Germany tracing artwork and its Nazi past
This industrial southwestern city is often considered the heart of German engineering and entrepreneurial spirit. Rebuilt after the Allied bombing raids in 1945, it reflects the Swabian spirit, known to this day as one of hard work, thrift and industriousness.
But there is another aspect to this almost ascetic region of Germany. Stuttgart has a spectacular art museum, with a wonderful 20th-century collection. Paintings by the German modernists are here, including Franz Marc's "Kleine blaue Pferde" and Lyonel Feininger's "Barfüsserkirche."
These two paintings, however, are just some of the tens of thousands of art works in the country's museums that have become caught up in the seemingly never-ending consequences of Germany's Nazi past. Big galleries and museums are being inundated with claims by lawyers representing the descendants of persecuted and murdered German Jews.
The lawyers claim that art owned by Jews had been seized or sold under duress before 1945. After the war, many of these paintings resurfaced in auction rooms, private collections or museums. Sixty years on, critics say that German museums have been extremely reluctant to give back art acquired under dubious circumstances.
The issue has become deeply emotional among museum directors, lawyers and the descendants of Jews because it captures the difficulties in dealing with what was until recently a little known - or, at least, little discussed - aspect of Germany's past...
Read entire article at International Herald Tribune
But there is another aspect to this almost ascetic region of Germany. Stuttgart has a spectacular art museum, with a wonderful 20th-century collection. Paintings by the German modernists are here, including Franz Marc's "Kleine blaue Pferde" and Lyonel Feininger's "Barfüsserkirche."
These two paintings, however, are just some of the tens of thousands of art works in the country's museums that have become caught up in the seemingly never-ending consequences of Germany's Nazi past. Big galleries and museums are being inundated with claims by lawyers representing the descendants of persecuted and murdered German Jews.
The lawyers claim that art owned by Jews had been seized or sold under duress before 1945. After the war, many of these paintings resurfaced in auction rooms, private collections or museums. Sixty years on, critics say that German museums have been extremely reluctant to give back art acquired under dubious circumstances.
The issue has become deeply emotional among museum directors, lawyers and the descendants of Jews because it captures the difficulties in dealing with what was until recently a little known - or, at least, little discussed - aspect of Germany's past...