Nazi Art Looting in the Records of the Vermögensverwertungsstelle Berlin
Chronicle
The chronicle places the confiscationBy confiscating assets, government officials initially deprived owners of the authority to dispose of their bank accounts, household furnishings, securities, etc., which were placed under state administration. More of property between 1933 and 1945 within the context of the Nazi regime’s wider persecution measures and provides an overview of how the Federal Republic of Germany dealt with confiscatedBy confiscating assets, government officials initially deprived owners of the authority to dispose of their bank accounts, household furnishings, securities, etc., which were placed under state administration. More property after 1945.
Adolf Hitler is appointed Reich chancellor. The National Socialists immediately begin transforming the state into an authoritarian regime. Political opponents and Jewish people are arrested and attacked.
The Nazi party newspaper Der Angriff announces Hitler’s appointment as Reich chancellor and the appointment of high‑ranking National Socialists as ministers. Mabit1, CC0 Share Alike 4.0. Der Angriff, 30 January 1933. Wikimedia, Mabit1, CC0 Share Alike 4.0 „Der Angriff“ vom 30. Januar 1933.
The Nazi Party organises a nationwide boycott of shops owned by Jewish proprietors. Party members position themselves in front of the shops and harass or attack owners and customers.
7 April 1933
With the Gesetz zur Wiederherstellung des Berufsbeamtentums (Law for the Restoration of the Professional Civil Service), Jewish civil servants are removed from public service.
26 May 1933
The Gesetz über die Einziehung kommunistischen Vermögens (Law on the Confiscation of Communist Property) allows the Nazi state to seize the assets of communist organisations and their members.
14 July 1933
The Gesetz über die Einziehung volks- und staatsfeindlichen Vermögens (Law on the Confiscation of Assets Hostile to People and State) and the Gesetz über den Widerruf von Einbürgerungen und die Aberkennung der deutschen Staatsangehörigkeit (Law on the Revocation of Naturalisations and the Deprivation of German Citizenship) are passed on the same day Learn more about the laws here
August 1933
The Finanzamt Moabit-West (Moabit‑West Tax Office) becomes responsible nationwide for the “Verwertung” (liquidation) of forfeited assets belonging to those persecuted through denaturalisation.
23 August 1933
The first denaturalisation list is published in the Reichsanzeiger. Among those denaturalised are primarily writers and political functionaries. Their property is confiscated.
First denaturalisation list in the Reichsanzeiger, 25 August 1933. Deutscher Reichsanzeiger und Preußischer Staatsanzeiger 1933, no. 198, p. 1
22 September 1933
The Reich Chamber of Culture is founded. It becomes the umbrella organisation for all those working in the cultural sector and is divided into seven individual chambers (e.g. the Reich Chamber of Fine Arts). Membership is compulsory. Jewish artists, art dealers, and experts are gradually excluded. Exclusion from the chamber effectively amounts to a professional ban.
1935
15 September 1935
The “Nürnberger Gesetze” (Nuremberg Laws) come into force. The regulations define who is considered Jewish under the legislation. Jewish Germans now have a special, inferior civic status.
1936
26 May 1936
Anyone who cannot provide proof of their ‘Aryan’ ancestry from this point on is excluded from the chambers of the Reich Chamber of Culture. By this time at the latest, Jewish individuals persecuted under National Socialism can no longer work in the cultural sector.
1937
July and August 1937
As part of the “Entartete Kunst” (degenerate art) confiscation campaign, the National Socialists remove around 20,000 works of modern art from one hundred German museums. The exhibition Entartete Kunst opens on 19 July 1937 in Munich and publicly defames numerous modern artists and their works.
1938
The Verordnung über die Anmeldung des Vermögens von Juden (Ordinance on the Registration of Jewish Property) obliges Jewish individuals to submit a detailed declaration of their assets to their local tax office. 21
First page of the form Verzeichnis über das Vermögen von Juden (inventory of Jewish property) submitted by Nina Kugel, who had fled Berlin, 29 July 1938. BLHA, Rep. 36A (II) no. 20713, fol. 21
26 April 1938
The Verordnung über die Anmeldung des Vermögens von Juden (Ordinance on the Registration of Jewish Property) obliges Jewish individuals to submit a detailed declaration of their assets to their local tax office.
