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Originally there were numbers of temporary collecting points in which all cultural objects found in the United States Zone in need of preservation or suspected of having been looted by the Germans were stored. By 1946, there were only four of these temporary facilities, at Munich, Wiesbaden, Marburg, and Offenbach. After June 15, 1946, when the Marburg Central Collecting Point was closed, the remaining three central collecting points became specialized. the Wiesbaden Central Collecting Point held mostly German-owned material, especially that of the former Prussian State Museums, the Staedel Institute of Frankfurt, and the local museums of Wiesbaden, plus a certain amount of internal loot (material confiscated from German nationals) and objects subject to restitution. At its height, this installation contained approximately 700,000 objects. The Munich Central Collecting Point specialized largely in materials subject to restitution, although in addition it contained materials of the Bavarian State Museums. At its height this central collecting point had in excess of a million objects. The third of the specialized central collecting points, known as the Offenbach Archival Depot, was devoted primarily to Jewish materials, books, and archives.
The Offenbach Archival Depot was closed in June 1949, and both the Munich and Wiesbaden Central Collecting Points were closed in August 1951, although some cultural objects continued to be stored at the Munich and Wiesbaden facilities under U.S. control, and residual restitution authority for these objects was exercised by the Office of Public Affairs of HICOG.
Records of OMGUS Headquarters Relating to the Central Collecting Points
General Records 1938-1948
Correspondence, memorandums, reports, and other forms of documentation relating to a wide variety of subjects. The most prominent subjects include: general information on German fine arts, status of German monuments and museums, planning of the occupational monuments and fine arts program, and German art looting activities during the war.
Arranged by general subject or by type of records.
Box # File Titles or Subjects
1 Drafts of Correspondence 1946 location: 390/45/17/02
2 General information on fine arts in Austria and Germany 1944-1945
location: 390/45/17/02
3 German administration of fine arts 1942-1945
Relations with other headquarters 1945-1946
Reports by monuments and fine arts personnel 1945 location: 390/45/17/02
4 Dissolution of the NSDAP [Nazi Party] 1945
Control of works of art in Germany 1945
Personnel 1945
Safehaven Reports 1945-1946 location: 390/45/17/02
5-9 Organizational and Policy Planning 1944-1945 location: 390/45/17/02
10 Informational file on policy and procedures 1944-1945
Central Collecting Points, deposits and receipts 1945-1946
Meetings concerning restitution 1945 location: 390/45/17/03
11-12 Reports: field, special, and general 1945-1946; Includes "Art Looting Investigation Unit Final Report, 1946"
location: 390/45/17/03
13-20 Monuments: war damage reports, lists, locations 1944-1945
location: 390/45/17/04
21-25 Museums: general information, locations, inventory lists 1938-1947
location: 390/45/17/05
26 Outgoing messages 1945-1946
Correspondence, Central Collecting Points Seventh Army, USFET [United States Forces, European theater], 1945-1946
location: 390/45/17/05
27-31 Correspondence, messages, memorandums 1945-1946
location: 390/45/17/06
32-34 Intelligence, interrogation, and investigation reports, including information on the art collection of Hermann Goering, an investigation of loot in Switzerland, and on the discovery of the crown jewels of the Holy Roman Empire 1944-1947. Also information about the Ahenerbe Organization. {Note 2}
location: 390/45/17/06
Activity Reports 1945
Monthly reports of the Third and Seventh U.S. Armies concerning monuments and fine art activities for 1945. Arranged by unit and thereunder chronologically.
Boxes 35-37 location: 390/45/17/07
Restitution and Custody Receipts 1945-1951
Receipts for the restitution of cultural objects to countries, for the return of cultural objects to German institutions, for interzonal exchange of cultural objects, and for the change of custody of cultural objects in the U.S. zone. Lists and descriptions of cultural objects included in the shipments are attached to the receipts. Various arrangements of copies of receipts for shipments of cultural object, most of which are cross-referenced by assigned shipment numbers.
