[MSN] Germany Aims for Better Restitution Process for Nazi-Looted Art.

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 19.11.2006 
Germany Aims for Better Restitution Process for Nazi-Looted Art 

Photos:
http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,2144,2242811,00.html


The German government has invited museum directors and legal experts to
Berlin on Monday to discuss claims for art bought or seized by the Nazis.
Museums hope to play a more active role in the restitution process.

Germany's Culture Minister Bernd Neumann has invited leading museum
representatives and legal experts to the Berlin Chancellery on Monday. A
government spokesman said Neumann wanted to get an idea of the situation
facing German museums for artwork unfairly bought or confiscated by the
Nazis before and during World War Two. 

Museum directors have said they are going into the meeting with no demands,
but rather suggestions on the major problems at hand concerning restitution.
A top item on their list is so-called "provenance" research, which traces
the origins of a piece of art.

"We believe more funds need to be invested into this kind of research," said
Mechtild Kronenberg, director of the German Museum Association -- a
sentiment shared by the Jewish Claims Conference. It said that provenance
research was a key factor to help come to terms with the consequences of the
Nazi's art theft.
"But German institutions in particular should not lag behind internationally
established standards," the Conference said in a position paper, such as
those of US and British museums.

However, there is only one researcher working full-time on provenance, Ute
Haug at the Hamburg Kunsthalle. Two other museums, the Dresden State Art
Collections and the Städel Museum in Frankfurt, have art historians
investigating their collections, but in part-time or temporary positions. It
is a small contribution to this kind of research considering Germany is home
to several thousand museums.

Promises aren't footing the bill 
 
Haug said she hoped the Berlin meeting would make the situation more
transparent for Neumann, as the problem itself is nothing new. Already in
1998, the "Washington Conference on Holocaust-Era Assets" took place, which
addressed issues surrounding the restitution of assets confiscated between
1933 and 1945. 

"For eight years, these difficulties have been known, for eight years there
has been no money for provenance research, and for eight years there have
been restitutions which could have gone better," Haug said. 
For decades, German museums kept the history of their holdings under lock
and key -- or simply ignored any irregularities. Statutes introduced after
World War Two stipulated that restitution claims had to be made by December
31, 1948. Art collectors or their heirs could make no legal claims
thereafter -- and that was the end of the discussion for German museums. The
Washington conference changed this. 

One of the 11 principles in the conference declaration, which Germany also
signed, was: "Resources and personnel should be made available to facilitate
the identification of all art that had been confiscated by the Nazis and not
subsequently restituted."

In 1999, the German government, states and municipal organizations issued a
joint statement promising to help people find looted artwork despite a legal
deadline that had expired more than half a century ago. 

But promises don't foot the bill. In Germany, there has been practically no
public money for provenance research.

Disputed restitution case reignites debate 
 

Culture Minister Neumann issued his invitation for Monday following strong
criticism of a recent restitution case in Berlin. The Berlin Senate returned
the expressionist painting "Berlin Street Scene" by Ernst Ludwig Kirchner
from 1913 to the granddaughter of Jewish art collector Alfred Hess. The
work, in turn, was sold to cosmetics heir Ronald Lauder at an auction in New
York last week for $38 million.

"Cases such as this are problematic, because the burden of proof lies with
the owner, in this case the museum," Kronenberg said. "But many documents
don't exist anymore."

Although there was evidence that the painting was not a case of looted art,
including written correspondence indicating it had been sold willingly,
Berlin's Brücke museum had no official receipt for the work. 

 Critics said Germany's restitution law needed an overhaul, as the country's
museums were losing significant works as a result. Hans-Joachim Otto from
the opposition Free Democrat Party (FDP) said the concept of restitution
should not be discredited by the art market.

However, restitution rules for artwork in public collections were "in some
details" too rigid and needed adjustment, said Otto, a member of the FDP and
head of the parliamentary committee for culture. He also expressed support
for more research funding.
In the same way restitution practices should be put to the test, efforts for
provenance research should be significantly intensified and supported by the
federal and state governments," Otto said.

Many experts have observed that art historians specializing in provenance
research are not being hired by museums, but rather by law firms
specializing in restitution claims. This led to what the Museums Association
president Michael Eissenhauer called "big business" with restitution pieces.

 "It's worth it to go out and look for prey, to see which works can bring
new blood to the art market," Eissenhauer told news agency ddp.

But German museums are by no means backing down from their responsibilities,
its association said. 
"If there is a justified restitution claim, there is no question whatsoever
that a work will be returned," Kronenberg said.

The Hamburg Kunsthalle, for example, is returning a 17th-century piece,
which Haug traced back to the private collection of the Jewish art dealer
Jacques Goudstikker. It had been acquired by Nazi leader Hermann Göring.

Germany should rethink its cultural priorities 
 
In the 1930s, the Nazi regime began confiscating the property of Jewish art
dealers. It forced many private collectors to simply hand over their
artworks. German museums were ordered to turn over cultural objects on loan
from private Jewish collections. 

The Nazis looted this art partly for Adolf Hitler's planned "Führermuseum"
in Linz, a body intended to achieve world-class recognition. Hundreds of
works also flowed into Göring's private collection. 
During the Second World War, many German and Dutch art dealers made a
fortune off buying art below value from distraught Jewish families trying to
get money to leave the country. These paintings were then sold or given back
to German museums, where they may even have hung just years before.

Experts estimate there are between 100 and 150 pieces of art in question for
restitution. But without more research, Germany's public collections cannot
be thoroughly analyzed. There have been suggestions that a central office
for provenance research be established. Haug said this would be a good
option.

"It would have synergy effects, and help develop a network among art
historians working in this area," she said. 
 
Sabina Casagrande