Research on stolen and looted property in the library of the Department of German Philology/Stocks from forced sales as a result of persecution in the university libraries of the Department of German Philology, Scandinavian Department, Linguistics, Medieval and Modern History

Stolen and looted literature means books that were seized in the course of confiscations from banned and dissolved organizations and also during the dispossession of emigrants and deported Jewish citizens by organs of the NSDAP and the state. It also means books looted from the occupied territories during the Second World War. Large sections of these book stocks were destroyed, but others can still be found today in academic libraries. The tracing and restitution of these stocks is recognized as an important area of research, to which this project is dedicated.
One of the starting points of the research initiative was the evidence of books stolen and looted by the National Socialists in the period 1933–1945, which came to light during preparations for the exhibition entitled “... und euch zum Trotz” at the Old Town Hall in May 2008. This prompted the Niedersächsische Staats- und Universitätsbibliothek to launch a comprehensive research project aimed at tracing and restituting literature that had been unlawfully acquired during the National Socialist era.
In close cooperation with this, the project in the Department of German Philology is exploring the extent to which unlawfully acquired stolen and looted literature can also be identified in the libraries of the Department of German Philology and the Scandinavian Department.
After a year of investigations, the research project began its work on June 15, 2009 under the direction of Prof. Frank Möbus. One of its aims is to document the findings of the provenance research in the libraries’ online catalogs and the international Lost Art Database so that, ultimately, it will be possible for stolen or looted books to be restituted. Accompanying publications, courses and a symposium are also planned.
The project was funded in 2009/10 by the Bureau for Provenance Research at the Institute for Museum Research of the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin—Stiftung Preußischer Kulturbesitz from the budget of the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media. It received around € 67,000 for a period of one year. The Stiftung Niedersachsen supported the project with a financial contribution of € 10,000; the Faculty of Humanities provided generous funds for the employment of student assistants.
In summer 2010, the project was extended thanks to extensive support from the Bureau for Provenance Research, initially until mid-2011. This was also because the results from the first research year had sometimes far-reaching consequences for other departmental libraries—and not only in Göttingen.
Currently, the work is being expanded to include the Seminar for Linguistics.
The file “Zum Stand der Dinge” (Where Matters Stand) provides information on present results.

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