From 1945 many East Prussians found their new home in the Luneburg area as well as elsewhere in Northern Germany. After his successful "East Prussian Hunting Exhibition", the forestry official Hans-Ludwig Loeffke (1906-1974) came up with the idea for the "East Prussian Hunting Museum – Game, Forest and Horses", founded in Luneburg in 1958. When the first East Prussian museum opened after 1945, some of the displaced persons were hostile to the museumisation of their homeland, as they were still hoping for their return. Already under Loeffke and his successors, the museum's themes expanded towards general regional studies.
In connection with the new Eastern Policy introduced by Willy Brandt, the cultural preservation of the former Eastern Territories moved into the focus of federal policy. Professional state museums were to preserve and convey the once rich cultural landscapes in addition to the local history parlours. In 1987 the East Prussian State Museum was established as the first of these institutions, building on the already successful work of the Hunting Museum.
In addition, there were and are other scientific and cultural institutions in Luneburg that feel committed to cross-border cultural work.
Illustrations:
1.) The burning old department store
Luneburg, 22.12.1959
At the end of 1959 an arsonist raged in the Hanseatic town, lighting several historic buildings, including the Baroque old department store whose attic housed the one-year-old East Prussian Hunting Museum. Only a handful of exhibits could be saved. In 1964 Loeffke and his colleagues opened a new, rapidly growing museum in Salzstrasse with the support of the town.
2.) Leaflet with call for protest
Luneburg, June 1987
Call for protest by a group of left-wing organisations against the opening of the East Prussian State Museum in 1987. In these years the founding of new museums of cultural history was politically controversial in several cases. In Luneburg political statements in terms of demands for restitution of the Eastern Territories were suspected – in ignorance of the new conception of the museum.