The works from Hermann Göring’s art collection at the Bayerisches Nationalmuseum in Munich

Since April 2015, research has concentrated on the 92 inventory numbers (including sub-numbers) that are to be allocated to the metal art category. These are from Hermann Göring’s art collection and were transferred to the Bayerisches Nationalmuseum by the state of Bavaria between 1965 and 1976. Multiple objects can be combined into work groups or ensembles for which a common origin is assumed (subject to individual examination), thus giving a total of 53 individual objects or object ensembles. Even though here too, as for the sculptures, it is possible to link to preliminary work by the Central Collecting Point and the Treuhandverwaltung Kulturgut (Trust Administration for Cultural Goods, TVK), which is available in the online databases of the Deutsches Historisches Museum, the origin of the objects from the metal art category is much more difficult to determine due to the poorer state of publications with missing illustrations, e.g. in auction catalogs, and because of the existence of a number of very similar pieces. Unlike the paintings, the sculptures that were formerly owned by Hermann Göring had been furnished with comparatively few details on their origin by the CCP and TVK. In the CCP’s card indexes, for example, there are just six objects with information on previous owners or acquisition processes, which remain contradictory. It also became clear during the investigation of the objects that there are hardly any former owner notes, inscriptions or labels with numbers left on the objects today. Consequently, for the research, the silver hallmarks are mainly used as the primary source and compared with the historical brand literature. The researcher has also embarked on a search for more documents on the Göring collection. The work carried out so far in terms of researching the metal objects from the Göring collection shows that each object requires its own approach towards determining or reconstructing its provenance.

The results of the work will be summarized and published on the website of the Bayerisches Nationalmuseum and in the Lost Art Database, as has already been done for the sculpture project. The plan is also to publish them as a book.

© Bayerisches Nationalmuseum, Munich