Systematic investigation of the provenance of objects acquired between 1933 and 1945 in today's Oberhausmuseum

The original history of the collection goes back to the founding of the first municipal museum in 1905 by Dr Wolfgang Maria Schmid, who worked at the Bavarian National Museum in Munich (BNM). In 1932, the museum was relocated to Veste Oberhaus, which had been purchased by the city of Passau. The city archivist Prof Dr Max Heuwieser took charge of the museum. On May 20, 1933, it was reopened as the "Ostmark Museum" by the mayors Dr Carl Sittler and Max Moosbauer, in the presence of the Bavarian Minister-President Ludwig Siebert.

Due to political differences of opinion, Heuwieser resigned as director in 1935 and was succeeded by Dr Georg Weinholzer, a medical doctor and city councillor. After his death in 1937, Dr Wolfgang Maria Schmid took over the management of the collection. However, due to differences of opinion, he was replaced in 1939 by Wilhelm Leidl, a city school councillor.

Soon afterwards, parts of the inventory had to be placed in storage due to the bombing of the city. Although they survived, they were exposed to looting by the occupying forces and the local population. From 1946 to 1951, Veste Oberhaus served as an epidemic hospital, during which time the remaining objects were stored in three rooms. It was not until 1952 that the museum was reopened as the "Oberhausmuseum".

The current collection of the Oberhausmuseum is estimated to contain around 30,000 exhibits. The focus is on the cultural and urban history of Passau. Between 1933 and 1945, around 1,400 objects were acquired, and this collection and its composition have not yet been analysed in detail. It consists mainly of paintings and artefacts.

During an initial examination in 2020/21 by the Bavarian State Office for Non-State Museums, 81 objects were identified as being particularly suspect. These include purchases from well-known Munich trading houses such as Adolf Weinmüller and Eugen Brüschwiler, which aroused suspicion due to their documented involvement in Nazi art theft (13 objects). These objects will be analysed in the first phase of the project.

In a second phase, in order to analyse the collection’s holdings from 1933 to 1945 in more detail, the inventory books in which the 1,400 objects mentioned above are recorded will be systematically revised in order to narrow down and further differentiate the holdings.

A third area of work is the so-called CCP collection. In 1946, a collection of graphic works and a few paintings marked "Property of the Lord Mayor of the City of Passau" and "Restoration Department Ostmarkmuseum Oberhaus" was confiscated by the Central Collecting Point (CCP) in Munich and transferred there. In January 1958, the objects were returned to Passau and deposited in the Oberhausmuseum. The aim here is to clarify the precise origin of the collection, which is thought to have come from France and the Netherlands, and to establish why it ended up in Passau.

The final phase will be to analyse the decision-making processes and procedures involved in the acquisition, and to identify the actors involved and their socio-political motives.

© Oberhausmuseum Passau