Provenance research

Since April 1, 2026, the Kunsthalle Bielefeld has been systematically and proactively examining its collection holdings for cultural assets seized as a result of Nazi persecution. The two-year research project focuses on the provenance of 151 paintings and 43 sculptures from the city’s art collection that were acquired between 1933 and 1974.

The official beginnings of the city’s collection history lie in the founding of the “Städtisches Kunsthaus Bielefeld” in 1928. Since this time, the collection has been continuously expanded through acquisitions and donations and kept in corresponding inventory books. The acquisition policy initially focused on works by living German modernist artists. The National Socialist takeover in January 1933 led to the ideologically motivated dismissal of Heinrich Becker, who had until then been the director of the Kunsthaus. Subsequently, the two sculptors Arnold Rickert (term of office: 1933/34) and Georg Hengstenberg (term of office: 1934-1944) were appointed as directors of the Kunsthaus, who, as far as is known to date, promoted an orientation of exhibitions and acquisitions that largely conformed to Nazi cultural policy. As a result of the National Socialist “Degenerate Art” confiscation campaign in 1937, more than 200 works were banned from the Städtisches Kunsthaus and removed from the collection. After the end of the Nazi dictatorship, Heinrich Becker again took over as honorary director before the first full-time director, art historian Gustav Vriesen, was appointed in 1954. Vriesen (period of office: 1954-1960) and his successors Eberhard Pinder (interim period: 1960-1962) and Joachim Wolfgang von Moltke (period of office: 1962-1974) continued to rebuild and reconstruct the collection by specifically acquiring works by predominantly German and French artists of so-called classical modernism.

The aim of the project is to reconstruct the provenances of the 151 paintings and 43 sculptures as completely as possible. If cultural property seized as a result of Nazi persecution is identified, Kunsthalle Bielefeld will publish the affected works in the “Lost Art” research database(www.lostart.de) and seek fair and equitable solutions with today’s rightful owners. A further aim of the research project is to conduct in-depth research into the collection and institutional history of the Kunsthalle Bielefeld and its predecessor institution, particularly for the period of National Socialism. The results will be made available to the public at the end of the research project. Further transparency measures will provide insights into ongoing research during the term of the project.

Provenance research at the Kunsthalle Bielefeld is funded by the German Lost Art Foundation and the Ministry of Culture and Science of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia.

Contact: Jan Giebel, Kunsthalle Bielefeld, giebel@kunsthalle-bielefeld.de, T: +49-(0)521-3299950-55