Museums are listed in the files of the Vermögensverwertungsstelle as direct purchasers of looted art and cultural assets.

Learn more here about the theft of art and cultural property

In some cases, museums enjoyed a privileged position. The Vermögensverwertungsstelle informed them about cultural assets it had 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 that were classified as valuable. This allowed them and other state cultural institutions to access these objects before they were auctioned off.

For example, in 1942, the Focke Museum in Bremen acquired a Baroque chest of drawers from Ernst Georg Zadek’s household goods stored in Bremen’s free port before it was publicly auctioned.

In addition to this direct access to 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 cultural assets, museums were also able to acquire these objects indirectly. Works of art purchased by art and antiques dealers at auctions held by the Nazi financial administration often found their way indirectly into public collections.