Boxes 38-50 location: 390/45/17/07
Records of the Wiesbaden Central Collecting Point{Note 3}
General Records 1945-1952
Correspondence, memorandums, and reports relating to a wide variety of subject. The most prominent subjects or types of records include exhibitions of cultural objects; general reports; special reports; investigative files; policy planning; and press clippings and translations. Arranged by general subject or by type of record
Box # File Titles or Subjects
51 Loans of cultural objects 1946-1951 location: 390/45/18/02
52-54 Exhibitions of cultural objects 1946-1951 location: 390/45/18/02
55 Art Collections 1949-1949 location: 390/45/18/03
56-60 General reports, special reports, and investigations files 1945-1951
location: 390/45/18/03
61 Claims from German institutions 1946-1950
Historical weapons 1946-1949
Entry and exit permits, visas, and transfers of cultural objects 1946-1949
UNESCO 1948-1950
Interzonal exchange 1946-1949
Ministry of Culture 1946-1949
Paintings sent to Washington 1945
Liaison offices 1946-1949 location: 390/45/18/04
62 Receipts 1946-1951
Restitution 1946-1949
Hesse interoffice correspondence 1946-1949 location: 390/45/18/04
62-63 Landeskonservator 1945-1949 location: 390/45/18/04
63 Correspondence with OMGUS 1948-1949
Church bells 1946-1947 location: 390/45/18/04
64 German documents and publications 1940-1943
Museums 1945-1950 location: 390/45/18/04
65 Marburg photographs and negatives, Hungarian crown, n.d.
Monuments: draft monograph on war damage 1950 location: 390/45/18/04
66 Jewish cultural property 1947-1950
Jewish Cultural Reconstruction, Inc., 1948-1949
Offenbach Archival Depot 1946-1947
Munich and Wiesbaden Central Collecting Points 1951-1952
location: 390/45/18/04
67 Operations clean-up 1948-1949 location: 390/45/18/05
67-68 Policy planning 1945-1949 location: 390/45/18/05
68-69 Japan and Korea 1945-1947 location: 390/45/18/05
69-73 Press clippings and translations 1945-1947 location: 390/45/18/05
74 Personnel 1945-1949
Evacuation of Reichsbank, Frankfurt 1945
Coal 1945-1949
Restorers 1945-1949
Photography 1945-1949
Private claims received after 1 July 1951, 1951-1952
location: 390/45/18/05
Administrative Records 1944-1951
Correspondence, memorandums, and reports relating to the general administration of the military government monuments and fine arts program.
Arranged by general subject or by type of records.
Box # File Titles or Subjects
75-80 General Correspondence 1945-1951 location: 390/45/18/06
81 Policy and procedures 1945-1947 location: 390/45/18/06
81-82 General information concerning administration 1944-1947
location: 390/45/18/06
82 Invoices 1946-1948 location: 390/45/18/07
83 Personnel 1946-1950 location: 390/45/18/07
84 Laws and directives 1944-1950 location: 390/45/18/07
85 Exportation of cultural objects 1946-1951 location: 390/45/18/07
86-90 Art dealers 1945-1949 location: 390/45/18/07
Cultural Object Movement and Control Records 1945-1952
Shipment files, location registers, control cards, custody receipts, and other kinds of records documenting the custody and movement of cultural objects.
Arranged by type of record.
Box # File Titles or Subjects
91-97 In-shipments 1945-1952 location: 390/45/19/01
98-105 Out-shipments 1945-1952 location: 390/45/19/02
106 Inventory control records--photographic inventory of Jewish devotional silver location: 390/45/19/03
107 Inventory control records--location register
Inventory control records--list of book collections
location: 390/45/19/03
108-110 Inventory control records--property control cards
location: 390/45/19/03
111-113 Receipts for Jewish cultural properties 1949-1951
location: 390/45/19/04
114-115 Coin collections 1945-1952 location: 390/45/19/04
Restitution Claim Records 1946-1952
Case files of claims for the restitution of cultural objects. The individual file for each claim case consists of copies of all correspondence, memorandums, and reports pertaining to the case. Arranged by subject or type of claim as follows: Jewish claims, claims for external restitution, and claims for internal restitution.
Box # File Titles or Subjects
116 Jewish claims case files 1950-1952 location: 390/45/19/04
116-120 External claims case files 1946-1952 location: 390/45/19/04
121-122 Basis letters for claims 1946-1949 location: 390/45/19/05
123-126 Internal claims case files 1946-1951 location: 390/45/19/05
Activity Reports 1945-1951
Reports to higher headquarters including reports on the status of the collecting point, consolidated summaries of monuments and fine arts activities and some direct summaries of monument and fine arts activities.
Arranged by kind of report and thereunder chronologically.
Box # File Titles or Subjects
127-128 Policy and reports 1945-1951 location: 390/45/19/06
128-135 Status of the collecting points 1945-1951 location: 390/45/19/06
135 District summaries 1945-1946 location: 390/45/19/07
136-139 Monthly consolidated field reports 1945-1948
location: 390/45/19/07
Records Relating to the Status of Monuments, Museums, and Archives 1945-1950
Correspondence, reports, questionnaires, inventory lists, and some photographs which describe the condition of monuments and of the holdings of museums and archives. Arranged by subject.
