Guiding principles of Proveana

The information contained in the database is entered by an editorial team of the German Lost Art Foundation based on the research reports. If necessary, it is updated with further information or structurally adapted.

The Foundation itself does not conduct any research, but funds, supports and interconnects existing research and documents it in its Proveana database. Information is published only if its source can be cited. When the Foundation receives new insights on individual pieces of information, these are published if possible. When existing scientific insights are disproved, the information remains posted for documentation reasons, but is marked with a corresponding note. The same is done with assumed insights.

 

The Proveana database follows these guiding principles:

 

1. Proveana is not completed!

As with any living database, the content in Proveana is constantly updated and revised if necessary. Information on other sources (for example GND, Wikidata, Getty TGN) is also collected and linked to the data in Proveana.

2. No information without a source!

All pieces of information have a source citation. It can be accessed by clicking on the quotation marks.

3. Research as a process!

Research results can be revised or may not always be conclusive, and individual data can turn out to be false even though they were considered factual for long periods of time. This is why individual pieces of information in Proveana can be marked with a status. Proveana also endeavors to avoid judgements and opinions in the database.

4. To make research easier, but not replace it!

Proveana is a collection of information intended to facilitate provenance research and the search for victims of Nazi-looted art. Its content therefore focuses less on individual objects than on context information to support research on provenance chains in individual cases.