“Kompetenznetzwerk Kulturgutschutz in Deutschland - NEXUD” launched to combat illegal trade in cultural property

The network entitled “Kompetenznetzwerk Kulturgutschutz in Deutschland – NEXUD” is now in place to help combat the trade in looted and otherwise illegally imported cultural property. It pools scientific expertise at universities, non-university research institutions and cultural property preservation institutions – giving federal and state authorities systematized access to scientific expertise, in order to identify ancient or archaeological cultural property.

2. August 2021

Contact

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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.
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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

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

In doing so, decisions can be made more quickly on the initiation of investigative proceedings or on the seizure of objects. NEXUD is being implemented by the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media and the Kulturstiftung der Länder, initially with a pilot phase spanning three years.

The illegal trade in cultural assets is a crime, according to Monika Grütters, Minister of State for Culture: “Combating it in day-to-day practice always raises highly complex, interdisciplinary questions for the investigating authorities. Their employees, therefore, need prompt, reliable answers from the scientific community in unclear cases.” NEXUD should also make it easier to implement the Cultural Property Protection Act.

According to Professor Markus Hilgert, Secretary General of the Kulturstiftung der Länder, the identification and classification of those objects concerned requires an extraordinarily broad knowledge from numerous disciplines: “In Germany, we are fortunate to have experts in almost all fields and can, therefore, draw on a wide range of resources. In the NEXUD network, scientists from all disciplines are available to prepare expert reports in standardized procedures.
For more information, visit www.kulturstiftung.de