Ethical conduct in the museum sector has become an increasingly important topic in national and international circles in recent years. In fact, the International Council of Museums (ICOM) already issued the “ICOM Code of Ethics” in 1986. In cooperation between ICOM and the former Magdeburg Coordination Office (now German Lost Art Foundation), officials drew up a checklist outlining a “Code of Ethics for Museums”. It emphasises the necessity of ethically responsible conduct in the museum sector, summarises the “ICOM Code of Ethics” and provides a list of contact partners. The checklist serves as an introduction to the issue of museum ethics.

On 9 December 1999 Germany implemented the Washington Principles of 1998 with the “Declaration of the German Federal Government, German states and leading municipal associations to locate and return cultural assets confiscated through Nazi persecution, especially those of Jewish ownership”. In this document, commonly referred to as the Joint Declaration, German federal, state and municipal authorities expressed their resolve to “locate and return cultural assets confiscated through Nazi persecution, especially those of Jewish ownership”. In the spirit of the Washington Principles, the parties pledged by way of the responsible committees of relevant public funding organisations to work toward “identifying cultural assets which were confiscated through Nazi persecution, ascribing them to their respective victims, and returning them to the legitimate former owners or heirs upon individual assessment”.

Declaration of consent (for found objects) - The German Lost Art Foundation accepts search reports and found reports from private individuals and institutions for cultural assets that were removed, relocated or confiscated, particularly from Jewish owners, as a result of the National Socialist regime or the Second World War, or for which a history of loss cannot be ruled out due to gaps in provenance. More

Declaration of consent (for lost objects/collection) - The German Lost Art Foundation accepts search reports and found reports from private individuals and institutions for cultural assets that were removed, relocated or confiscated, particularly from Jewish owners, as a result of the National Socialist regime or the Second World War, or for which a history of loss cannot be ruled out due to gaps in provenance. More

Explanatory notes on cultural assets related to the acceding territory

Here you find all facts and figures about the German Lost Art Foundation, its history, structure and tasks.

The Guideline for Provenance Research Funding (regarding cultural property expropriated as a result of Nazi persecution) defines the research basic conditions.

The general principles provide information on the German Lost Art Foundation's procedure for the registration and deletion of reports on www.lostart.de.

The German Federal Government, the Länder (Federal States) and the National Associations of Local Authorities have published guidelines for the implementation of the Washington Principles and the Joint Declaration. These offer legally non-binding guidance for independent provenance research on Nazi-looted cultural assets in public as well as private museums, collections, libraries and archive. The publication is aimed at those who deal with the handling of cultural assets, and practitioners of provenance research. Those with a general interest in the field of cultural assets seized by the National Socialists will find an overview of the subject and further information.

The paper outlines the framework for a funding concept for into Cultural Assets Seized in the Soviet Occupation Zone and the GDR.