Museums, libraries and archives can now apply for funding for provenance research and investigation
Press release from 07/14/2008
Public museums, libraries and archives in Germany can now submit applications to the Provenance Research Centre to support provenance research projects. Funding totalling one million euros is available annually from the budget of the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media for this purpose.
Funding is available for both individual research projects and the systematic investigation of collections in order to verify the provenance of art and cultural assets - particularly in the context of seizure due to persecution during the National Socialist era. Furthermore, grants can be awarded for legal opinions or for the legal processing of individual cases.
The funding guidelines and application forms are available on the web portals of the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation and the National Museums in Berlin.
The provisions for the application procedures, the awarding guidelines and the principles of approval were adopted by the Advisory Board of the Office for Provenance Research at the Institute for Museum Research of the National Museums in Berlin at its constituent meeting on 7 July 2008.
The members of the Advisory Board were appointed for a period of three years by the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media in agreement with the Secretary General of the Cultural Foundation of the Federal States and the President of the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation. Prof. Dr Uwe M. Schneede, former Director of the Hamburger Kunsthalle, was elected Chairman of the Advisory Board. Dr Ingeborg Berggreen-Merkel, Head of Department at the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media (BKM), will serve as Deputy Chair.
The Advisory Board has the task of advising the Centre for Provenance Research on fundamental technical and interdisciplinary issues and, in particular, on the planning of the work programme and the design of the award guidelines. The Advisory Board also decides on the applications submitted for funding for provenance research projects.
The establishment of the Office for Provenance Research was the result of the final consultation of the working group on restitution issues set up by the Minister of State for Culture Bernd Neumann on 13 November 2007. The Office for Provenance Research is funded by the Cultural Foundation of the Federal States.
Contact:
Office for Provenance Research at the Institute for Museum Research of the National Museums in Berlin
Dr Uwe Hartmann
Bodestraße 1-3
10178 Berlin
Tel.: 030-2090 6211
Fax: 030-2090 6216
E-mail