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Munich mystery

November 26, 2013

The sensational discovery of more than a thousand works of art seized during the Nazi era has rocked the art world - and opened up plenty of questions.

https://p.dw.com/p/1AFyB
Photo provided by the Augsburg, southern Germany, prosecution Monday, Nov. 11, 2013 shows Otto Griebel's 'Kind am Tisch' (Child at a table) that was among the more than 1400 art works that were seized by German authorities in an apartment in Munich in February 2012, Photo: AP Photo/Staatsanwaltschaft Augsburg
Image: picture-alliance/AP(Ausschnitt)

The spectacular discovery of more than 1,400 works of art confiscated by Nazis during World War II has rocked the art world. Although German authorities seized the works from the son of an art dealer two years ago, the information was only recently made public.

But how did the works of art make it into a Munich apartment, and to whom do they rightfully belong? DW examines these and other questions.

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Reports & Analysis

four paintings Photos: Staatsanwaltschaft Augsburg/dpa - Nur zur redaktionellen Verwendung bei Urhebernennung und nur im Zusammenhang mit der aktuellen Berichterstattung (zu dpa-Meldung: "Staatsanwalt will Gurlitt viele Bilder schnell zurückgeben" vom 19.11.2013) +++(c) dpa - Bildfunk+++

The rightful owners

Does the Gurlitt collection also include Polish artwork looted by the Nazis?
November 22, 2013
A combination of two formerly unknown paintings by German artist Otto Dix are beamed to a wall November 5, 2013, in an Augsburg courtroom during a news conference held by state prosecutor Reinhard Nemetz and expert art historian Meike Hoffmann from the Berlin Free University. (Photo: REUTERS/Michael Dalder )

Art detectives

Julian Radcliffe from the Art Loss Register explains how to trace 'lost art'.
November 6, 201305:34 min
Wilhelm Lachnit's 'Mann und Frau am Fenster', Aquarell, 1923. This was one of the first 25 pieces to be published on lostart.de Photo: Staatsanwaltschaft Augsburg/dpa

Caution urged in Nazi art case

The Central Council of Jews in Germany has argued against returning some artworks seized from Cornelius Gurlitt's apartment. After 18 months of "conspiratorial" silence on the find, they said it was now unwise to rush.
November 21, 2013
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Nazi art trove found in Munich

German authorities have made a spectacular discovery of artworks that's now making headlines all over the world... paintings by the likes of Picasso and Chagall, worth an estimated one billion Euros. For the past fifty years, they were hidden in a Munich apartment--until tax collectors came calling.
November 5, 201301:54 min
A combination of two formerly unknown paintings by German artist Otto Dix are beamed to a wall November 5, 2013, in an Augsburg courtroom during a news conference held by state prosecutor Reinhard Nemetz and expert art historian Meike Hoffmann from the Berlin Free University. A Jewish group accused Germany on Monday of moral complicity in concealment of stolen paintings after it emerged authorities failed for two years to report discovery of a trove of modern art seized by the Nazis, including works by Picasso and Matisse. Customs officials' chance discovery of 1,500 artworks in a Munich flat owned by Cornelius Gurlitt, the reclusive elderly son of war-time art dealer Hildebrand Gurlitt, who was authorized by Hitler�s propagandist minister Joseph Goebbels to sell art the Nazis stole, was revealed in a report by news magazine Focus over the weekend. The art works missing for more than 70 years could be worth well over one billion euros. Picture at left shows a self-portrait of Otto Dix smoking. Photo: REUTERS/Michael Dalder

Nazi-looted art

In the slow restitution process, the emotional impact on affected families gets overlooked.
November 20, 2013
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Gurlitt im Spiegel: Ich will alle Werke zurück!

November 17, 201301:15 min
Art found in the apartment of Cornelius Gurlitt. Photo: dpa

Gurlitt may have art returned

German prosecutors have pledged to return some of Cornelius Gurlitt's vast art collection discovered last year. Investigations continue, however, on whether Gurlitt acquired the majority of the pieces illegally.
November 19, 2013
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Masterpiece find posted online

German officials have uploaded the recent art find, which may have been stolen by the Nazis.
November 12, 201300:26 min
Photo provided by the Augsburg, southern Germany, prosecution Monday, Nov. 11, 2013 shows Otto Griebel's 'Kind am Tisch' (Child at a table) that was among the more than 1400 art works that were seized by German authorities in an apartment in Munich in February 2012. Investigators, aided by a leading art historian, are trying to establish the artworks' legal status and history. It's unclear how many of the works might be subject to return to pre-World War II owners. (AP Photo/Staatsanwaltschaft Augsburg)

Lost artworks go online

The German government has put online the images of 25 lost art works from a trove found last year in a Munich apartment, dating back to the Nazi era. This follows mounting pressure from art experts and Jewish groups.
November 12, 2013
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Spectacular find

Police have revealed first details about the 1,400 pictures they found in a Munich apartment.
November 6, 201301:46 min
A black and white photo shot in May 1945 with Monuments Men George Stout (left), Walker Hancock (center right), and Steven Kovalyak (right) during the excavation of Bernterode. The soldier standing between Stout and Hancock is a Sgt. Travese. Photo: Walker Hancock Collection

The art rescuers

During WWII, a special forces unit tracked down and preserved European cultural treasures.
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Britta Olényi (left) and Jasmin Hartmann look at the back of "Genien auf der Lichtlilien" Photo DW/Elisabeth Yorck von Wartenburg

A painting's provenance

Art historians across Germany work to determine what museum pieces were looted by the Nazis.
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