Box # File Titles or Subjects
140 Monuments: photograph album, questionnaires, and
reports 1946-1948 location: 390/45/20/01
141-144 Museums: questionnaires and reports 1946-1948
location: 390/45/20/01
144-145 Repositories: reports and correspondence 1945-1950
location: 390/45/20/02
145-152 Archives and libraries: questionnaires and reports 1946-1949
location: 390/45/20/02
153-166 State museums, Berlin: inventory lists, reports, and correspondence 1945-1950 location: 390/45/20/03
167 Kulturamt: correspondence and reports 1946
location: 390/45/20/05
Restitution, Research, and Reference Records 1900-1954
Intelligence, interrogation, and investigative reports, and captured documents, relating to Hermann Goering, Ettle Gisela Limberger, Adolf Weinbmuller, Heinrich Hoffmann, Ernst Buchner, Walter Andrea Hofer, Walter Bornheim, Dr. Hans Frank, Alfred Rosenberg, Joachim von Ribbontrop, Sess-Inquart, Walter Funk, Baldur von Scirach, and Albert Speer. Records relating to the German occupation of the Netherlands, the disposition of German assets in Italy, the German evacuation of cultural objects from Berlin during the war, the German seizure of works of art in Poland, the Einsatzstab Reichsleiter Rosenberg [ERR] {Note 4}, and the early development of the Nazi Party in the Berchtesgaden area. And some publications including touring guide books to points of cultural interest in Germany, France, and the low countries. Arranged by subject.
Box # File Titles or Subjects
168-169 Hermann Goering--captured records relating to art collecting activities 1940-1945 location: 390/45/20/05
170-177 Wilhelm Ettle--investigative reports and correspondence 1945-1954
location: 390/45/20/05
177-180 Prominent German personalities: captured documents, investigative reports, and interrogations relating to Gisela Limberger{Note 5}, Adolf Weinmuller{Note 6}, Heinrich Hoffmann, Ernst Buchner{Note 7}, Walter Andrea Hofer{Note 8}, Walter Bornheim{Note 9}, Dr. Hans Frank, Seyss-Inquart, Hermann Goering, Walter Funk, Baldur von Schirach, and Albert Speer 19391-948
location: 390/45/20/06
181-182 Cultural objects in the German occupied Netherlands--documents 1940-1944 location: 390/45/20/07
182 Einsatzstab Reichsleiter Rosenberg--translations and documents 1942-1945 location: 390/45/20/07
183 Development of the Wallraf-Richard Museum 1945
location: 390/45/20/07
184-190 German cultural assets in Italy 1945-1954 location: 390/45/20/07
191 Provinzialkonservator Peschke and the evacuation of cultural objects from Berlin 1943-1945
191 "Seizure of Works of Art in Poland" (photostatic copy of Nazi report 1943 location: 390/45/21/01
192-193 Touring guide books to points of cultural interest in German, France, and the low countries 1900-1942
location: 390/45/21/02
194-195 Miscellaneous 1923-1942, as follows: Source material on Obersalzberg; two photostatic copies of Moritz Mayer's Judith Platter of the Novel Zwel Menschen (Berchtesgaden: J. N. Bonderthann, Jr., 1930); photostatic copies of a 50-page handwritten manuscript on the development of the Berchtesgaden Ortsgruppe of the Nazi Party up to 1930, by Ludwig Kollhofer; Colonel Erwin Rommel, Infanterie greift an (Potsdam: Ludwig Voggenreiter, 1948); Listing of Private Organizations in the United States that have Helped England, Nazi Party publication, undated, in German; Otto von Kursell, editor, Der Hitler Prozess (The Hitler Trial) (Munich, Nazi Party Publication, 1923). location: 390/45/21/02
Directory of Property Received 1945-1949
Table summarizing shipments includes shipment number, person accepting custody of the shipment, type of receipt, amount and class of objects, type of shipment, and any remarks concerning the shipment. Arranged chronologically by date of shipment. Box 196 location: Missing
Property Card Index, n.d.
Property cards includes such information as author or artist, measurements, depot processor, any identifying remarks, subject of art, material or medium used, condition of object, description of object, the presumed owner, inventory number, and sometimes a photograph of the object.
Arranged by property accession number. Boxes 197-198 location: 390/45/21/02
Records Relating to the Wiesbaden Central Collecting Point Restitution, n.d.
