Provenance research on three paintings from the Karl-Haberstock-Stiftung

In February 2009, approval was granted for a short-term project that had been proposed by the Kunstsammlungen und Museen in December 2008. The project received 14,525 euros in funding from the Bureau for Provenance Research and ran from January to March 2009. It aimed to carry out a detailed investigation into three paintings from the Karl und Magdalene Haberstock-Stiftung in Augsburg which were subject to restitution demands. The preliminary findings of the investigation into the provenance of the paintings concerned, which were published in November 2008 in Karl Haberstock. Umstrittener Kunsthändler und Mäzen, were supplemented with additional information which was required due to the pending restitution demands and requests. Attempts were also made to close existing provenance gaps as far as possible within the scope of the project. For this purpose, acquisition documents relating to the objects and correspondence in the Haberstock archive in Augsburg were re-examined. In addition, the relevant case files were inspected, including those at the Federal Office for Central Services and Unresolved Property Issues (BADV) in Berlin. Further investigations were also carried out in the archive of the Städelmuseum in Frankfurt am Main.

For two of the three restitution demands, these further investigations ultimately proved that there was no legitimate restitution claim. Research on the third object could not be completed in full during the funding period.