Empty picture frames as a call for the return of paintings from the West Berlin Gemäldegalerie in Berlin-Dahlem which were previously stored at the Central Collecting Point Wiesbaden, 1953-1955

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Materials

We provide information about exhibitions on cultural property displaced as a result of war, details of publications produced by the former Koordinierungsstelle (Coordination Office) and explanatory videos.

Contact

Do you have any questions?

Do feel free to get in touch with us directly – whether at the Foundation’s headquarters in Magdeburg or at our branch office in Berlin.
See here for answers to frequently asked questions (FAQ)

German Lost Art Foundation

Humboldtstr. 12
39112 Magdeburg

Germany
Phone:  +49 (0) 391 727 763 0
E-mail:  kontakt@kulturgutverluste.de
Social:

German Lost Art Foundation Berlin Branch Office

Seydelstr. 18
10117 Berlin

Berlin
Phone: +49 (0) 391 727 763 0
E-mail: kontakt@kulturgutverluste.de

The Help Desk offers advice and assistance to victims of the Nazi regime and their descendants on questions relating to Nazi theft of cultural property. Serving as a central and initial low-threshold point of contact in Germany, it is aimed in particular at people whose place of residence is outside Germany and who are unfamiliar with German procedures, especially in connection with cultural federalism. The Help Desk seeks to provide support in taking initial steps as well as providing further contacts and information. We will also be happy to help initiate discussions with museums and other institutions.

German Lost Art Foundation, Branch Office
Dr. Susanne Meyer-Abich
Head of Help Desk

Seydelstr. 18
10117 Berlin

Germany
Phone: +49 (0) 391 727 763 0
E-mail: helpdesk@kulturgutverluste.de

Exhibitions on the Subject of Wartime Losses

Since the end of the Second World War, museums have repeatedly put on exhibitions to address the issue of cultural goods displaced as a result of war. In some cases, striking methods have been used to highlight the problem: “shadow galleries” have been created with black-and-white reproductions being deployed as substitutes for works of art that are no longer present, for example. Missing items are often symbolically represented by empty picture frames, likewise conveying insight into contemporary history, or objects might demonstrate the consequences of the Second World War in that they bear burn marks. By the same token, stories of successful restitutions are revealing in terms of the history of individual institutions while at the same time providing insight into broader cultural and political processes.

Since 2018, the German Lost Art Foundation has compiled online documentation of exhibition projects that come to its attention. We are happy to receive reports of exhibitions and corrections!

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Staatliche Museen zu Berlin

Maria Obenaus

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Empty picture frames as a call for the return of paintings from the West Berlin Gemäldegalerie in Berlin-Dahlem which were previously stored at the Central Collecting Point Wiesbaden, 1953-1955

Overview of Exhibitions

Here you will find a list of exhibitions that have come to the attention of the Foundation that relate to the subject of cultural property losses in the various historical contexts.

Find out more

Remains of a canvas and frame in the exhibition “In:complete. Zerstört, zerteilt, ergänzt“ (“In:complete. Destroyed, fragmented, complemented”) at the National Museums in Berlin, Kunstbibliothek

Maria Obenaus

Explanatory Films

In order to support the educational work of cultural heritage institutions, the German Lost Art Foundation creates short, animated explanatory films which are available for use free of charge. They answer the questions: “What is provenance research?”, “What are just and fair solutions?” and “What is the Lost Art Database?”, and they can be integrated in multimedia guides, media stations and on websites, for example.

The explanatory films are published under the Creative Commons licence CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 (Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International). The German-language videos are also available with English subtitles.