I recently tackled the public discussion in Germany about whether to rename the Stiftung Preussischer Kulturbesitz, the foundation that oversees the State Museums of Berlin and some of the most remarkable collections in the world. Readers of the Art Law Report will know this name well, the SPK is the defendant in the lawsuit brought by my clients for the restitution of the Welfenschatz, or Guelphe Treasure, that the Supreme Court heard in 2020. While I've never been shy about criticizing the SPK about its approach in our our case (which is on appeal, briefs here and here), this piece addresses a different question. Namely, what place does the name "Prussia" have in the 21st century? For anyone like me who still thinks about the historical sliding doors of the Grossdeutschelösung and Kleindeutschelösungdebate of the 19th century about how to unite the German-speaking states and duchies, this piece is for you.
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Topics:
Holy Roman Empire,
Prussia,
"Elephant Mural",
Martin Luther,
Stiftung Preussischer Kulturbesitz,
Sueddeutsche Zeitung,
Hermann Goering,
Der Spiegel,
Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation,
Andy Warhol,
Welfenschatz,
Humboldt Forum,
C. Montgomery Burns,
Claudia Roth,
Siam,
Sigismund of Luxembourg,
Friedrich VI,
Hohenzollern,
Brandenburg,
Kaliningrad,
Augustus II the Strong,
Nefertiti,
Pergamon Altar,
Annalena Bärbock,
Monika Grütters,
Götz Aly,
Joseph Beuys,
Königsberg,
Nazism,
Konrad Adenauer,
Hermann Parzinger,
Luf Boat,
Bild
Debate has peaked in the last year or so about the treatment and possible restitution of so-called colonial artifacts in Western (i.e., European and North American) museums. The conversation is important for many reasons, but one interesting facet is the way in which the discussion moved from a peripheral topic to one consuming high-level government attention in a very short amount of time. In the process, institutions that have been devoted for well over a century to artistic, archeologic, and ethnographic displays have found themselves in a very public conversation about the future and even the validity of their mission. This discourse culminated last fall in a report commissioned by President Emmanuel Macron, authored by Bénédicte Savoy of France and Felwine Sarr of Senegal, recommending (among other things, as discussed below), that objects sent to France should be returned if the country of origin requests it. Germany has now joined the conversation with the announcement of a collective declaration addressed to the collection of German federal and state museums.
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Topics:
Berlin,
ICOM,
Deutsches Zentrum Kulturgutverluste,
Germany,
Washington Principles on Nazi-Confiscated Art,
SPK,
Stiftung Preussischer Kulturbesitz,
International Council of Museums,
1970 UNESCO Convention,
Monika Grütters,
Art Law Report,
Capital Requirements Regulation,
Bénédicte Savoy,
Felwine Sarr,
Emmanuel Macron,
Humboldt Forum,
Unter den Linden,
Stadtschloss,
Frederick the Great,
East Germany,
Volkskammer,
Collective Declaration,
Dahlem,
Nama,
Namibia,
Federal Ministry of Culture, Media, and Sport,
Länder,
German South West Africa,
Deutsches Zentrum Kulturverluste,
Ethnological Museum,
Gemäldegalerie,
Staatliche Museen zu Berlin,
Herero
