Basic research in the “works of art” collection category

The Museum im Mönchenkloster (museum in the monastery) has existed since 2005. It had two predecessor institutions. The museum has also undergone three complete relocations of stock since the 1990s.

The reorganization of the holdings inevitably led to recurring questions about the actual origin of parts of the stock. This included furniture, framed artworks, bronze sculptures and individual pieces of Asian art. Many of these items clearly had no regional connection, were old stock or sometimes had no inventory number. With regard to the process of transferring handwritten inventory books to computerongoing since 1996the idea at the beginning was just to clarify the consignment arrangements and link existing written documents with objects. There was also the question of when and why these pieces had ended up in the Jüterbog museum. There were items that had been relocated to Jüterbog from nearby museums, and also the non-inventoried existence of goods as, for example, office furniture. Following the call for provenance research, we were certain we wanted to get involved.

Following the approval of a six-month contract, initial research was begun in 2009 to examine 10 oil paintings, 15 items of period furniture, two bronze sculptures and a Burmese bronze drum. This research was undertaken by Dr. Ulrike Kersting. The contexts from which the objects concerned came were not clear (confiscation of Jewish property, war, relocation in the post-war era, defection to the West, etc.).

Ultimately, however, it was not possible to determine a clear provenance for any of the important pieces. The few sources available were too general; there was no evidence for too many objects. A few pieces were able to be returned to the nearby Museum Luckenwalde.

Nevertheless, the work proved to be successful for our museum because it enabled us to obtain a great deal of background knowledge on individual objects. In addition, an important part of the collection has been made more transparent.

(c) Museum im Mönchskloster Jüterbog