Links

The following list of links is designed to serve as an auxiliary resource for provenance research.

 

Switzerland

Independent Commission of Experts Switzerland – Second World War (ICE)

Independent Commission of Experts Switzerland – Second World War (ICE)
An expert committee acting on the mandate of the Swiss Federal Parliament which looked into the question of cultural assets reaching Switzerland around the time of the Second World War.

Swiss Federal Archives (SFA)

Swiss Federal Archives (SFA)
Custodian of records and documents of the Swiss Confederation having archival value.

Classified Compilation of Swiss Federal Law (CC)

Classified Compilation of Swiss Federal Law (CC)
A collection of valid decrees, international treaties and resolutions, agreements between the federal government and the cantons and the constitutions of the Swiss cantons.

Schweizerischer Arbeitskreis Provenienzforschung

Verein von Wissenschaftlerinnen und Wissenschaftlern, die in der Provenienzforschung in der Schweiz oder mit Bezug zur Schweiz tätig sind.
Ziele des Vereins sind die Einbindung der Provenienzforschung in die Museumspolitik und die Sensibilisierung der Öffentlichkeit, der Gedächtnisinstitutionen und des Kunstmarkts für diese Thematik.

International conferences and agreements

Washington Conference Principles on Nazi-Confiscated Art, 1998 (PDF, 12 kB, 31.12.2010)Federal Office of Culture FOC. Contact Bureau on Looted Art
International agreement emanating from the Washington Conference on Holocaust-Era Assets of 1998.
Swiss involvement: the Swiss Confederation was among the countries adopting agreement.

Resolution 1205 of the Council of Europe, 1999

Council of Europe
This Resolution of the Council of Europe dated 5 November 1999 relates to the restitution of stolen Jewish cultural assets.

Declaration of Vilnius, 2000

Vilnius Forum Declaration 5 October 2000
International agreement emanating from the Conference of Vilnius of 2000 relating to looted art from the time of German National Socialism.
Swiss involvement: the Swiss Confederation was among the countries adopting agreement, which reasserts the importance of the Washington Principles.

Declaration of Terezin, 2009 (PDF, 238 kB, 28.02.2022)Holocaust Era Assets Conference June 26-30, 2009, Praha
International agreement emanating from the Conference of Prague of 2009 with reference to themes connected with the Holocaust (“Holocaust Era Assets Conference”). In relation to the issue of Nazi-looted art, the agreement calls for implementation of the Washington Principles.
Swiss involvement: the Swiss Confederation was among the countries adopting this agreement.

Draft UNESCO Declaration of Principles Relating to Cultural Objects Displaced in Connection with the Second World War, 2009

UNESCO
Switzerland took an active part in the drafting of this document, and is committed to the priorities established by the Principles of the Washington Conference of 1998. At the present time, it is for the General Conference of UNESCO to decide on how to proceed further.

Institutions under public law (international institutions)

• Commission pour l'indemnisation des victimes de spoliations intervenues du fait des législations antisémites pendant l'Occupation
  This committee set up by the French Prime Minister looks into the claims of persons who suffered injustice as a result of discrimination and persecution under the Vichy regime and during the German occupation of France.
• Deutsches Zentrum für Kulturgutverluste
  Das von der Bundesregierung, den Ländern und einigen Kommunen gegründete Deutsche Zentrum Kulturgutverluste ist zentraler Ansprechpartner zu Fragen unrechtmässiger Entziehung von Kulturgut in Deutschland im 20 Jahrhundert und stellt die Datenbank «Lost Art» unentgeltlich zur Verfügung.
• European Shoah Legacy Institute
  This institute under public law was set up by the Czech government at the Holocaust Era Assets Conference in Prague in 2009, with a view to supporting the implementation of the principles of the Terezin Declaration.
• Holocaust-Era Assets
  Website of the US National Archives and Records Administration, which contains listings of Holocaust-relevant assets.
• Kommission für Provenienzforschung und Kuntstrückgabebeirat, Österreich
  The Austrian Commission for Provenance Research is responsible for systematic provenance research of the federally owned collection holdings. It forwards the results to the Art Restitution Advisory Board, which makes recommendations to the responsible federal ministers regarding possible restitution.
• Restitutiecommissie, Niederlande
  The Advisory Commission for Restitution Claims in the Area of Cultural Property and World War II (in short: Restitution Commission) is an independent body appointed by the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science. It makes recommendations regarding looted property from the National Socialist era.
• Spoliation Advisory Panel
  Reports of the British Department for Culture, Media and Sport in relation to Nazi-looted art in Great Britain since 2001.
• Staatsminister für Kultur und Medien der Deutschen Bundesregierung
  Appointed by the German federal government, the Commissioner for Culture and the Media is responsible for issuing information on the current state of affairs with reference to the restitution of cultural assets sequestrated in connection with Nazi persecution.

University institutes (international)

• 'Degenerate Art' Research Center
  Research centre of the Free University of Berlin, focusing on the methods and effects of Nazi art policy.
• Arbeitsgruppe Sowjetische Kulturgüter
  Working group of the University of Bremen, which spent seven years from 1992 to 1999 systematically researching the fate of Soviet cultural assets misappropriated by German institutions during and after the Second World War.
• Documentation Centre of Property Transfers of Cultural Assets of WW II. Victims
  A division of the Czech Academy of Sciences for the evaluation of historic and economic issues associated with Jewish property misappropriated in the Nazi persecution.

Private institutions and organizations (international)

• American Society of International Law / Cultural Heritage and the Arts
  Die American Society of International Law bietet eine Plattform für Praktiker, Regierungs- und Museumsvertreter, Forscher und Studenten, welche sich für den internationalen Kulturgüterschutz und das Kunstrecht interessieren.
• Commission for Art Recovery
  La Commission for Art Recovery, affiliée au Congrès juif mondial, cherche à rendre justice aux victimes de l’Holocauste en matière de restitution de l’art spolié par les nazis en promouvant l’application du droit international, qui qualifie de crime contre l’humanité le vol de biens culturels pendant l’Holocauste.
• Commission for Looted Art in Europe (CLAE)
  International non-governmental organization concerned with the problems of Nazi-looted art and offering institutions and individuals assistance in connection with research into and the identification and restitution of stolen cultural assets.
• Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany (Claims Conference)
  Association of Jewish organizations which represents the indemnification claims of Jewish individuals and institutions that have been the victims of National Socialism and the Holocaust.
• Holocaust Art Restitution Project
  Das 1997 in Washington gegründete Holocaust Art Restitution Project hat den Zweck, sowohl den jüdischen Kulturgutverlust durch die Nazis und ihre Verbündeten zwischen 1933 und 1945 zu dokumentieren, als auch Provenienzforschung hinsichtlich des NS-Raubguts zu unterstützen.
• ICOM Recommendations concerning the Return of Works of Art Belonging to Jewish Owners, 1999
  Recommendations of the Executive Council of the International Council of Museums (ICOM) of 14 January 1999 relating to the restitution of Jewish works of art.
• ICOM Spoliation of Jewish Cultural Property
  A compilation of sources by the UNESCO-ICOM Information Centre related to the issue of Nazi-looted art during the Second World War.
• Verein Arbeitskreis Provenienzforschung
  Der Verein Arbeitskreis Provenienzforschung fördert die Entwicklung der Provenienzforschung in allen ihren Tätigkeitsfeldern und in ihrem interdisziplinären Kontext. Der Verein ist international tätig.

The above list is not exhaustive. [e-mail] may be notified of any relevant website that has not been included. The Federal Office of Culture FOC offers no warranty in respect of the content of the web pages listed here.

Last modification 17.07.2018