Project description

The German National Library is systematically searching its holdings for items looted by the Nazis. The provenance investigation project, which ran from 2018 to 2020, focused on serial titles and publication series which were received after 1933 but not recorded as deposit copies or specimen copies.

Photo: Stefan Hoyer/PUNCTUM

Records in accession books or on extension cards are not sufficient about these holdings. This means that around 199,500 volumes were therefore to be checked at the shelves by autopsy.

Project results

During the project, 15,256 publications were inspected to determine whether they contain provenance indicators. These indicators encompass all notes, lines, dates, initials, signatures, bookplates, dedications etc. inserted in the book. Indicators of this type were found in approximately 60% of the publications inspected; some of them contain several such indicators, including numerous duplications. Around 11,000 provenance indicators have been recorded during the course of the project so far.

After deducting the indicators which have been researched or are already known to be used internally by the DNB, there remain some 100 marks which still have to be investigated. These consist of 18 personal names and around 80 indicators which are still unclear.
All the indicators found will be indexed in the catalogue, and research into the personal names will continue even after the project has ended.

Provenance “Dr. Curt Otto”

Another outcome achieved by the project was the elucidation of the provenance “Dr. Curt Otto”.

Photo: DNB, Cornelia Ranft

After conducting a certain amount of research in the archives, this provenance was eventually identified as unobjectionable.
Lawyer Dr. Hans Otto donated the extensive collection belonging to his deceased brother, Leipzig publisher Dr. Curt Otto, to the library in 1930. The collection consisted of 4,379 works published as part of the Tauchnitz Edition, which encompasses around 5,300 works.

The book collection and distribution centre (Bücherverwertungsstelle) in Vienna

Books from the so-called book collection and distribution centre (Bücherverwertungsstelle) in Vienna are also indexed in the catalogue. Although the Deutsche Bücherei of the time mainly relied on deposit copies and voluntary donations to build up its collection, it is known that there were other ways of supplementing stocks, closing gaps or procuring replacements.

Photo: DNB, Cornelia Ranft

In 1938/1939, the head of the Deutsche Bücherei’s accessions department at that time set up a book collection and distribution centre (Bücherverwertungsstelle) in Vienna on behalf of the Reich Ministry of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda. This organisation arranged the systematic plundering of Jewish publishing houses, bookshops and private libraries, and distributed the looted books to libraries and museums in Germany. To date, around 500 volumes have been identified as having been obtained by the Deutsche Bücherei from this source.

Photo: Cornelia Ranft

The provenance indicators found are being used to conduct further research into the owners of the property or their legal successors. The German National Library is making every effort to restore the property quickly. Some restitutions are currently being prepared.

Project framework

Duration

2 January 2018 to 31 December 2020

Further information

The German National Library is guided by the "Common Declaration" on the recovery and return of cultural property seized as a result of Nazi persecution, particularly Jewish property, an obligation undertaken by all public institutions in the Federal Republic of Germany in 1999.

The Lost Art Database contains data on cultural property which was removed and relocated, stored or seized from its owners, particularly Jews, as a result of persecution under the Nazi dictatorship and the events of World War II. The database is maintained by the German Lost Art Foundation. The German National Library has already recorded just under 600 findings in the Lost Art Database. These will be continuously updated.

Contact

Cornelia Ranft
provenienz@dnb.de