Records of the Landesarchiv Berlin Relating to Nazi-Era Cultural Property
The Berlin State Archive houses a number of records that are relevant for provenance research and document the Nazi Era persecution. These records were created by German institutions and authorities from 1933 to 1990. The holdings range from files of tax offices that document the confiscation of property of persecuted persons to the over 800,000 case files of the Berlin Restitution Offices. The records are not only about local history but also on persecution of persons from all over the Reich. The links below direct users to the resources from the Berlin State Archive made available through the International Research Portal for Records Related to Nazi-Era Cultural Property.
|
The WGA Database contains information transcribed from index cards for the case files from the Berlin Restitution Offices, listing the claimants, the injured parties, the defendant and the property claimed. The project aims to facilitate provenance research by providing a publicly accessible online database of the more than 800,000 restitution case files housed at the Berlin State Archive. The online database is scheduled to be completed by the end of 2014. |
|
Database of Art and Cultural Property Auctions, 1933-1945 The auction files are preserved at the Berlin State Archive in the record group of the Berlin branch of the Reich's Chamber of Fine Arts. The Berlin Head Office of the Reich's Chamber of Fine Arts was established in 1935. Around this time, the auctioneers had to declare their planned auctions to the Reich's Chamber of Fine Arts and the Chief of Police. These declarations contain lists about vendors and objects. There is a variety of works of art listed among the declared objects, including some pieces of higher value. Some files include correspondence regarding both auctions and also single objects. The files also contain catalogues and partial auction result lists, including the names of the purchasers and hammer prices. The archival holdings contain 77 files, all of which are completely microfilmed. The files cover the period between 1935 and 1944 inclusive. A finding aid is also available. |
|
The Recovery Point for Scientific Libraries (Bergungsstelle für wissenschaftliche Bibliotheken) was established by the Berlin city government (Magistrat) in Berlin in July 1945. It was responsible for recovering material from over 200 private and public libraries throughout Berlin. The record group contains recovery orders, protocols and reports of the recovery. The documents from the file numbered 512 to 515, 515-1, and 522 were digitized and are available online. A finding aid is also available. |
For more information about the records of the Landesarchiv Berlin, please visit the Landesarchiv Berlin website.
Return to the home page of the International Research Portal.