Model project: identification of Nazi-looted property in technical-historical collections

For the model project 'Identifizierung von NS-Raubgut in technikhistorischen Sammlungen' [Identification of Nazi-looted property in technical-historical collections], a strategy was developed which will enable the Deutsches Technikmuseum to undertake an effective, efficient and systematic identification of cultural property expropriated as a result of Nazi persecution. To this end, an initial assessment of its holdings was carried out and methods for provenance research on technical cultural artefacts were developed.

Dedicated to transportation and technology, the Deutsches Technikmuseum was founded in 1982. Building on the holdings of historical institutions, the foundations of today’s collections were established through acquisitions of specialised collections, individual purchases via auction houses, dealers and private individuals, as well as through donations.

The collections of the Deutsches Technikmuseum comprise a highly diverse range of items. In addition to large objects such as locomotives, aeroplanes and ships, these also include numerous everyday objects such as radios, typewriters, bicycles and cameras. In addition to these technical devices, the museum has also collected paintings, archival documents and books, most of which are kept in the archive and library. Of the approximately 74,000 inventoried items and bundles in the museum’s collection, around 17,000 were produced before 1945 according to the current state of knowledge; no precise figures are yet available for the archive and library. Only in the case of a few objects was it possible to dispense with in-depth research based on their past usage, for example in the case of military technology from the Second World War.

One initial finding of the project was that the museum’s holdings can be assumed to contain not just items of cultural property which were privately owned and seized as a result of Nazi persecution, but also items of company property which were likewise expropriated during the Nazi era. A second finding was the realisation that it proved to be difficult or even impossible in the case of many technical objects to apply the traditional method of provenance research, i.e. using markings on the object itself to find clues about former owners. The vast majority of items are not unique but rather mass-produced items whose only individual feature is usually a serial number.

For this reason, the most successful approach to date has been to identify the objects based on their former location and history of usage and to reconstruct their provenance based on files, address books and company archives.

In the course of the one-year term of the project, three cases of cultural property seized as a result of Nazi persecution were identified. These include a photograph and memorabilia album belonging to former AEG director Heinrich Hirschberg, a printing press and the lithography stones to go with it from the Paul Pittius printing works – whose owners Julius and Martin Gerson were persecuted and murdered during the National Socialist era – and a car chassis belonging to former Karstadt board member Hermann Schöndorff, for which the Berlin history agency Facts & Files carried out the initial research on behalf of the Deutsches Technikmuseum.

In addition, ten further objects were identified in the museum’s holdings that were initially suspected of having been confiscated as a result of Nazi persecution. Around 800 objects and bundles were assessed as unobjectionable.

Furthermore, provenance research was integrated into the museum’s business processes, relevant files were identified, the project and its results were reported in digital and analogue formats in the interests of transparency, initial results were implemented in exhibition formats and cooperation was established with other museums and libraries.

© Stiftung Deutsches Technikmuseum Berlin