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Works from the Kunstgewerbemuseum and Skulpturensammlung restituted to Oppenheim heirs

22.01.2018
Museumsinsel Berlin

The Stiftung Preußischer Kulturbesitz has worked successfully with the heirs to reach a good solution for Nazi-confiscated cultural property.

Margarete Oppenheim (1857–1935) owned one of the largest art collections in Germany. A fair and just solution in accordance with the Washington Principles has been agreed for a total of eleven works originating from this collection, which were identified in the collections of the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin (National Museums in Berlin). Five of them have been bought back by the SPK.

Hermann Parzinger, President of the SPK, thanked the heirs of Margarete Oppenheim for the amicably agreed solution and stated: “The issue of identifying and returning Nazi-confiscated art is still an important task for the SPK today, almost twenty years after the formulation of the Washington Principles, and I am happy about every case that is clarified.“

Imke Gielen, of the law firm von Trott zu Solz Lammek, and David Rowland, from the law firm Rowland & Associates, who are representing the heirs, said: “We too believe that the agreed solution is a just one and we would like to thank the SPK for its fair approach. We welcome the Foundation's unceasing endeavors to clarify the provenance of the works of art in its collections.“