Restituted

Topic

Nazi art plundering has preoccupied cultural institutions around the world for 20 years: a summary

More than 70 years after World War II, the issue of Nazi plundering of Jewish cultural has not been resolved, although many museums, libraries and archives are intensively involved in researching this injustice. It has been 20 years since the conference was held in Washington that laid the foundation for this work. The conference on Holocaust-era assets had a fundamental impact on the world of art.

For years, SPK has used the Washington Principles and the Joint Declaration of the German federal government, states and local communities based on them as guidelines for dealing with property stolen by the National Socialists. In recent years, the Foundation has restituted more than 350 works of art and more than 1,000 books. We present some of the cases here. This dossier also examines other issues: How is the provenance of an object researched? How are fair and just solutions achieved? How can the many collectors, patrons and friends of art that were driven away or murdered by the Nazis be commemorated?