Provenance research in the holdings of the local history museum Ehm Welk-und Heimatmuseum Angermünde for the years 1933-1945. Appraising the origin of legacy collections in the areas of cultural history, library, written material

A municipal institution of the town of Angermünde, the local history museum Ehm Welk-und Heimatmuseum Angermünde was established in 2005 by merging the local history museum Heimatmuseum Angermünde with the literature museum Ehm Welk-Literaturmuseum. Up until 1945, the basis of the collection was laid by the local history association Verein für Heimatkunde, the former sponsor of the museum. New acquisitions were fully recorded, inventoried and documented until the mid-1930s, after which purchases were only noted in the cash ledger, whereby the clear origin often remained imprecise.

Analysis of the written material only revealed two acquisitions from Jewish ownership for the year 1933, but these items cannot be traced in the legacy holdings, the latter having been destroyed as a result of wartime and post-war events.

Provenance research recorded a total of 11 paintings, prints and other artistic objects. The basis for the actual research work was the transcription of the directories of the Heimatverein and the preparation of a list with the names of Jewish families and individuals. Internet and archive research allowed the list of names of Jewish citizens to be supplemented and corrected (Pöppel list in the municipal archives). Due to the lack of population registers and registration cards from the years 1933 to 1936, tracing of the migration of individuals to large cities was only possible to a limited extent.

Of the 11 objects analysed, there was only one case where it was possible to identify a potential but very uncertain case of restitution: this is the painting Weiherlandschaft [Pond landscape] by August Fink. Here there are connections to Galerie Heinemann, which was "Aryanised" in 1938. No definitive information is yet available regarding the trajectory of the painting via other art dealers or auctions.

The painting was part of the furnishings of the hunting lodge in Wolletz used by the GDR Minister for State Security Mielke from the 1950s until 1989. Around 1938, Victoria Busch, a close friend of the then owner Anton Martinek, is thought to have acquired some items at art auctions for the refurbishment of the hunting lodge. This has led to the realisation that other items from this lodge will require further research, too. When the hunting lodge was converted into a rehabilitation clinic, these objects became the property of the district of Angermünde (since 1993 the district of Uckermark) and were loaned to various locations.

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