Books in the ZI library from the library of August Liebmann Mayer that was confiscated by the Nazis as a result of persecution

Point of departure

In 1942, the Rosenberg taskforce – known as “Einsatzstab Reichsleiter Rosenberg” (ERR) – confiscated the private library of Jewish art historian August Liebmann Mayer (1885-1944) in Paris; Mayer had emigrated from Munich to France in 1936. His academic library was supposed to go to Hermann Göring but was then moved by the ERR to Kogl Castle for air-raid protection reasons; it was found there by the Americans, who took it to the Central Collecting Point (CCP) in Munich. The CCP handed over the books to the library of the newly founded Central Institute of Art History on 3 May 1947.

Based on initial research carried out by Susanne Kienlechner and PD Dr. Christian Fuhrmeister, it emerged that books that had belonged to Mayer had remained in the ZI library and are among its holdings to this day.

Mayer’s private library is cultural property that was confiscated as a result of Nazi persecution, requiring a "just and fair solution" to be found in accordance with the Washington Principles of 1998.

Objective

The aim of the (short-term) project was to ascertain definitively which individual books owned by August Liebmann Mayer are in the library of the Central Institute of Art History and to restitute these items. Special haste was and is required as Mayer’s (childless) daughter is already over 85 years old and has been in care in a residential retirement and nursing home in Los Angeles since 2014. In addition, the legal representative commissioned by her (lawyer Markus Stötzel, Marburg) indicated that he was considering bringing a claim against the ZI for the return of books with Mayer provenance.

The project in figures

Of the approximately 573,000 books currently in the ZI library, some 52,000 originate from the initial period when the library’s basic stock was transferred from the CCP: these therefore required investigation.

Around 21,000 books were systematically scrutinised in detail over the course of the project. These were chosen because they correlate thematically either with Mayer’s own publications or with the fields of research he is known to have worked on particularly intensely.

As far as can be seen:

– seven works can be clearly identified as originating from the property of A. L. Mayer and

– 16 works contain sufficient indications to make an attribution to Mayer appear very probable

– in our opinion therefore, in consideration of all factors and in accordance with the Washington Principles, these are also to be considered as cultural property seized as a result of Nazi persecution.

Of the 21,000 books inspected, therefore a share of 0.1 per cent are to be restituted to A.L. Mayer’s daughter.

Transparency

– Project website on the ZI homepage: http://www.zikg.eu/projekte/projekte-zi/buecher-aus-der-ns-verfolgungsbedingt-entzogenen-bibliothek-von-august-liebmann-mayer-in-der-bibliothek-des-zi

– Planned public restitution of the books to the legal representative of the heiress Angelika Mayer at the 8th Colloquium on Provenance and Collection Research at the ZI on 30 November 2016

– A corresponding entry in the ZI’s OPAC and kubikat (and therefore also in the Art Discovery Group Catalogue)

– Possible presentation of the project at the international conference Where are the libraries that were looted by the Nazis? Identification and restoration: a work in progress in Paris in March 2017 (application under the call for papers was submitted on time)

© Zentralinstitut für Kunstgeschichte