Property cards includes such information as author or artist, measurements, depot processor, any identifying remarks, subject of art, material or medium used, condition of object, description of object, the presumed owner, inventory number, and sometimes a photograph of the object. Arranged by country and thereunder by accession number. Boxes 199-203 location: 390/45/21/03
Property Accessions 1945-1949
Property cards includes such information as author or artist, measurements, depot processor, any identifying remarks, subject of art, material or medium used, condition of object, description of object, the presumed owner, inventory number, and sometimes a photograph of the object. Arranged by classification of cultural object and thereunder by accession number.
Boxes 204-220 location: 390/45/21/03
Property Releases 1949-1951
Property cards includes such information as author or artist, measurements, depot processor, any identifying remarks, subject of art, material or medium used, condition of object, description of object, the presumed owner, inventory number, and sometimes a photograph of the object. Arranged by repository and thereunder by accession number. Boxes 221-226 location: 390/45/21/06
Property Releases to German Private Owners 1945-1950
Property cards includes such information as author or artist, measurements, depot processor, any identifying remarks, subject of art, material or medium used, condition of object, description of object, the presumed owner, inventory number, and sometimes a photograph of the object. Arranged alphabetically by verified owner and thereunder by accession number. Boxes 227-228 location: 390/45/21/7
Property Transfers 1945-1948
Property cards includes such information as author or artist, measurements, depot processor, any identifying remarks, subject of art, material or medium used, condition of object, description of object, the presumed owner, inventory number, and sometimes a photograph of the object. Arranged by final disposition.
Boxes 229-231 location: 390/45/22/01
Property Judged to Be Nazistic or Militaristic and Transferred to Washington, DC or Destroyed
Property cards includes such information as author or artist, measurements, depot processor, any identifying remarks, subject of art, material or medium used, condition of object, description of object, the presumed owner, inventory number, and sometimes a photograph of the object.
Arranged by final disposition and thereunder by accession number.
Box 232 location: 390/45/22/01
Records of the Marburg Central Collecting Point
General Records 1945-1946
Daily journal, correspondence, and reports relating to the activities of the collecting point. The records relating to the German firm Foto-Marburg are the most voluminous subject. Foto-Marburg was the photographic firm affiliated with the University of Marburg which produced photographs of cultural objects handled by the U.S. Central Collecting points in the American zone.
Arranged by subject or type of records.
Box # File titles or Subjects
233 Daily journal 1945-1946 390/45/22/03
234 Status of the collecting point reports 1945-1946
Administrative records 1945-1946
Correspondence 1945-1946 390/45/22/03
234-237 Records relating to the work of Foto-Marburg, photographic lists and correspondence. These files includes an inventory of the copy negatives obtained by the German "Kunstschutz{Note 10}" from the art photograph collection of the Belgium Royal Museum of Art and deposited in the University of Marburg's Art Historical Institute. 1945-1946
location: 390/45/22/03
Property Accession Cards 1945-1949
Property cards includes such information as author or artist, measurements, depot processor, any identifying remarks, subject of art, material or medium used,
condition of object, description of object, the presumed owner, inventory number, and sometimes a photograph of the object.
Arranged numerically by property accession number.
Boxes 238-242 location: 390/45/22/03
Property Released to the Wiesbaden Central Collecting Point 1945-1948
Property cards includes such information as author or artist, measurements, depot processor, any identifying remarks, subject of art, material or medium used, condition of object, description of object, the presumed owner, inventory number, and sometimes a photograph of the object.
Arranged by movement number and thereunder by property accession number.
Boxes 243-249 location: 390/45/22/04
Records of the Offenbach Archival Depot
Administrative Records 1946-1949
Correspondence and memorandums relating to the administration of the Offenbach Archival Depot. Arranged by subject or type of record.
Box # File Title or Subjects
250 Policy and procedures 1946-1948
Personnel 1946-1949 location: 390/45/22/05
251 Correspondence 1946-1948
Security 1946-1949 location: 390/45/22/05
Cultural Object Restitution and Custody Receipts 1946-1951
Custody receipts for the receipt, return, and restitution of cultural objects, and in a few instances, for the movement of office property.