18 June 1938
Adolf Hitler secures privileged access to confiscated art collections in Austria, creating the basis for the collection intended for the planned “Führermuseum”.
18 August 1938
Beginning 1 January 1939, Jewish Germans who do not have a first name that is “anerkannt jüdisch” (recognised as Jewish) are required to additionally use the compulsory names Israel or Sara. This is intended to make Jewish people easier to identify.
8–10 November 1938
The National Socialists initiate a nationwide anti‑Jewish pogrom. Antisemites destroy and loot shops, homes, and synagogues and physically attack Jewish people.
Form Bescheid über die Judenvermögensabgabe (assessment of the levy on Jewish property) issued to Adam Simon, who had fled Germany. Issued by the Finanzamt Moabit-West, 17 April 1939. BLHA, Rep. 36A (II) no. 292, fol. 48
November–December 1938
Under the Verordnung zur Ausschaltung der Juden aus dem deutschen Wirtschaftsleben (Decree on the Exclusion of Jews from German Economic Life), issued in the wake of the November pogroms, Jewish people were forced to sell their businesses, mostly at below market value. They were also required to pay the "Judenvermögensabgabe" (Jewish Property Levy) to cover the damage caused by the pogroms perpetrated by the anti-Semitic mob.
1939
1 June 1939
The “Sonderauftrag Linz” (Special Commission Linz) is established to assemble artworks for the planned “Führermuseum” in Linz. Staff members draw preferentially on looted art and cultural property.
1 September 1939
The German Wehrmacht invades Poland. During the campaign, the Germans immediately begin murdering and persecuting Polish elites, people with disabilities, and Polish Jews.
15 September 1939
An export ban for “national wertvolle Kunstwerke” (nationally valuable artworks) is issued to prevent people fleeing persecution from taking valuable artworks abroad.
1940
Stamp of the leadership of the Einsatzstab Reichsleiter Rosenberg, c. 1941–1944. Public domain, Wikimedia Commons.
5 July 1940
The Einsatzstab (task force) Reichsleiter Rosenberg is established, led by Nazi party ideologue Alfred Rosenberg. Initially tasked with registering “Jewish cultural property”, it quickly develops into a central institution for the systematic looting of art, cultural objects, and household furnishings in the territories occupied by Germany.
1941
8 July 1941
A decree of the Reichsfinanzministeriums (Reich Ministry of Finance) allows the household goods of Jewish refugees to be auctioned even without completed denaturalisation. Liftvans im Bremer Freihafen. Liftvans in the free port of Bremen. Such crates were used to pack the removal goods of people who had fled Germany. StAB 10. B‑FN‑9‑71 12
22 June 1941
The German Wehrmacht invades the Soviet Union. The campaign deliberately targets the civilian population. Immediately following the military operations, “Einsatzgruppen” of the German police, supported by the Wehrmacht, murder more than half a million Jewish people, as well as Sinti and Roma, prisoners of war, and communist party officials.
Liftvans in the free port of Bremen. Such crates were used to pack the removal goods of people who had fled Germany. StAB 10. B‑FN‑9‑71 12
8 July 1941
A decree of the Reichsfinanzministeriums (Reich Ministry of Finance) allows the household goods of Jewish refugees to be auctioned even without completed denaturalisation.
19 September 1941
Jewish people in the German Reich aged six and above must wear the “Judenstern” (yellow star) in public.
October 1941
Mass deportations of Jewish people from Germany begin. The first deportation train leaves Berlin on 18 October. Shortly afterwards, all Jewish people in Germany are forbidden to emigrate.
October 1941
The household furnishings left behind by those deported on the first transport are publicly auctioned inside the apartments by court bailiffs. Afterwards, retailers take over the sale of the remaining items.
4 November 194
The Reichsfinanzministerium assigns the local Oberfinanzpräsident (Senior Finance President) responsibility for organising and carrying out the plundering of the assets left behind by deported Jewish people. Learn more about the Oberfinanzpräsidenten here
25 November 1941
With the Elfte Verordnung zum Reichsbürgergesetz (Eleventh Ordinance to the Reich Citizenship Law), all Jewish people abroad are stripped of their German citizenship. Their property becomes the immediate property of the Reich. This applies both to refugees and to deported individuals. Learn more about the laws here
Circular from the Reich Association of Jews in Germany regarding the circular “Restrictions on the Disposal of Jewish Movable Property” dated 27 November 1941. Berlin State Archives, A Rep. 093-03 No. 54682, fol. 268
27 November 1941
Jewish people are forbidden to give away or sell their movable property without official permission.
