Provenance research at the Oberhausmuseum

"Provenance" means "the place of origin of something". Provenance research is therefore concerned with the origin of objects – in our case, objects in the collection of the Oberhausmuseum. The museum was founded in 1932 and by 1933 it already had around 1,000 objects, most of which came from its predecessor institution, the municipal museum in Passau’s Old Town Hall.

 
A further 1,400 objects were acquired during the Nazi period between 1933 and 1945. In many cases, it is not clear where the objects came from – but it is extremely important for a museum to know exactly what is in its collection. During the Nazi era, Jews in particular were deprived of their rights and their property was stolen. This means that objects acquired before 1945 could have been Jewish property. It is important for the Oberhausmuseum to clarify exactly where the collection came from. If there are objects in our depots that were confiscated as a result of persecution, we have an ethical and moral obligation either to return them to their rightful owners, or to seek just and fair compensation.
 
The inventory records of the 1,400 objects that entered the museum between 1933 and 1945 are being revised as part of a two-year project. This important preparatory work has not yet been possible due to a lack of human and financial resources.
The local Nazi history, its protagonists, and the fates of the persecuted have also only been rudimentarily analysed. "Aryanisation", the expropriation of Jewish property, and the sale of houses took place after 1933. To what extent did the museum benefit from this? Who were the victims? A systematic study of the acquisition of objects between 1933 and 1945 can therefore make an important contribution not only to the history of the Nazi regime in Passau but also to the history of the city’s Jewish community after 1933.
As part of a so-called “Erstcheck” (initial check) carried out in 2020 and 2021 by the Landesstelle für nichtstaatliche Museen in Bayern (State Office for Non-State Museums in Bavaria), the first objects with problematic provenance have already been identified. Some objects, for example, were acquired at Munich auction houses that are now known to have dealt in looted art, that is, objects stolen from Jews who were pressurised into selling their collections.
 
In addition, there is a collection of 68 objects (22 paintings, 46 prints) that were initially confiscated by the US military authorities in Passau in 1946 and transferred on to the Central Collecting Point (CCP) in Munich. At various Central Collecting Points, including those in Wiesbaden, Marburg, Offenbach and Celle, the Allies collected artefacts that had been moved by the Nazis to castles, fortresses or mine tunnels in order to protect them from bombing. These included the holdings of German museums, but also thousands of objects stolen by the Nazi state – both in the German Reich, e.g. from people who had emigrated or been deported, as well as in the occupied territories. The CCPs returned most of these objects to their rightful owners.
 
However, it remains unclear how the 68 objects mentioned above came into the possession of the city of Passau. The paintings and prints are listed in the Lost Art database, and two of the paintings were successfully restituted to their rightful owners in France in the summer of 2023.
 
The project is funded by the City of Passau, the Landesstelle für nichtstaatliche Museen in Bayern (State Office for Non-State Museums in Bavaria), and the Deutsches Zentrum Kulturgutverluste (German Lost Art Foundation). Accompanying events will take place during the two-year duration of the project, and a special exhibition on the results will be organised at the Oberhausmuseum once the research has been completed. In addition, a detailed final report will be available in the Proveana database, which documents the results of the research projects funded by the Foundation.
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