University of Vienna

Common information

 

Address

c/o FB Zeitgeschichte
Universität Wien/Universitätsbibliothek
Spitalgasse 2, Hof 1.12
1010 Vienna

Website

E-Mail

Provenance research

 

Provenance researcher

HR Prof. Mag. Markus Stumpf, MSc
 

In the course of its NS-related provenance research, Vienna University Library (VUL) has been looking into its holdings and acquisition policies during the period of National Socialism and has been addressing the question of how to deal appropriately with looted material since 2004. The history of the university's holdings and collections is being reappraised and Nazi-looted property has been consistently restituted.
The NS provenance research team of Vienna University Library produces and processes research, publishes in specialist journals, communicates research findings in specialist journals and conferences, and actively networks in local, national and international contexts. Furthermore, the team members coordinate the search for heirs as well as the restitutions of Vienna University Library and answer enquiries about the provenance of various holdings of Vienna University Library.
Since the Universities Act 2002, Austrian university libraries have no longer reported directly to a federal ministry. Nevertheless, "holdings of university libraries which form a whole from a historical, artistic and other cultural or scientific context remain the property of the Federal Government" (Federal Law Gazette I No. 120/2002 §139, para. 4.). In the case of Vienna University Library, the cut-off date for holdings was defined as 1800, with works with a publication date before and including the year 1800 remaining in federal ownership, while publications with a later publication date became the property of the University of Vienna.
With its provenance research, Vienna University Library is actively contributing to the remembrance of the victims of National Socialism. By addressing this highly topical and internationally important subject, it has joined the ranks of the numerous diverse research and commemorative projects concerning the history of the University of Vienna and National Socialism.