New Working Paper published

The German Lost Art Foundation has released an English-language Working Paper on missionary societies and religious orders in German colonies and their role in ethnographic collecting.

25. June 2025

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German Lost Art Foundation

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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 ninth volume in the Foundation’s online series Working Papers has been published in the field of “Cultural Goods and Collections from Colonial Contexts” entitled Missionary Societies and Religious Orders in German Colonies and Their Contribution to Ethnographic Collections.

In this paper, Jan Hüsgen examines the complex interconnections between Christian mission and the acquisition of collections during the period of German colonial rule. Often underestimated in provenance research, missionary actors played a significant role in the transfer of artefacts to European museum collections – not only as intermediaries, but as influential agents in processes of transcultural translation and the appropriation of cultural objects and religious artefacts.

Responding to current research needs regarding acquisitions for missionary and ethnological collections, the paper offers an overview of the various missionary societies and religious orders active in former German colonial territories in Africa, Oceania and Asia, outlining their structures, networks, motivations and legacies.

Jan Hüsgen: „Missionary Societies and Religious Orders in German Colonies and Their Contribution to Ethnographic Collections“: https://doi.org/10.25360/01-2025-00046

The Working Paper will be presented at a Kolloquium Provenienzforschung event organised by the German Lost Art Foundation to be held at 6:00 p.m. on Monday, 14 July 2025. Dr. Jan Hüsgen will discuss missionary societies and their collecting practices with Dr. Ohiniko Mawussé Toffa (Central Archive of the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin). The evening will be moderated by Isabella Bozsa (Museum der Kulturen Basel, MKB).

Registration: https://kulturgutverluste.de/meldungen/kolloquium-provenienzforschung-latest-working-paper