The Welfens treasure case is rolled up again

For nine months, the great -grandson of the Jewish jeweler dealer, who was one of the sellers of the Welfens treasure into the Prussian state in 1935, had been waiting for the Prussian state. The Jewish was pressed out the amount paid in the amount of 1,115,000 Reichsmarks immediately afterwards as an imperial fleeing tax in order to enable them to emigrate to Switzerland, as shown in 2022. Today, the 44 pieces from the Welfens treasure presented in the Berlin Museum of Art are estimated at $ 300 million.

Media reporting brought movement to the matter

The case negotiated eight years earlier at the advisory commission, which the descendants had brought up to four Jewish art dealers involved in the sale, had been rejected at the time because no pressure was exerted during the negotiations, as it was said.

The Prussian cultural property foundation apparently remains convinced that it does not want to recognize a persecution -related forced sale due to the latest findings. With the reference that she first had to clarify the authorization of the claimants, she had delayed the opening of the procedure at the advisory commission over a year. Only the media and the word of power of the Minister of Culture, which she had chilled, have now brought movement into the matter.

At the same time, the chairman of the advisory commission, Hans-Jürgen Papier, has now emphasized that the examination of the admissibility is the only thing of the Commission. There is also no good light on them. The commission could therefore have started with exactly the examination much earlier.

But not only Alice Koch’s great -grandson called the advisory commission last year. A month earlier, in March 2024, the descendants of the four Frankfurt art dealers had already turned to the mediating body with reference to the rediscovered papers. Their lawyers now require comprehensive insight into the files at the Federal Chancellery and the Foundation of Prussian Cultural Ownership.

At the same time, another law firm has contacted the Prussian Cultural property foundation, which represents the possible beneficiaries, including descendants of Alice Koch. It is high time that the foundation also demonstrates its commitment to the Washington principles here. At the time, Germany undertook to find “just and fair solutions” with the descendants.