No recommendation on the Guelph treasure yet
Press release from 01/15/2014
The Advisory Commission, which is chaired by Prof Dr Jutta Limbach and deals with issues relating to the restitution of cultural assets seized as a result of Nazi persecution, today discussed the application for the return of the so-called Guelph Treasure and heard the parties involved. She has now informed the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation that she will make a recommendation in the coming weeks.
Hermann Parzinger, President of the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation, commented: "I was able to present our arguments and point of view in a friendly and constructive atmosphere. We naturally hope that the Advisory Commission will soon make a recommendation. However, given the particularities and complexity of this case, it is understandable that this must be carefully considered and justified."
42 objects from the so-called Guelph Treasure in the Berlin Museum of Decorative Arts have been the subject of a restitution request since April 2008. The Stiftung Preussischer Kulturbesitz (Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation) has intensively analysed the circumstances of their acquisition and compiled numerous facts in extensive scientific research. As a result, it came to the conclusion that the conditions for restitution in accordance with the Washington Principles were not met.
This assessment, made with the necessary moral and historical sensitivity, reflects the circumstances of a rare individual case: even though the acquisition of the Guelph Treasure took place after 30 January 1933 and the persons from whom the applicants derive their claim belonged to a group of people persecuted by the Nazi regime, the Foundation does not believe that this sale should be classified as a sale due to Nazi persecution. This is supported by a number of historical facts:
- The purchase price paid was within the bounds of what was usual and achievable on the very tight art market at the time.
- The sellers received the agreed purchase price at their free disposal.
- In addition, the Guelph Treasure had been located outside Germany since 1930 and was beyond the reach of the German state at the time of the sale.
- Although the whereabouts of the treasure have been known since 1945, no restitution claims were filed until 2008, nor were any compensation or restitution payments for the sale asserted or claimed.
In contrast to the approximately 50 restitution requests that the Foundation has decided on since 1999 on the basis of the Washington Principles, the Joint Declaration and the Handbook, no agreement was reached with the claimants in this case. As a result, the SPK did not refuse the other party's request to submit the case to the Advisory Commission. To date, this is the only one of the Foundation's numerous restitution cases in which it has taken this route.
The Guelph Treasure
The Guelph Treasure was collected for Brunswick Cathedral over several centuries. It came into the possession of the House of Guelph in 1671, which sold the treasure, consisting of 82 objects at the time, to a consortium of dealers in 1929. In June 1935, the Prussian state acquired 42 works from this consortium via the Dresdner Bank for the Schlossmuseum, now the Kunstgewerbemuseum of the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin. It is currently on display in the Bode Museum. The part of the Guelph Treasure preserved in the Museum of Decorative Arts today comprises 44 works of treasury art from the 11th to the 15th century. This makes it the largest German church treasure owned by a public art collection.
How the Foundation deals with restitution requests
Since the 1990s, the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation has been actively and responsibly involved in the search for cultural property seized as a result of Nazi persecution. The guidelines of the "Washington Principles", which were transferred to the circumstances of the Federal Republic of Germany by the federal government, the federal states and the leading municipal organisations in a "Joint Declaration" and a "Handout", have always been the unalterable guideline for the Foundation's actions. They are the indispensable basis for dealing with the injustice left behind by National Socialism, including in the field of art and collecting, and for making amends where possible.