Box # File Titles or Subjects
252 Receipts for in-shipments 1946-1949 (Arranged alphabetically by place of origin of the shipment) location: 390/45/22/05
253-256 Receipts for restitution out-shipments 1946-1951 (Arranged alphabetically by name of country) location: 390/45/22/06
256 Receipts for out-shipments, miscellaneous - to German and other military government authorities 1948-1949 (Arranged chronologically)
Receipts for final shipments to Wiesbaden 1949
Music packing list, n.d. location: 390/45/22/06
Correspondence Relating to Restitution Claims 1945-1946
Correspondence concerning restitution claims including letters received from claimants, letters sent to claimants, and correspondence resulting from actions taken on behalf of claimants. Arranged alphabetically by name of claimant.
Boxes 257-258 location: 390/45/22/06
Activity Reports March 1946-August 1947
Monthly reports of the Offenbach Archival Depot. Arranged chronologically.
Boxes 259-262 location: 390/45/22/06
Records of the Munich Central Collecting Point{Note 11}
Administrative Records 1945-1951
Correspondence, memorandums, and reports relating to the general administration of the central collecting point and including such topics as security, art dealers, Denazification, building maintenance, and building supply.
Arranged by subject or by type of record.
Box # File Titles or Subjects
263 Daily File October 21, 1946-May 27, 1947 location: 390/45/22/07
263-264 Correspondence files (alphabetical) 1945-1951
location: 390/45/22/07
264-265 Correspondence files (geographical) 1945-1951
location: 390/45/22/07
266 Correspondence files (subject) 1945-1951
Operation clean-up 1948 location: 390/45/22/07
267 Directives, laws, and precedents 1945-1949 location: 390/45/23/01
268 Security 1945-1949 location: 390/45/23/01
269-270 General housekeeping 1945-1951 location: 390/45/23/01
271 Art Dealers Name Files and Licenses location: 390/45/23/01
272-273 Personnel (military) 1945-1950 location: 390/45/23/01
273 Personnel (civilian) 1945-1950 location: 390/45/23/01
274-276 Personnel (Denazification) 1945-1950 location: 390/45/23/02
277 Personnel (foreign representatives) 1945-1950
location: 390/45/23/02
Cultural Object Movement and Control Records 1945-1949
Records documenting the movement and control of cultural objects, including receipts for different types of shipments, correspondence concerning custody of objects, and cultural object control cards. Arranged by type of record.
Box # File Titles or Subjects
277-279 Correspondence: removal and protection of private property 1945- 1949 location: 390/45/23/02
280 Diary: in-shipments 1945-1949
Receipts for transfers 1945-1949 location: 390/45/23/02
281-285 Control records: transfers and returns 1947-1949
location: 390/45/23/03
286-289 Receipts: restitution 1945-1949 location: 390/45/23/03
289-294 Receipts: return to private owners 1945-1949
location: 390/45/23/03
295-298 Receipts and correspondence: transfers to German institutions and churches 1945-1949 location: 390/45/23/05
298 Receipts for weapons 1945-1949 location: 390/45/23/05
299-300 Correspondence and custody statements: Land Central and coin collections 1945-1949 location: 390/45/23/05
Restitution Claim Records 1945-1947
Case files of claims for the restitution of cultural objects, declarations of ownership of cultural objects, correspondence concerning case, and indexes to claim cases. Arranged by subject or type of record.
Box # File Titles or Subjects
301 Correspondence: claim of Count Joseph Reczynski 1927-1951
location: 390/45/23/05
301-302 Italian claims 1945-1950 location: 390/45/23/06
303 Austrian claims 1946-1952
Artist name index 1945-1956 location: 390/45/23/06
304-306 Claimant name index 1945-1956 location: 390/45/23/06
307-333 Country restitution claim files 1945-1957 location: 390/45/23/06
334 Jewish and German claim index 1945-1951 location: 390/45/24/03
334-335 Correspondence: Requests for return of objects 1945-1949 and
investigations 1945-1948 location: 390/45/24/03
336-339 German claims 1945-1951 location: 390/45/24/03
339-348 Jewish claims 1938-1951 location: 390/45/24/04
349-367 Property declarations (finished) 1946-1948 location: 390/45/24/05
368 Property declarations (dropped) 1946-1948 location: 390/45/25/01
Activity Reports and Related Records 1944-1950
Reports of SHAEF, G-5 monuments and fine arts officers, and U.S. Army detachments to higher headquarters. Monuments, Fine Arts and Archives Section (Bavaria) consolidated field reports, district summaries, Munich Central Collecting Point monthly reports, and restitution summaries. Arranged by type of record and thereunder by subject.
