New acquisition at the Ludwig Roselius Museum

Following extensive provenance research and restitution, the painting "Aufbruch der Heiligen Ursula" [Departure of St. Ursula] will now remain in Bremen.

22. June 2026

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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
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

The Ludwig Roselius Museum in Bremen has purchased the painting "Aufbruch der Heiligen Ursula" [Departure of St. Ursula] (anonymous, c. 1520, oil tempera on oak), with the support of the Cultural Foundation of the German Federal States, the City of Bremen and a private donor.

The painting has been held by the Ludwig Roselius Museum for 90 years, but for a long time its provenance remained unclear. It was only through the research project „Rekonstruktion der privaten Kunstsammlung von Jacques, Emma und Erwin Rosenthal“ [Reconstruction of the Private Art Collection of Jacques, Emma and Erwin Rosenthal] at the Zentralinstitut für Kunstgeschichte in Munich, funded by the German Lost Art Foundation, that it was established that the Rosenthal family had lost the painting as a result of Nazi persecution. The painting was restituted to the descendants of Jacques, Emma and Erwin Rosenthal in 2024.

The family welcomed the prospect of the painting remaining in the Bremen collection, and its purchase was agreed through a process of constructive dialogue.

A new cabinet display now allows museum visitors to trace the painting’s history – from its creation and its journey into the Rosenthal Collection and, in 1936, the Ludwig Roselius Museum, the provenance research carried out and the resulting restitution, and the successful acquisition process that will ensure the painting remains accessible to the public in the future.

A woman is looking closely at a painting.

Ludwig Roselius Museum | photo: Hannes von der Fecht

Three people standing in front of a painting.

Ludwig Roselius Museum | photo: Hannes von der Fecht

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Julia Rosenthal (a descendant of the family that owned the Rosenthal Collection) looks at the painting of St. Ursula.