The fate of Jewish art collectors and dealers in Munich 1938–1945. On the whereabouts of the masterpieces

A cooperative project between the state and municipal museums in Munich

In 2007, a file with the title “Ehemaliger Judenbesitz – Wiedergutmachungsakt” (Former Jewish property—reparation dossier) was found during renovation works at the Münchner Stadtmuseum. Contained within it were records of confiscations of Jewish art collections in Munich and the surrounding area which were carried out by the Munich Gestapo in winter 1938/39.
In fall 2008, the Bayerische Staatsgemäldesammlungen submitted a funding application to the then recently founded Bureau for Provenance Research in Berlin for the purpose of scientifically reviewing and analyzing this set of records. The Bayerische Staatsgemäldesammlungen, the Jewish Museum Munich and the Städtische Galerie im Lenbachhaus were the initiators of the project. Also taking part were the Münchner Stadtmuseum, the Museum Villa Stuck, the Bayerisches Nationalmuseum and the Staatliche Graphische Sammlung München. In summer 2009, the Bureau for Provenance Research in Berlin began funding a project with the working title “The fate of Jewish art collectors and dealers in Munich 1933–1945”. The members of the project team were Vanessa-Maria Voigt and Horst Keßler, who shared a full-time position.
The file with the historic title “Jewish property”, on which the project was largely based, was handed over to the Munich city archives and is registered there with the reference Stadtmuseum Nr. 104. The aims of the research project were to produce short biographies of the respective Jewish collectors and art dealers, record their art collections, describe the galleries and clarify the whereabouts of the confiscated art and cultural goods, leaving as few gaps as possible. With this research question, the participating Munich museums aimed to shed light on their own collection history in the National Socialist era and clarify the vested rights that remained unclear to date. This was achieved accordingly and has already led to the opening of restitution negotiations at the Münchner Stadtmuseum, the Städtische Galerie im Lenbachhaus, the Bayerische Staatsgemäldesammlungen, the Bayerisches Nationalmuseum and the Staatliche Graphische Sammlung. The commissioned provenance researchers concluded the necessary research work by May 31, 2012. They produced dossiers on the art collectors concerned and lists of the approx. 2,500 masterpieces in total. A detailed final report by the project management was submitted to the Bureau for Provenance Research in January 2013. The material collection relating to the victims of the confiscation measures is located at the Bayerische Staatsgemäldesammlungen, where it can be viewed by third parties.
This research contract was followed in January 2015 by an agreement for a further cooperative project financed by the state capital of Munich and involving the Städtische Galerie im Lenbachhaus, the Jewish Museum and the Bayerische Staatsgemäldesammlungen, together with the holder of the Chair of Modern and Contemporary History at the University of Erfurt, Prof. Christiane Kuller. For this project, the contemporary historian Jan Schleusener investigated the Munich confiscations and their aftermath, which triggered one of the biggest art theft campaigns in the “Old Reich” territory and was carried out by the Gestapo. The book released by the Landesstelle der nichtstaatlichen Museen in Bayern with the title “Raub von Kulturgut. Der Zugriff des NS-Staats auf jüdischen Kunstbesitz in München und seine Nachgeschichte” appears in November 2016 published by Deutscher Kunstverlag.

(c) Bayerische Staatsgemäldesammlungen