Box # File Titles or Subjects
369 SHAEF, G-5, U.S. Army MFA&A [Museum, Fine Arts and Archives] Reports, December 1944-June 1945
location: 390/45/2 5/01
369-370 U.S. Army Detachment Reports, July-December 1945
location: 390/45/25/01
371-376 MFA&A consolidated field reports, district summaries, Munich Central Collecting Point monthly reports, and restitution summaries, January 1946-1950 location: 390/45/25/01
Records Relating to the Status of Monuments, Museums, and Archives 1945-1949
Diaries of three prominent monuments and fine arts personnel: Dr. Hanfstaengle{Note 12}, Dr. Poethel, and Mr. Kormendi; Correspondence, reports, and questionnaires which describe the condition of monuments, the holdings of museums and archives, and the status of cultural organizations and institutions in Bavaria. Arranged by subject.
Box # File Titles or Subjects
377 Diaries of Dr. Eberhard Hanfstaengle, August 2, 1945-July 7, 1946; Dr. Hans K. Roethel, July 11 1945-January 31, 1946; and, Mr. Andre Kormendi, Nurnberg, September 18, 1946- December 2, 1948.
Papers of Dr. Hans K. Roethel, 1945-1948
General records relating to Bavarian repositories 1945-1948
location: 390/45/25/02
378-379 Correspondence regarding weapons of historical value 1947-1948
location: 390/45/25/02
379-383 Records relating to monuments in Bavaria 1945-1948
location: 390/45/25/03
384 Status reports received from Bavarian cultural institutions 1946
location: 390/45/25/03
384-397 Records relating to Bavarian cultural institutions 1946-1948
location: 390/45/25/03
397 Status reports on Bavarian archival institutions, 1947-1948
location: 390/45/25/05
398-419 Records relating to Bavarian repositories 1945-1948 (includes one folder of correspondence with repositories not in Bavaria)
location: 390/45/25/05
419-420 Monuments, fine arts and archive officer reports and correspondence 1945-1948 location: 390/45/26/01
421-426 Records relating to Landkreis cultural property custodians
1945-1949 location: 390/45/26/02
Restitution Research Records 1933-1950
Captured German documents (originals and photostatic copies) relating to German art looting in Europe, reports concerning individuals prominent in the European art world, catalogues of art losses and reports concerning them for certain cultural institutions, investigative files of individuals suspected of unauthorized possession or sale of cultural objects, and interrogation reports for persons possessing significant knowledge concerning German actions during the war relating to art. Arranged by subject.
Box # File Titles or Subjects
427-430 Hitler-Linz Museum{Note 13} 1939-1945 location: 390/45/26/02
430-431 City of Linz, plans for improvement 1939-1940
location: 390/45/26/03
431-432 Berchtesgaden and Obersalzberg 1942-1947 location: 390/45/26/03
432 Fuhrerbau, personnel, 1945 location: 390/45/26/03
432-433 Ulrich Graf, incoming correspondence 1937-1942
location: 390/45/26/03
433 General von Epp, Reichstatthalter 1933-1945
location: 390/45/26/03
434 Architect Hans Reger, correspondence relating to Hitler-Linz Museum 1938-1944 location: 390/45/26/03
435 Investigation of Dr. Kajrtan Muehlmann{Note 14} 1945-1948
location: 390/45/26/04
436-444 Hermann Goering 1935-1945 location: 390/45/26/04
445 Maria Almas-Dietrich, art dealer and art adviser to Hitler, 1941- 1949 location: 390/45/26/05
446-448 Karl Haberstock, {Note 15} 1937-1950 location: 390/45/26/05
449 Dutch art firm Jacques Goudstikker 1939-1945
Official complaints concerning art confiscations 1940-1942
location: 390/45/26/06
450-455 Einsatzstab Reichsleiter Rosenberg 1940-1944
location: 390/45/26/06
456 Regalia, Holy Roman Empire 1933-1950 location: 390/45/26/07
456-458 "Ahnenerbe"1940-1948 location: 390/45/26/07
458 Cultural life in Germany and the occupied territories 1938-1941
location: 390/45/26/07
459-463 Lists of cultural objects removed from France 1947-1948
location: 390/45/26/07
464-465 Nazi shipping documents, Germany and Western Europe 1938- 1944 location: 390/45/27/01
466-467 Catalogue, Vienna art collection of Nathaniel Freiherr von Rothschild 1945 location: 390/45/27/01
468-470 Nazi art looting in France, documents 1940-1945
location: 390/45/27/01
471-473 Nazi art looting in Poland and the Baltic countries 1939-1948
location: 390/45/27/02
474 Holland, Belgium, Czechoslovakia, Italy 1940-1947
location: 390/45/27/02
474-475 Heeresmuseum, Strasbourg 1940-1944 location: 390/45/27/02 475-476 The City Museum of Stettin, Schack gallery in Munich, Haus der Kunst in Munich, and the German Leather Works Museum in Offenbach am Main 1934-1943 location: 390/45/27/02
476 Collections of the State Museums in Berlin 1945
Zeughaus Museum in Magdeburg 1943
Residenz Gallery, Munich 1945 location: 390/45/27/02
477-478 Catalogue of the Mannheimer Collection 1935-1936
