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Actions Displays	Drawing of Koln Remove from selection Add to selection Reproduction Download mediaDownload as zip file Object number20057.10 TitleDrawing of Koln Creator Otto Laub DescriptionThis drawing of Köln (Cologne), a city on the Rhine in western Germany was made by Otto Laub, while he was imprisoned at Castlerankine Camp 64 in 1946-47. It is one of 25 drawings he created on the walls of the camp’s Assembly Hall. His materials were ink, boot polish and the walls themselves. Otto Laub was conscripted into the German army in 1937. During the war he served on both the Eastern and Western fronts, in Italy and finally in North Africa, where he was captured. After spending time in prison camps in Algeria and the USA, Laub was sent to Camp 64 near Denny to serve time until his return to his homeland. Camp 64 was built by Italian POWs in 1942 and housed more than 2,000 prisoners. Most worked on local farms and in industry, where they were well liked and accepted into the local community. The Camp had its own hospital, library, games room and canteen. There were tailors and shoemakers, a Camp Orchestra and Camp newspaper. The scenes that Laub drew on the walls of the Assembly Hall would have been familiar to the internees, a reminder of home and the hope that they would see it again soon. This drawing of Köln is dominated by the majestic twin towers of the city’s gothic cathedral. It miraculously survived the Allied bombings of the Second World War relatively intact. Laub returned to Germany in 1947. Many of his fellow internees settled in Scotland, where they had been made to feel so welcome. Camp 64 closed in 1950 and the buildings gradually fell into disrepair. Of the twenty-five drawings made by Laub, 15 survived the camp’s demolition in 1993 and are now in our museum collection. Production date 1946 Object nameDrawing Koln(Cologne) MaterialInk/Boot Polish/Board

Reproduction

Download mediaDownload as zip file

Object number20057.10

TitleDrawing of Koln

DescriptionThis drawing of Köln (Cologne), a city on the Rhine in western Germany was made by Otto Laub, while he was imprisoned at Castlerankine Camp 64 in 1946-47. It is one of 25 drawings he created on the walls of the camp’s Assembly Hall. His materials were ink, boot polish and the walls themselves. Otto Laub was conscripted into the German army in 1937. During the war he served on both the Eastern and Western fronts, in Italy and finally in North Africa, where he was captured. After spending time in prison camps in Algeria and the USA, Laub was sent to Camp 64 near Denny to serve time until his return to his homeland. Camp 64 was built by Italian POWs in 1942 and housed more than 2,000 prisoners. Most worked on local farms and in industry, where they were well liked and accepted into the local community. The Camp had its own hospital, library, games room and canteen. There were tailors and shoemakers, a Camp Orchestra and Camp newspaper. The scenes that Laub drew on the walls of the Assembly Hall would have been familiar to the internees, a reminder of home and the hope that they would see it again soon. This drawing of Köln is dominated by the majestic twin towers of the city’s gothic cathedral. It miraculously survived the Allied bombings of the Second World War relatively intact. Laub returned to Germany in 1947. Many of his fellow internees settled in Scotland, where they had been made to feel so welcome. Camp 64 closed in 1950 and the buildings gradually fell into disrepair. Of the twenty-five drawings made by Laub, 15 survived the camp’s demolition in 1993 and are now in our museum collection.

Production date 1946

Object nameDrawing

Koln(Cologne)

MaterialInk/Boot Polish/Board