Museums and provenance research
The publication of the art and cultural objects in the Art Database of the National Fund takes place in co-operation with the museums and collections of the Federal Republic of Austria and the City of Vienna, as well as with the institutions of Austrian provenance research. Here you can find information on these institutions, including a description of their activities for provenance research. If you have further questions, please contact the institutions listed directly (see contact at museums).
The results of provenance research conducted so far, as well as details of the objects already restituted, can be found in the Restitution Reports, available online (see reports).
In the Albertina, Maren Gröning carried out provenance research for the period 1938–1960 actively between 1998 and 2000 and as required between 2000 and 2009. During this time, 49 reports regarding 317 works were submitted to the Commission for Provenance Research. Of these, 163 objects were restituted,...
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In accordance with the Art Restitution Law (Federal Law Gazette I 181/1998) the Austrian National Library presented its provenance report on illegal acquisitions during the era of National Socialism in early December 2003. The report was preceded by careful and detailed research into all questionable holdings. Around...
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The Austrian Theatre Museum owns a large number of objects, mostly in mixed lots, from the period in question whose origins are uncertain or unknown. They include photographs, prints, hand drawings and, to a lesser extent, possibly also oil paintings and objects from estates and collections of scripts and...
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The staff of the archive have been conducting research into the provenance of the Belvedere’s holdings since 1998. Since 1999, 77 provenance dossiers and a provenance report on the library’s holdings have been submitted to the Art Restitution Advisory Board. To date around 60 objects have been returned...
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The Federal Law of 4 December 1998 on the Restitution of Art Objects (Federal Law Gazette I, No. 181/1998) was enacted with the aim of returning art objects from Austrian federal museums and collections, which had come into the ownership of the Federation during or as a result of National Socialist tyranny, to the original owners...
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During the era of National Socialism, the then State Museum of Applied Arts in Vienna inventoried over 4,200 art objects, more than 4,600 art prints and around 2,000 books. A complete and detailed examination of these acquisitions is the medium-term goal of provenance research in the MAK. The objects inventoried after 1945...
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The Museum of Military History/Institute of Military History has been involved with the work of the Commission for Provenance Research since April 1998 when it began the ongoing process of investigating its collections and holdings for indications of unlawful Nazi-era property seizure on the basis of the Art Restitution Act (Federal Law Gazette I no. 181/1998). More than...
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Over 1,000 objects and over 750 books were inventoried in the Museum of Science and Technology during the National Socialism era. Provenance research at this museum focuses on verifying how these objects were acquired. The acquisitions by the museum since 1945 are also beeing systematically checked...
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More that 20 million objects are stored in the Natural History Museum; the collections comprise specimens of animals, plants, minerals, rocks and fossils as well as anthropological specimens. Since the enactment of the Art Restitution Act, 1998 (Federal Law Gazette I, 181/1998), the holdings of the NHM have been reviewed...
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In 2015, the Austrian Museum of Folk Life and Folk Art in Vienna carried out stringent research into the provenance of its holding and entered into a close cooperation with the Commission fpr Provenance Research and the National Fund of the Republic of Austria fpr Victims of National Socialism, despite the fact that the Museum is owned by an association and, as such, is not subject to the provision of the Art Restitution Act (Federal Law Gazette I no. 181/1998)...
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In 2012, a group of external experts from the Verein für wissenschaftliche und kulturelle Dienstleistungen (Association for academic and cultural services), commissioned by the Austrian Parliamentary Administration and headed by Harald Wendelin, conducted extensive research on the provenance of books held by the library of the Austrian Parliament. 15.000 volumes were examined in order to identify holdings relevant under the Federal Law on Restitution of Art Objects (Art Restitution Act, Kunstrückgabegesetz) (books published prior to 1945 and acquired after January 30, 1933...
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The Tyrolean Provincial Museum Ferdinandeum has also received art and cultural property from Jewish ownership, which had been seized by the National Socialist Regime. From 1938, the former Institute for the Preservation of Monuments in Vienna circulated object lists, with the help of which it was possible to compile...
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In early April 1998, a work group consisting of museum employees and designated Acquisitions and Restitutions from Jewish ownership 1938-1955 was established at the Landesmuseum Joanneum. Its task was to examine file materials from the National Socialist and post-war eras with a view to assessing whether objects...
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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...
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The Upper Austrian Provincial Museums have been carrying out provenance research since 1999. After an initial internal report had been compiled in the year 2000, the University of Linz was commissioned to carry out a research project on the subject of...
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The Vienna City Library (formerly Vienna Municipal and Provincial Library) was founded in 1856. Although it was not centrally involved in the organised looting of books and libraries during the National Socialist era, like other institutions it also strove to acquire objects cheaply or free of charge, mostly confiscated or seized...
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A provenance research project has been underway at the University Library of the Vienna University of Economics and Business since 2010. The project involves systematically examining and documenting the library’s holdings with a view to ascertaining any unlawful acquisitions of printed material published up to and including 1945,
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The aim of provenance research in the Weltmuseum Wien (formerly Museum of Ethnology in Vienna) is to verify the acquisitions during the Nazi era from 1938 to 1945 and those after the war. The research focuses on ethnographic items from various regions in the world, books, photographs and pictures. Not all of the dossiers established to date have been submitted to...
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The City of Vienna is seeking the former owners of art and cultural objects looted during the National Socialist era. It would like to return the objects currently in its possession to their original owners and is therefore asking for the assistance of the citizens of Vienna in identifying them. On 29 April 1999 the Vienna City Council adopted...
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© Art restitution National Fund of the Republic Austria for Victims of National Socialism
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