location: 390/45/27/03
478 Fuehrerbau looting 1948-1949 location: 390/45/27/03
479 Looting of three art treasures (Statue of the Discus Thrower from the Palazzo Lancelotti, Rome; "Madonna of Gaeta" by Rafael; and, Czerninschen's "The Painter in his Workshop" by Vermeer) 1941-1942 390/45/27/03
479-484 Investigations of individuals suspected of unauthorized possession or sale of cultural objects 1945-1949 390/45/27/03
484 Investigations by foreign representatives 1945-1948
390/45/27/04
485 Investigations of certain subjects (Looted Schloss paintings; Looting Linz paintings; Paintings missing from Munich Central Collecting Point; Kriinner case; Art objects confiscated by Lieutenants Hugoboom and Horn) 1945- 1949 location: 390/45/27/04
485-486 Reports of investigation and interrogation of individuals 1945- 1949 location: 390/45/27/04
487 Civil Censorship Intercept Action Files 1946-1947
location: 390/45/27/04
488-489 Lists of German monuments 1944-1946 location: 390/45/27/04
Records Relating to Property Restitution 1945-1950
Property cards includes such information as author or artists, measurements, depot processor, any identifying marks, subject of art, material or medium used, condition of object, description of object, the presumed owner, inventory number, and sometimes a photograph of the object. Arranged by the country of restitution and thereunder by property accession number. Box 490 location: 390/45/27/05
Records Relating to Property Accession 1945-1949
Property cards includes such information as author or artists, measurements, depot processor, any identifying marks, subject of art, material or medium used, condition of object, description of object, the presumed owner, inventory number, and sometimes a photograph of the object. Arranged by property accession number. Boxes 491-539 location: 390/45/27/05
Records Relating to Property Transfers 1945-1949
Property cards includes such information as author or artists, measurements, depot processor, any identifying marks, subject of art, material or medium used, condition of object, description of object, the presumed owner, inventory number, and sometimes a photograph of the object.
Arranged by transfer locality and thereunder by property accession number.
Boxes 540-548 location: 390/45/29/01
Records Relating to the Linz Accession to the Munich Central Collecting Point 1945-1949
Property cards includes such information as author or artists, measurements, depot processor, any identifying marks, subject of art, material or medium used, condition of object, description of object, the presumed owner, and inventory number. Arranged by Linz accession number.
Boxes 549-550 location: 390/45/29/03
Miscellaneous Property Reports
Miscellaneous Property Cards 1945-1947
Cards showing such information as name of town or locality, name of the repository, name or type of object, and final disposition.
Arranged alphabetically by locality. Box 551 location: 390/45/29/04
Property Cards Relating to Evacuated Repositories 1945-1948
Cards showing such information as the name of locality, presumed owner, process of notification, notifier, custodian of the object, status of the investigation, results of the investigation, and title of report providing final disposition. Arranged by country and thereunder by locality. Boxes 552-554 location: 390/45/29/04
Records Relating to Repositories of Looted Cultural Objects 1945
Cards showing the name of the locality, a description of the locality, and listing of cultural objects. Arranged alphabetically by locality.
Boxes 555-556 location: 390/45/29/05
Records Relating to German Institutions Located Outside the American Zone with Material in Repositories in the American Zone 1945-1948
Cards showing such information as name of locality, type of repository, presumed owner, type of cultural object, and sometimes the final disposition.
Arranged alphabetically by locality. Box 557 location: 390/45/29/05
Survey Reports of War Damage to Historical and Cultural Structures in the American Zone 1945-1948
Registers include locality name, historical or cultural structures, description of value, and assessment of war damage incurred.
Arranged by zone and thereunder by locality. Box 558 location: 390/45/29/06
{1}Return to text During and after the war Ardelia Hall served as a Monuments, Fine Arts, and Archives adviser to the Department of State and as a Monuments, Fine Arts, and Archives officer in Europe. Researchers may find of interest her works: "The Recovery of Cultural Objectives Dispersed during World War II" Department of State Bulletin 25 no. 635 (27 August 1951): 337-345 and "U.S. Program for Return of Historic Objects to Countries of Origin 1944-1954" Department of State Bulletin 31 No. 797 (4 October 1954): 493-498.
