Hermann Parzinger welcomes the increased number of research projects on provenance research and investigation
Press release from 04/22/2009
Yesterday, the Advisory Board of the Provenance Research Centre at the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation decided for the second time on applications for funding for long-term provenance research projects.
Hermann Parzinger, President of the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation, said: "It is an encouraging sign that more and more institutions that preserve cultural property are taking advantage of the support offered by the Centre - not only museums, but also libraries and archives. It shows that we are on the right track in promoting provenance research in Germany. In this way, the moral stance of the institutions can be strengthened. Because only when they know the provenance of their collection objects are they in a position to clarify restitution issues and arrive at fair and just solutions in line with the Washington Principles. I would like to thank the Advisory Board for its constructive work and the Federal Government and the Kulturstiftung der Länder for their funding."
The following 17 institutions will receive funding from the fund provided by the federal government:
- Ehm Welk- und Heimatmuseum Angermünde
- Augsburg Art Collections and Museums
- German Historical Museum Berlin
- Berlin Central and State Library
- K 20K21 Art Collection North Rhine-Westphalia Düsseldorf
- Museum Folkwang Essen and Museum of Art and Cultural History Dortmund
- Lower Saxony State and University Library Göttingen
- Seminar for German Philology at Georg August University Göttingen
- Hamburg State and University Library
- Jüterbog Monastery Museum
- Karlsruhe State Art Gallery
- University Library of the University of Leipzig
- German Art Archive in the Germanic National Museum Nuremberg
- Hegau Museum Singen
- Stuttgart State Gallery and Württemberg State Museum Stuttgart
- Klassik Stiftung Weimar, Duchess Anna Amalia Library Weimar
- Museum Wiesbaden
The approved projects relate both to the clarification of the provenance of individual objects and specific collection holdings and to the cataloguing of resources in archives and estates, which will be of great benefit for further provenance research at public museums and libraries. The decision on seven applications was postponed until further details on the research projects can be provided. Three applications could not be approved because the projects applied for did not fully meet the content requirements of the funding guidelines.
For 10 years, the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation has been committed to fair and just solutions in cases of cultural property that was seized from its Jewish owners during the National Socialist era as a result of persecution, in accordance with the Washington Principles of 1998. Since 1999, the President of the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation has been authorised to negotiate amicable solutions directly with the legal successors of Jewish owners. Since then, the Foundation has decided on 29 restitution requests. 22 of these restitution requests have been granted and further cases are currently being processed. In addition, the Foundation's collection holdings are being systematically and scientifically researched further with regard to their provenance and the results of this research are being made public.