2023-07-21 07:35:57
During their rule, the Nazis snatched art from Jews. A private collector found out at a show in Baden-Baden that one of his paintings was appearing there.
Karlsruhe.
The Federal Court of Justice (BGH) wants to announce its decision today as to whether an entry in a database for potential Nazi loot and an Interpol search are flaws in a work of art. An art collector has complained through the authorities because he sees his property as being impaired.
As part of an exhibition in Baden-Baden, he found out that the “Calabrian Coast” by the painter Andreas Achenbach (1815-1910) from his possession appeared in the so-called Lost Art database. The criminal police organization Interpol was also looking for it. The painting used to belong to the Jewish art dealer Max Stern, who was banned from working by the Nazis and sold the painting.
Database helps to find lost works
The German Lost Art Foundation based in Magdeburg operates the database that documents cultural assets that were confiscated from Jewish owners in particular under the Nazis – or for which such a loss cannot be ruled out. According to the information, previous owners or their heirs should be brought together with current owners and supported in finding a just and fair solution about the whereabouts of the works.
It was similar in this case: Stern had emigrated to Canada at the time. A Canadian trust manages his estate. The trustees published a search notice for the picture on the Lost Art database website. It has been listed there since June 29, 2016. The entry reads: “Circumstance of loss reported as cultural property confiscated as a result of Nazi persecution”.
The plaintiff does not want his property to be further criticized because Stern may have sold the painting under Nazi persecution pressure. He had acquired the picture at an auction in London in 1999. The representative of the trustees also declared at the hearing in Karlsruhe at the end of May that he was the legal owner under German law.
“Calabrian Coast” difficult to sell
“We can definitely see here that the plaintiff is in an awkward position,” said the presiding judge, Bettina Brückner, at the time. The “Calabrian Coast” should be so difficult to sell. However, the plaintiff failed in the lower courts.
Representing the plaintiff, attorney Wendt Nassall at the BGH said that publication in the database required the reporter’s consent – so he could also have the entry withdrawn. Because the German Lost Art Foundation is not a party to the specific dispute, it did not comment on it. A spokeswoman said it was not the first procedure for database entries.
From the point of view of the trustees’ lawyer, Siegfried Mennemeyer, the register is there to record historical facts. This would have delivered his clients. “We did no more and no less.” In Germany, pictures listed in the database were resold quite lucratively. However, he admitted that things could be different overseas. In order to delete the entry, the plaintiff had to contact the operator of the database. (dpa)
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