veit stoss altarpiece - online puzzles

Online puzzle veit stoss altarpiece

The Altarpiece by Veit Stoss in Kraków ( Polish : Ołtarz Wita Stwosza, German: Krakauer Hochaltar), also St. Mary's Altar (Ołtarz Mariacki), is the largest Gothic altarpiece in the world and a national treasure of Poland. It is located behind the High altar of St. Mary's Basilica in Kraków. The altarpiece was carved between 1477 and 1489 by the German sculptor Veit Stoss (known in Polish as Wit Stwosz) who lived and worked in the city for over 20 years.

In 1941, during the German occupation, the dismantled altarpiece was shipped to the Third Reich on the order of Hans Frank – the Governor-General of that part of occupied Poland. It was recovered in 1946 in Bavaria, hidden in the basement of the heavily bombed Nuremberg Castle. The High Altar underwent major restoration work in Poland and was put back in its place at the Basilica 10 years later.

History

World War II

A few weeks prior to the outbreak of the Second World War and the German occupation of Poland, the Poles took the altarpiece apart and stored its main statues in crates dispersed across the country. The crates were located by a Nazi unit called the Sonderkommando Paulsen, plundered and transported to the Third Reich, likely to Berlin.