This work looks at important paintings from nine museums all over Berlin. Eisler uses a chronological and geographical organization to bring together over 700 works of world importance, stretching from the first half of the 12th century to 1914 and covering artists as diverse as Giotto, Raphael, Da Vinci, Titian, Tintoretto, Breughel, Van Eyck and Durer. As Germany in general and Berlin in particular face the ramifications of reunification, hundreds of works, often thought lost or destroyed, are coming to light and being presented for the first time in more than 50 years.