Looted Assets – Flight Assets

International conference on provenance research in the field of string instruments and the role of Switzerland in the instrument trade since the 1930s More than 20 years after the recommendations of the Washington Conference Principles formulated in 1998 with regard to cultural property confiscated by the Nazi, provenance research has established itself primarily in the museum sector and in art history, and has been able to show considerable results in some cases. Provenance research on looted musical instruments is just as little systematised as in other fields. Researchers are confronted with numerous obstacles, not least because basic research, such as the opening and indexing of relevant archives, is still a desideratum in many places. Moreover, this particular field of research requires multidisciplinary expertise. It makes sense to choose an interdisciplinary approach for a profitable reappraisal and to bring together experts from the fields of provenance research, history and jurisprudence, violin making and instrument trade, music and musicology as well as restoration and art technology. This conference is intended to make a lasting contribution to this professional networking. Program (pdf, subject to changes) THEMENFELD 1 / PANEL 1 Die historischen Hintergründe / The historical background THEMENFELD 2 / PANEL 2 Der europäische Handel mit Streichinstrumenten während und nach dem Zweiten Weltkrieg / The European trade in String instruments during and after World War 2 THEMENFELD 3 – PANEL 3 Die Provenienzforschung im Sammlungskontext: Geschichte – Methoden – Erfolge / Provenance Research in the Context of Collections: History – Methods – Successes THEMENFELD 4 – PANEL 4 Aspekte der Provenienzforschung über Streichinstrumente / Aspects of provenance research on string instruments

Picture: Violins confiscated from Jews being stored and examined in the Ghetto bank on Ciesielska Street, Łódź, 1942 (Photo: Mendel Grossman, © YIVO Archive, New York)