Provenance Research in the Museum Schloss Moritzburg Zeitz in the Graphic Arts Collection

The Museum Schloss Moritzburg Zeitz is located in the former residence of the dukes of Saxony-Zeitz. The museum in the baroque castle ensemble was founded in 1931 and comprises 250,000 objects. The diverse collection is based on the history and antiquities society of Zeitz and the surrounding area, which was founded in 1887. A part of the collections is presented in different permanent exhibitions. A highlight is the German Pram Museum with almost 1,000 exhibits it offers a look at more than 100 years of industrial history.

The aim of the research project is to systematically research the provenance of specific works of art and to identify cultural property seized as a result of Nazi persecution. The project, which is scheduled to run for two years, follows on from the first round of First Checks by the Museumsverband Sachsen-Anhalt e. V., which was funded by the German Lost Art Foundation.

The review focuses on prints acquired by the museum in the 1950s. During his term of office from 1947 to 1958, the museum director Ernst Johannes Günther established a graphic collection and opened a "Graphisches Kabinett" in the museum in 1954. In the GDR era, the museum thus pursued the purpose of educating art enthusiasts on site and supporting amateur circles. Of today's total holdings of approximately 4000 prints, 414 prints, lithographs, copperplate engravings and woodcuts by high-ranking, well-known artists such as Lovis Corinth, Käthe Kollwitz and Lucas van Leyden, dating from the 15th century to 1945, are being examined. The works were acquired from 1951-1958 by the galleries Eduard Henning (Halle/Saale), Reinhard Puppel (Quedlinburg) and Ruth Wäscher (Halle/Saale). These art shops raise questions regarding the sources of supply of the works they offer. If research indicates that a work in the print collection has been seized as a result of persecution, it will be reported to the Lost Art database and fair and equitable solutions will be sought with the rightful owners.

(c) Museum Schloss Moritzburg Zeitz