Provenances, contexts of acquisition, search for heirs—research on suspected cases of Nazi-confiscated cultural goods in the collections of the Klassik Stiftung Weimar

Initial questions and project objectives

The central concern of the research project was systematic research for the detailed in-depth indexing of objects that had been acquired in 1933–1939 by the predecessor institutions of the Klassik Stiftung Weimar (KSW) for their collections and for which there was already an initial suspicion that these had been confiscated from their owners by the Nazis. The aim was to reconstruct the acquisition circumstances as comprehensively as possible. Research focused on the acquisition channels and other provenances and, in particular, on the biographies of the previous owners persecuted by the Nazis and the circumstances surrounding the loss of the objects. These were documented in order to define a basis on which to clarify restitution conditions and to identify the heirs entitled to the estate of the persecuted owners.

The project in numbers

Total number of objects examined: 5,486 = 100%

The provenances identified for the period 1933–1945 are lawful. It can be proven that the items are not Nazi-confiscated property and further investigation is not required: 2,337 ≈ 42.6%

The objects are no longer available in the holdings or are not identifiable: 1,449 ≈ 26.4%

The provenance has not been adequately clarified for the period 1933–1945. There are (at this stage) no starting points for further research that would enable clarification: 971 ≈ 17.7%

The provenance has not been adequately clarified for the period 1933–1945. There are starting points for further research that could enable clarification: 492 ≈ 8.9%

The provenance for the period 1933–1945 is questionable as there are indications that the item was confiscated as a result of Nazi persecution. There is an urgent need for further research into the origin of the item: 101 ≈ 1.8%

The provenance is clearly suspicious for the period 1933–1945: 136 ≈ 2.5%

(c) Klassik Stiftung Weimar