{2}Return to text The "Ahnenerbe" Organization was created by H. Himmler as an SS research foundation for the purpose of furnishing scientific underpinnings for the Nazi doctrine of Germanic superiority. During the war the "Ahnenerbe" went in for the looting of cultural objects on a grandiose scale. Many millions worth of scientific collections and libraries, archival material, archaeological finds, miscellaneous works of art, the contents of entire museums, were shipped to Germany. The "Ahnenerbe" operated chiefly in Poland, Southern Russia and Lorraine, but also in Yugoslavia, Austria, Italy, France, and the Netherlands. The "Ahnenerbe" was founded on July 1, 1935, and incorporated on November 19th of the same year. In 1937, the dean of the philosophical faculty and later rector of Munich University, SS Hauptsturmfuhrer Professor Dr. Walther Wust became its president and curator, and Wolfram Sievers the business manager. For all practical purposes Sievers was the acting head of the organization. The stated aim of the "Ahnenerbe" was the systematic exploration of the Northern Indogermanic race and its achievements. This was to be accomplished by the unified coordination of all separate disciplines of letters and sciences bearing upon the "living space," spirit, achievements and heritage of the Indo-Germanic people.
{3}Return to text Researchers may find useful Walter I. Farmer, "Custody and Controversy at the Wiesbaden Collecting Point," in Elizabeth Simpson, ed., The Spoils of War, op. cit. pp. 131-134.
{4}Return to text Initially the Einsatzstab Reichsleiter Rosenberg (ERR) limited itself to confiscating libraries and archives in occupied countries belonging to political opponents. In September 1940 the ERR was instructed to confiscate precious objects and to transport them to Germany. Financed by the Nazi Party, the ERR's early confiscations benefited the Hochschule, the training school for the Party administrators. Goering started to use the ERR for his own ends early in the fall of 1940. In November 1940 he ordered the ERR to confiscate art collections owned by Jews in the Occupied Zone of France. Baron Kurt von Behr was the ERR's director in France and worked closely with Goering. .
{5}Return to text Hermann Goering's secretary.
{6}Return to text Owner of art auction houses at Munich and Vienna, through which passed many objects of art confiscated by the Dienststelle Muehlman in Holland.
{7}Return to text General Director of the Bavarian State Museums.
{8}Return to text Director of the Goering Collection and Goering's chief purchasing agent.
{9}Return to text Prominent Munich art dealer.
{10}Return to text The German Commission for the Protection of Works of Art in the Occupied Countries (under direction of the German Army High Command), better known as the Kunstschutz, was led by Count Franz Wolff-Metternich, a former art history professor at the University of Cologne. It was established May 11, 1940, and charged with compiling a list of artworks located in the war zone and protecting them in the name of the army of occupation and in conformity with international agreements. Wolff-Metternich was subsequently dismissed for defying Goering.
{11}Return to text Researchers should find useful Craig Hugh Smyth "The Establishment of the Munich Collecting Point," in Elizabeth Simpson, ed., The Spoils of War, op. cit. pp. 126-130 and S. Lane Faison, Jr., "Transfer of Custody to the Germans," in ibid., pp. 140-141. Researchers also may find useful Smyth's work Repatriation of Art from the Collecting Point in Munich after World War II: Background and Beginnings, with Reference Especially to the Netherlands (Maarssen/The Hauge: Garry Schwartz/SDU Publishers, 1988).
{12}Return to text Ernst Hanfstaengl, art publisher in Munich and close friend to Hitler.
{13}Return to text Hitler desired to create in Linz, a provincial capital in Alpine Austria, a monumental museum to be made up of a seris of colossal buildings housing the most important European works. In June 1939 Hitler appointed Dr. Hans Posse, then director of the Dresden Museum, to be in sole charge of acquiring art works for the Linz Museum. Posse with a sizeable budge began acquiring works and stockpiling them in the basement of the Fuhrerbau in Munich, the massive building that serve as Hitler's headquarters there. By the end of the war Posse had acquired, often with the assistance of the ERR, more than eight thousand items.
{14}Return to text State Secretary for the Arts.
{15}Return to text Haberstock, a German art dealer, served as art adviser to Hitler and as a member of the Commission on Degenerate Art.
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