Module II – Property looted during the National Socialist era
Dates: 23, 24, 30, 31 January and 20, 21, 27, 28 February 2026
Teaching languages: French (FR) and English (ENG)
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Presentation
Between 1933 and 1945, when the National Socialist regime was in power in Germany and other countries in Europe were occupied by the Nazis, numerous objects were looted, stolen, acquired at a low price and/or confiscated from its rightful owner. Many items are still circulating on the art market today and/or are kept in public museums, without their current owners being aware of it. In such a context, the identification of these items has become an imperative for public museum institutions, which are subject to a duty of care under the ICOM Code of ethics.
Provenance research has become one of the main disciplines of museum work. It refers to investigations designed to retrace the history of an object, whatever its nature, from its creation or discovery. More particularly, it aims to establish the changes of ownership between 1933 and 1945 and to ensure, in accordance with the "Washington Principles", that the object was not taken under duress from its rightful owner. The fundamental issue lies in the search for just and equitable solutions. To do this, it is necessary to take into account all the sources, surveys and research carried out to then document the results in an understandable way.
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Objectives of Module II
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At the end of the training, participants will have acquired knowledge about:
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the role of the Swiss Confederation and the current state of provenance research of looted property during the time of National Socialism in Switzerland;
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the historical and political context;
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the actors and actresses of provenance research;
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the approaches to provenance research and the terminology specific to the discipline;
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the formal analysis of assets and sources as well as their critical treatment;
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the digital research tools for provenance research;
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the moral, political and ethical issues related to provenance research;
Course programme of the 2026 edition (subject to modification)​
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January 23 & 24 2026
Introduction to provenance research & Case study « Cornelius Gurlitt // Karl Ballmer » | Dr. Carolin Lange, affiliated scholar at the Institut für die Geschichte der deutschen Juden, University of Hamburg (DE) and co-founder Lange & Schmutz Provenienzrecherchen GmbH (Biel/Bienne, Switzerland)
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January 30 2026
The current context of provenance research in France, the main archive collections & case study on the Möbel-Aktion | Camille Noé Marcoux, historian and independent provenance researcher, Paris (FR)
​Archival Sources in Swiss Archives | Prof. Dr. Stefanie Mahrer, professor specializing in modern European, Swiss, and Jewishhistory, Universities of Bern and Basel (CH).
Case study « Hugo Simon & Rita Janett » | Dr. Carolin Lange
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January 31 2026
« Hugo Simon & Rita Janett »: Case Study of a Research Case, an Exhibition, and a Mediation | Dr. phil. Nicole Seeberger, administrative director, Bündner Kunstmuseum, Chur (CH) & Dr. Carolin Lange
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February 20 2026
Jewish Communal Property in Hamburg during National Socialism | Hendrik Althoff, Institute for the History of German Jews, University of Hamburg (DE).
Bringing ‚Jewish‘ Objects home to Israel after WWII: The creation of the Israel Museum | Avishag Ben-Yosef, MA student and research associate at the Department of Jewish History and Contemporary Jewry, Hebrew University in Jerusalem (IL)
‚Jewish‘ Apartments in Paris during the German Occupation | Dr. Sarah Gensburger, sociologist, Holocaust specialist, research fellow at the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS) in political science, Paris (FR)
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February 21 2026
Personal Perception of the Shoah of ‚Ordinary‘ Germans | Dr. Carolin Lange
Collecting Personal Material of the Hungarian Holocaust | Dr. Andràs Szecsenyi, Research Department of the Historical Archives of the Hungarian State Security (HU)
OFP Project (Rep. 36A Oberfinanzpräsident Berlin-Brandenburg (II)) | Dominic Strieder, archivist, Brandenburgisches Landeshauptarchiv (BLHA), Berlin (DE)
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February 27 2026
A different kind of source: photographs | Tal Bruttmann, historian specializing in the Holocaust, University of Cergy (FR) & Dr. Christoph Kreutzmüller, historian, Freie Universität Berlin, Selma Stern Zentrum für Jüdische Studien Berlin-Brandenburg (DE)
Applications to the Federal Office of Culture and project management | Dr. Thomas Schmutz, co-founder of Lange & Schmutz Provenienzrecherchen GmbH (Biel/Bienne) et full professor at the Institute of Art History and Museology at the University of Neuchâtel (CH).
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February 28 2026
​Art & Law: Forced Sales, involuntary losses, flight goods from a legal perspective | Dr. Mara Wantuch-Thole, lawyer in the art sector (DE)
Exam & conclusion
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