1942
January 1942
The Vermögensverwertungsstelle (Asset Liquidation Office) at the OFP Berlin is established. It takes over the cases and staff of the Ausbürgerungsabteilung (Denaturalisation Department) at the Finanzamt Moabit‑West (Moabit-West Tax Office).
20 January 1942
At the Wannsee Conference, representatives of the Reich government and the Nazi Party coordinate the organisation of the murder of Jewish people within the Nazi sphere of power.
April 1942
Responsibility for the plundering of political opponents – what the National Socialists called “Reichsfeinde” (enemies of the Reich) – within Germany is transferred to the Reich financial administration. Until then, the Gestapo in the federal states had been responsible.
December 1942
The Hauptwirtschaftsamt (Main Economic Office) of the city of Berlin takes over the household furnishings of deported Berlin Jews from the Vermögensverwertungsstelle. The items are distributed to the Berlin population.
1943
16 July 1943
With another Führervorbehalt (Führer’s prerogative), Adolf Hitler secures privileged access to looted art collections throughout the German Reich.
1945
8 May 1945
The German Reich surrenders. Around 6,000 to 8,000 Jewish people are still living in Berlin.
1949
26 July 1949
The Allied Kommandatura issues an order requiring that all identifiable assets be returned to victims of National Socialist persecution. Extract from the Verordnungsblatt für Groß‑Berlin, 3 August 1949, containing the ordinance of the Allied Kommandatura Berlin BK/O (49) of 26 July 1949
26 July 1949
The Allied Kommandatura issues an order requiring that all identifiable assets be returned to victims of National Socialist persecution.
1953
18 September 1953
The Bundesgesetz zur Entschädigung für Opfer der nationalsozialistischen Verfolgung (Federal Law on Compensation for Victims of National Socialist Persecution) is enacted in the Federal Republic of Germany. Claims could also be made for “Schaden an Vermögen” (damage to property). Letter from the Berlin Wiedergutmachungsämter (Restitution Offices), 13 April 1972. BLHA, Rep. 36A (II) no. 24496, fol. 81 81
18 September 1953
The Bundesgesetz zur Entschädigung für Opfer der nationalsozialistischen Verfolgung (Federal Law on Compensation for Victims of National Socialist Persecution) is enacted in the Federal Republic of Germany. Claims could also be made for “Schaden an Vermögen” (damage to property).
1957
19 July 1957
The Bundesgesetz zur Regelung der rückerstattungsrechtlichen Geldverbindlichkeiten des Deutschen Reichs und gleichgestellter Rechtsträger (Federal Law Regulating Restitution‑Related Monetary Obligations of the German Reich and Equivalent Legal Entities) governs the return of assets taken from victims of Nazi persecution.
1998
3 March 1998
At the Washington Conference in 1998, forty-four states – including Germany – agree on eleven principles for dealing with cultural property confiscated as a result of Nazi persecution.
1999
9 December 1999
In the Gemeinsame Erklärung (Joint Declaration), the German federal government, the federal states, and municipalities commit themselves to implementing the Washington Principles in practice.
2003
14 July 2003
The Beratende Kommission (Advisory Commission) is established as an independent body to issue recommendations in disputed restitution cases. It is intended to enable fair solutions when claimants and public institutions cannot reach agreement.
2008
2008
For the first time, the German federal government provides targeted funding for the systematic research of cultural property confiscated as a result of Nazi persecution. Museums, archives, and libraries can now apply for provenance research projects.
2015
2015
The Deutsches Zentrum Kulturgutverluste (German Lost Art Foundation) is established as a nationwide institution for supporting and coordinating provenance research.
2025
1. December 2025
The German federal government, the federal states, and municipalities establish a new arbitration court for disputes concerning cultural property confiscated as a result of Nazi persecution. It replaces the Advisory Commission.
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