Debate about Nazi robbery: Bavaria holds back Picasso Bust!

Debate about Nazi robbery: Bavaria holds back Picasso Bust!

Magdeburg, Deutschland - The debate about the return of Nazi robbery is currently concerned with the Bavarian State Painting Collections. In this regard, the Bavarian Ministry of Art reacted to a request from the Greens faction in the state parliament. Art Minister Markus Blume (CSU) and Director General Bernhard Maaz are in the center of these controversies, especially after Maaz in 2023 recommended the return of three significant works of art to the heirs of the Jewish art dealer Alfred Flechtheim. It is a Bronzebüste by Pablo Picasso as well as two works by Paul Klee.

Despite these recommendations, the Ministry of Art argues that the legal situation for return is unclear. Its understanding is based on doubts about the withdrawability of the works due to Nazi persecution-related causes. In addition, a restitution is rejected not least because it would violate the Bavarian budget law because the objects in question are part of the base of the Free State of Bavaria. Blume plans to consult an arbitration court that has not yet existed, which will create an objective rating framework in the future.

The numbers behind the debate

The discussion about Nazi robbery in Bavaria is not new, but falls into a greater context of international efforts to return raven cultural goods. It is estimated that around 1933 and 1945 in Germany and the occupied areas were stolen or expropriated around 600,000 works of art, many of which have not been returned to this day. In 1998 44 countries, including the Federal Republic of Germany, committed to finding and returning predatory art in accordance with the Washington explanation , but the successful return remains an unfulfilled wish.

The return demands in Bavaria are diverse and, according to the Ministry of Art, concern several state museums. Nine open demands on the return of alleged Nazi robbery are in the room, with three of these demands concern the state paintings. In addition, the Bavarian National Museum currently has seventeen restitution procedures. In addition, returns from state museums have been rejected in ten cases in ten cases, while in eight further cases the return was decided at the state paintings, but is still in preparation.

criticism and legal challenges

Critics of the Bavarian attitude, including Markus Stötzel, lawyer of the Flechtheim Erben, call for an intervention by Prime Minister Markus Söder (CSU) and the state parliament. Stötzel describes the Picasso Bust "Fernande" as a clear case for a restitution. The cultural spokeswoman for the Greens, Sanne Kurz, criticized Blume for disregarding the assessment of his experts. In their opinion, the relevant documents from the Nazi era should be used to prove an withdrawal character of the works, but this is a challenge, since many of these documents are no longer or only incompletely present.

The internationally increasing attention to the subject of restitution of Nazi robbery and the growing awareness of the need for provenance research must be seen as part of a historical process that has accompanied the return of cultural assets in recent decades. Despite all the challenges, the aim of achieving a piece of justice for the descendants of the victims of National Socialist crimes.