Researchers found a red Nazi flag, wreaths, soldiers and raised arms painted over beneath a later Bavarian scene. pic.twitter.com/qrkIfazLhm
— Tom Marvolo Riddle (@tom_riddle2025) June 9, 2026
The method lets researchers identify chemical elements in materials without damaging them. It can also reveal paint layers beneath the surface.
The XRF scans showed that Nazi imagery had been painted over. A red Nazi flag lay beneath the Bavarian flag. Researchers also found covered wreaths on the monument, soldiers in the scene, and raised arms of passersby.
The overpainted areas contained high levels of titanium white. That pigment did not appear elsewhere in the painting. A tube of oil paint labeled “Titanium White 10103 Schmincke” was later found among Mercker’s paint tubes.
Evidence points to later alteration
Researchers said the evidence suggests that Mercker may have altered the painting himself. Some changes appeared rushed or careless.
The study, published in npj Heritage Science, also situates the painting within a broader postwar context. The authors noted that many artists faced little public criticism for their Nazi-era collaboration until well into the 1960s.
The painting now belongs to the Munich Documentation Centre for the History of National Socialism. The case shows how science, art history, and family memory can work together. It also shows how political symbols can disappear from view without fully leaving the historical record.
