Central Fund acquisitions made by the Badisches Landesmuseum since 1958// Provenance research on the acquisition period 1933–1945

The Badisches Landesmuseum in Karlsruhe (BLM) is a cultural history museum that collects and preserves mainly decorative art objects of various kinds. These range from prehistoric and early historic periods through antiquity to the present day.

The museum has been conducting intensive provenance research since January 2010. Up to December 2012, a project with two substantive objectives was supported with funding from the Bureau for Provenance Research in Berlin and from the state of Baden-Württemberg. Since January 2013, the research has been financed by the state of Baden-Württemberg.

The initial focus of the research was on the “Zentralfonds” (Central Fund) acquisitions from 1958 onward (acquisitions made using lottery funds in Baden-Württemberg). In keeping with their cultural and historical value, these were often in the possession of middle-class Jewish art dealers and collectors in the cities of Berlin, Frankfurt am Main, Cologne and Munich, as evidence showed.

Besides one-off, though stereotypical, objects such as medieval sculptures, the works in the inventory are frequently those that were mass produced. Such objects are normally not associated with a particular artist’s name. As these are mainly full round objects which can be viewed from all sides, there are no labels, handwritten numbers or similar features which could indicate previous owners. A thorough examination of the reverse side is therefore usually not possible. Nevertheless, many of the former owners could be evidenced.

The file documents relating to the acquisitions, particularly those in the BLM’s own archive and in the General State Archives in Karlsruhe, revealed new clues about the previously unknown action strategies of museum staff in the Nazi era. While the archive records provide eloquent information about confiscated masterpieces, the objects listed in there first need to be identified and evidenced in the collection.

To date, a late medieval wooden relief and a painting have been restituted to the descendants of their former owners. The details of numerous objects for which the owners have not been identified so far are listed in the Lost Art Database.

(c) Badisches Landesmuseum