Ministry, ″a plethora of treasures was gathered, which a contemporary individual can hardly imagine.″ Finally, on 25 May 1891, the new k.u.k. Heeresmuseum in the Arsenal was solemnly inaugurated by Emperor Franz Joseph and dedicated to its intended use. Once World War I broke out, the museum was immediately closed down for visitors. This was mainly attributed to the fact that so much material was appropriated from the various war theatres that it became impossible to manage an orderly exhibition. The end of the war in 1918 also seemed to bring the final curtain down for the museum. There was even a plan to sell the museum's collections to improve the precarious economic situation, but this was eventually averted. In September 1921, the building was reopened as the Österreichisches Heeresmuseum (Austrian Military Museum). From there on, the museum was to focus primarily on documenting the most recent military events, especially those of World War I. The opening of a gallery for war paintings in 1923 marked the first time that the museum dedicated a large section to fine arts. These did not only depict army chiefs and battles, but also the everyday life of soldiers during wartime. Following Austria's annexation into the Third Reich, the museum was placed under the management of the director of military museums in Berlin and was renamed to Heeresmuseum Wien (Vienna military museum). During World War II, the museum was once again inaccessible to the public, and admission remained reserved to military personnel. As of 1943, civilians were allowed into the museum as visitors only on weekends. During this time, the museum was primarily used for propaganda purposes. For instance, military campaigns of the Wehrmacht were documented in special propaganda exhibitions (Sieg im Westen (summer 1940), Griechenland und Kreta 1941 – Bild und Beute (March/May 1942) and Kampfraum Südost (summer 1944)). As with all museums in Vienna, the most valuable collections were evacuated once the allied bombings on Vienna began in autumn 1943. These measures proved absolutely necessary, since the Arsenal and the Südbahnhof were directly hit by allied bomber groups on 10 September and 11 December 1944, severely damaging or completely destroying not only the museum building but also several depots. Toward the end of the war, in particular during the so-called Vienna Offensive, the Arsenal grounds, too, were heavily damaged. During the occupation, many of the evacuated collection items that had survived the