Germany - Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung
Looted art and the art market
A court decision has forced the Brücke Museum in Berlin to return Ernst Ludwig Kirchner's painting "Street scenes" to the heirs of its former owner, Alfred Hess.
According to Heinrich Wefing, it was not clearly established that the picture actually was looted by the Nazis. In the paper's leading article he complains that it is becoming increasingly difficult for museums to defend themselves against restitution claims.
"Martin Roth, the general director of the Museums of Dresden, recently voiced the suspicion that 'there is currently a coordinated strategy aimed at uncovering looted art because the market needs fresh merchandise'. It's certainly noticeable that none of the recently returned works of art remained in the hands of the heirs for long. All of them were quickly auctioned off. But providing new merchandise for the art market should not be the purpose of a restitution policy which is supposedly aimed at making amends for past crimes. The time has come to readjust the balance between the interests of former owners and the interests of museums."
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