Damned and Destroyed

The deliberate destruction of culture can be found in almost all epochs from the ancient times until today. From the Roman destruction of the Temple of Jerusalem in 70 AD to the iconoclasm of the Reformation and the French Revolution to the devastation of European colonialism and the rupture of civilisation under National Socialism. The deliberate devastation and plundering of cultural assets have always been mainly an expression of a new claim to power. Iconoclasms were driven by solid financial interests besides political, ideological and religious reasons. Robbery and expropriation often proved to be systematic redistributions of wealth. Hermann Parzinger gives a well-founded and vivid account of the different historical backgrounds and dynamics of cultural destruction.