Scandal! Hermione von Preuschen and the “Mors Imperator”
Mar 22 – Nov 15, 2026 Mitte
Hermione von Preuschen’s 1887 painting Mors Imperator, refused by the Berlin Academy, shown with the papers of the scandal that made her famous.
The painting shows Death as a skeleton ruler in a purple, ermine-trimmed cloak, knocking over a throne with one foot planted on a globe. The Academy jury rejected it in 1887 as a dig at the 90-year-old Emperor Wilhelm I, so von Preuschen hired rooms on Leipziger Straße and showed it herself to paying crowds.
Letters, photographs and publications trace the affair and her later work as a writer and world traveler. Curated by Birgit Verwiebe.
Museum Mitte
