“High-quality cultural assets or valuable art treasures (especially valuable art collections)”, as stated in the official instructions, were initially excluded from auctions. The Reichsfinanzminister (Reich Minister of Finance) had to be consulted when deciding on the fate of art treasures and valuable art collections. These cultural assets, which were classified as valuable, usually went directly to state institutions such as the “Sonderauftrag LinzThe „Sonderauftrag Linz“ (Special Commission Linz) Adolf Hitler’s project to collect art for a planned “Führermuseum” (Museum for the Führer) in Linz. More” or museums.

“Antique furniture, genuine carpets, paintings by recognised masters, valuable porcelain” were regularly transferred by the Nazi financial administration to the Hans W. Lange auction house. Auctioneer Hans Lange therefore played a special role in the “Verwertung“Verwertung” (liquidation) refers to all measures taken by the Reich financial administration to transfer stolen assets to the state treasury and, if necessary, convert material goods into cash. More” of valuable art objects on behalf of the Vermögensverwertungsstelle.

The information in the files of the Vermögensverwertungsstelle is particularly detailed when the objects were handed over to Lange’s auction house or to state institutions. In these cases, there are usually parallel records of the cultural assets in addition to the information in the Nazi financial administration’s documents, such as the information in Lange’s auction catalogues, which contain important information for provenance researchProvenance research (from Latin provenire: to come from) investigates the origin of objects, their changes of ownership, and the paths they have taken.. This allows researchers to find the titles of artworks, the names of the artists, dimensions and, in some cases, illustrations of the works.