National research project ILLICID aims to investigate illegal trade in cultural property in Germany
Press release from 03/04/2015
The illegal trade in cultural property in Germany is the focus of the new ILLICID research project. Over the next three years, this dark field will be analysed in detail. According to international organisations, profits from the illegal trade in cultural goods are an important pillar of organised crime. Germany is currently an important market and transit state in this respect. Until now, it has not been possible to develop effective strategies to combat crime, as there were hardly any reliable figures on the extent of the trade. The ILLICID project ("Methods for illuminating the dark field as a basis for combating and preventing crime using the example of antique cultural artefacts") initiated by the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation (SPK) together with the Fraunhofer Institute for Secure Information Technology (SIT), Darmstadt, and GESIS - Leibniz Institute for the Social Sciences, Mannheim, is now intended to provide a remedy.
In a pilot study, efficient procedures and instruments for collecting, documenting and analysing information on the illegal trade in cultural property in Germany are to be developed and tested. Against the backdrop of recent political developments in Iraq and Syria, the study focuses in particular on the dynamic trade in ancient cultural objects from the eastern Mediterranean region. Prof. Dr Markus Hilgert, Director of the Museum of the Ancient Near East at the National Museums in Berlin - Prussian Cultural Heritage and ILLICID network coordinator, explains: "The project has become even more urgent and important in light of UN Security Council Resolution 2199 of 15 February 2015. As the resolution calls on member states to take measures against the illegal trade in cultural artefacts from Iraq and Syria, it clearly shows how important it is to lay the scientific foundations for such measures in Germany."
In addition to the comprehensive collection of data and the development of methods for dark field research, the project also aims to develop a practical guide with recommendations for action for those involved in the trade in cultural property. Relevant interim results are to be incorporated into the forthcoming amendment of cultural property protection law in Germany, which is currently being prepared by the Minister of State for Culture.
As there is currently a lack of systematic documentation on legally and illegally traded cultural property, a database will also be set up as part of ILLICID in which, for example, suspicious auctions will be stored. In future, investigators will be able to access this source via an app. The project requires a unique multidisciplinary research design that combines scientific expertise from the fields of empirical social science, information science and technology as well as ancient studies. The project coordinator is the ancient Near Eastern scholar Prof Dr Markus Hilgert, Director of the Vorderasiatisches Museum of the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin - Preußischer Kulturbesitz.
The ILLICID project is funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research as part of the "Research for Civil Security II" programme in the "Civil Security - Protection against Organised Crime" thematic area with a total of 1.2 million euros. It is intended to provide more knowledge about the potential and financing of organised criminal groups and to shed light on medium-term threat scenarios. ILLICID aims to develop better instruments and measures to combat and prevent crime. This is associated with a stronger international profile for Germany in the field of cultural property protection and in the fight against the illegal, cross-border trade in cultural property. Associated partners of the project include the Federal Foreign Office, the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media, the Federal Criminal Police Office and the Customs Criminal Police Office in Cologne.
Further information
- Science and research at the SPK
- Protection of archaeological cultural assets at the SPK
- News "Kulturgutschutz aktuell - Broadcast tips" (06.03.2015)
- Press images