In September 1952 Meidner visited Hamburg at the invitation of the lawyer and art lover Ernst Buchholz. The warm reception and interest in his art he found there probably provided the final impetus for his decision to return to Germany.

"My friends have received me here with great warmth and shown me every consideration. I am doing one portrait after the other and will remain in Hamburg for the whole month. For November I have been invited to Bonn to visit one of the Social Democratic Party's most well-known representatives. And I have now decided that upon my return to London I will begin preparing to move to Hamburg. Prior to my trip I already submitted a repatriation application at the German Consulate in London. My friends here are recommending the move, including Jews already living here. Hamburg is very interested in art and my name has not been forgotten. The upcoming generation of German artists is weak, which makes our chances all the better. A wrote a very enthusiastic letter about Germany to Dr. Leo Beck which I think may have offended him. Nevertheless, this is where I belong, this is my home; German art educated me no less than the German language. We have been in England far too long."

Further reading:
Jugend und Alter. Ludwig Meidners Porträts aus den 1950er und 1960er Jahren (exhibition catalog Stadtmuseum Hofheim am Taunus), Hofheim am Taunus 2016.