Records of the Heidelberg University Library Relating to Nazi-Era Cultural Property

Heidelberg University Library provides access to around 6,000 auction catalogues published between 1901 and 1945 in Germany, Switzerland and Austria and additional countries occupied by Germany during this period.

The auction catalogues were partly digitized within the framework of the project "German Sales 1930-1945. Art Works, Art Markets, and Cultural Policy". The Kunstbibliothek der Staatlichen Museen zu Berlin, as well as the Getty Research Institute, were partners in this project, which was generously supported by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (German Research Foundation), the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Volkswagen Stiftung. Further auction catalogues are being digitized as part of the ongoing project "Art - Auctions - Provenances. The German Art Trade as Reflected in Auction Catalogues from 1901 to 1929" a collaborative effort of Heidelberg University Library and the Kunstbibliothek der Staatlichen Museen zu Berlin. It is financially supported by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (German Research Foundation).

All of the digitized auction catalogues, which today are scattered over numerous art and museum libraries, are accessible free of charge on the website of Heidelberg University Library as well as within the overall context of the project "German Sales 1901-1945" on arthistoricum.net. In addition to the digital images, OCR processing has provided searchable full texts. Refined search functions including the full text search have improved the accessibility to material that previously has been difficult to access. The search options provide the possibility to browse the digital collection by countries, cities, auction houses or collectors.

For more information about the international cooperative digitization of these auction catalogues, please visit "German Sales 1901-1945" on arthistoricum.net.
For more information about Heidelberg University Library, please visit the Heidelberg University Library website.

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