Group photo of the participants of a workshop

Centrum für Religionswissenschaftliche Studien (CERES) of the Ruhr-Universität Bochum

Colonial contexts

Dialogue on missionary collections

Researchers formulate key observations.

15. July 2025

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German Lost Art Foundation

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39112 Magdeburg
Germany
Phone:  +49 (0) 391 727 763 0
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German Lost Art Foundation Berlin Branch Office

Seydelstr. 18
10117 Berlin
Germany
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) 30 2338493 85
E-mail: helpdesk@kulturgutverluste.de

Representatives of holding institutions (both Catholic and Protestant), church umbrella organisations, academic institutes, museums and publicly funded organisations came together for a multi-day workshop entitled Missionssammlungen: Ein Dialog zwischen Missionsgesellschaften, Orden und Forschungseinrichtungen [Missionary collections: A dialogue between missionary societies, religious orders and research institutions.]

Hosted at the Centre for Religious Studies (CERES) at Ruhr University Bochum, participants discussed the possibilities and challenges of researching missionary collections.

Inspired by the specialist group “Missionary Collections” of the working group on colonial provenances run by the Research Association for Provenance Research and the CERES, and supported by the Fritz Thyssen Foundation, participants expressed observations that they regard as being key to future engagement with missionary collections.

They are summarised here: https://ceres.rub.de/de/aktuelles/dialog-uber-missionssammlungen-schafft-neue-perspektiven/

Dialogue on missionary collections

Contact

Do you have any questions?

German Lost Art Foundation

German Lost Art Foundation Berlin Branch Office