A sum of approximately 2.33 million euros for provenance research into “colonial contexts”

In 2024 the German Lost Art Foundation approved funding of some 2.33 million euros for provenance research projects on the subject of cultural goods and collections from colonial contexts. The funding goes to 17 projects being carried out at museums, universities and other institutions that are looking into the origin of cultural artefacts and human remains in their collections that were obtained in former colonies.

The University of Kassel has launched a project on a subject that has hardly been touched on to date, for example: it is looking into the colonial hunting trophies that are still to be found in storage in the depots of numerous German institutions – and bear witness to the exploitation of people and the natural environment in the colonised countries. But how was hunting actually organised in the colonies, and what impact did it have on indigenous communities? How were the hunted animals brought to Europe, and how are we to handle them today? The project is investigating the origin of these hunting trophies in selected German collections, and in collaboration with academic experts from several African countries the aim is to encourage people to engage with the problematic history of “animal remains”.

At first glance, the subject of a joint research project coordinated by the Lower Saxony and Bremen museum association Museumsverband Niedersachsen und Bremen e.V. (MVNB) also seems unusual: it is exploring the origins of the surprisingly large number of cultural artefacts and human remains from Indonesia that are to be found in the eight participating museums and collections in Lower Saxony. In collaboration with experts from Indonesia and the Netherlands, the project explores the question of how so many items from Dutch colonial territories found their way to Germany and who was responsible – also showing that colonial collecting has to be viewed in a global context.

Violence in German colonies is the subject of a project at Berlin Institute of Technology: a comprehensive overview of the military expeditions in the former colonies of “German East Africa” and “German Togoland” is being compiled, with comparisons being drawn up with museum collections and archives so as to identify items of forcibly looted property. The aim is also to enable academic experts in Togo, Ghana, Tanzania, Rwanda and Burundi to locate relevant objects in German institutions.

The German Lost Art Foundation in Magdeburg, founded on 1 January 2015 by the Federal Government, the German federal states and the leading municipal associations, is the central point of contact in Germany for questions concerning unlawfully seized cultural property. The Foundation receives institutional funding from the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media; this is also the source of funding for its projects. The Foundation’s main focus is on cultural property seized under National Socialism as a result of persecution, especially Jewish property. In addition, it is possible to apply for funding for projects that deal with cultural goods and collections from colonial contexts. To date, a total of around 11.8 million euros has been approved for 84 projects in this area.

New proposals for longer-term projects can be submitted by 1 April and 1 October of each year; proposals for short-term projects can be submitted at any time. Applications for the extension of long-term projects are not subject to a fixed deadline, but they should be submitted to the Foundation at least three months before the project is due to be completed. All institutions in Germany under public law that collect, preserve or research collections from colonial contexts are eligible to apply. This includes museums, universities and other research institutions. Since 1 January 2021, proposals have also been accepted from institutions that are recognised as non-profit organisations and have their registered office in Germany.