5th International Conference Provenance Research Technical Cultural Assets
Contact
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German Lost Art Foundation
Humboldtstr. 12
39112 Magdeburg
Germany
Phone: +49 (0) 391 727 763 0
E-mail: kontakt@kulturgutverluste.de
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German Lost Art Foundation Berlin Branch Office
Join the 5th International Conference Provenance Research Technical Cultural Assets of the Deutsches Optisches Museum Jena from October 14 to 16, 2026. Current findings, research, and issues in provenance research on historical scientific instruments and time measuring devices will be presented and discussed during the event. As coveted objects of collecting and trade, these items circulated on the international art market and, as high-value historical artifacts, were repeatedly linked to various cases of unjust and often violent dispossession of cultural property.
A particular focus of the event will therefore be on research cases dealing with contexts of violence, dispossession, and collection associated with European colonialism; contexts of Nazi injustice; contexts of war and relocation; or the dispossession of cultural property in Germany’s Soviet Occupation Zone and the German Democratic Republic (GDR). Knowledge about significant manufacturers and the relevance of these objects as evidence of intercultural knowledge transfer will also be discussed.
You can look forward to listening to speakers from Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Italy, Poland, Latvia, Estonia, the United Kingdom, the United States and Taiwan, and gain exciting insights and new perspectives.
You can find information about the event and the programme here: https://deutsches-optisches-museum.de/neuigkeiten/save-the-date-5-fachtagung-provenienzforschung-technisches-kulturgut-in-jena
Registration is open until 9 October 2026 via the organisers:
Dr. Sören Groß, e-mail: soeren.gross@deutsches-optisches-museum.de
Dr. des. Ron Hellfritzsch, e-mail: ron.hellfritzsch@deutsches-optisches-museum.de
You may also wish to read the third volume in the „Technisches Kulturgut“ [‘Technical Cultural Heritage’] series: Volume 3, „Gerechte und faire Lösungen. Umgang mit Unrechtskontexten“ [‘Just and Fair Solutions: Dealing with Contexts of Injustice’]: https://deutsches-optisches-museum.de/neuigkeiten/sammelband-3-gerechte-und-faire-loesungen-umgang-mit-unrechtskontexten-jetzt-erhaeltlich