Museums and provenance research
The publication of the art and cultural objects in the Art Database of the National Fund takes place in co-operation with the museums and collections of the Federal Republic of Austria and the City of Vienna, as well as with the institutions of Austrian provenance research. Here you can find information on these institutions, including a description of their activities for provenance research. If you have further questions, please contact the institutions listed directly (see contact at museums).
The results of provenance research conducted so far, as well as details of the objects already restituted, can be found in the Restitution Reports, available online (see reports).
Albertina
In the Albertina, Maren Gröning carried out provenance research for the period 1938–1960 actively between 1998 and 2000 and as required between 2000 and 2009. During this time, 49 reports regarding 317 works were submitted to the Commission for Provenance Research. Of these, 163 objects were restituted, ...(details)
Austrian National Library
In accordance with the Art Restitution Law (Federal Law Gazette I 181/1998) the Austrian National Library presented its provenance report on illegal acquisitions during the era of National Socialism in early December 2003. The report was preceded by careful and detailed research into all questionable holdings. Around ...(details)
Austrian Theatre Museum
The Austrian Theatre Museum owns a large number of objects, mostly in mixed lots, from the period in question whose origins are uncertain or unknown. They include photographs, prints, hand drawings and, to a lesser extent, possibly also oil paintings and objects from estates and collections of scripts and ... (details)
Belvedere
The Belvedere systematically investigates the provenance of all acquisitions from 1938 to 2006. The research is based around a provenance database, which will be accessible on the Internet in the near future. to date, 57 collection dossiers have been compiled and the Art Restitution Advisory Board has already ...(details)
MAK – Austrian Museum of Applied Arts/Contemporary Art
During the era of National Socialism, the then State Museum of Applied Arts in Vienna inventoried over 4,200 art objects, more than 4,600 art prints and around 2,000 books. A complete and detailed examination of these acquisitions is the medium-term goal of provenance research in the MAK. The objects inventoried after 1945 ...(details)
Museum of Art History
The Federal Law of 4 December 1998 on the Restitution of Art Objects (Federal Law Gazette I, No. 181/1998) was enacted with the aim of returning art objects from Austrian federal museums and collections, which had come into the ownership of the Federation during or as a result of National Socialist tyranny, to the original owners ...(details)
Museum of Ethnology
The aim of provenance research in the Museum of Ethnology in Vienna is to verify the acquisitions during the Nazi era from 1938 to 1945 and those after the war. The research focuses on ethnographic items from various regions in the world, books, photographs and pictures. Not all of the dossiers established to date have been submitted to ...(details)
Museum of Military History
The Museum of Military History/Institute of Military History was ordered by Ministerial Degree No. 154 of 15 April 1998 to conduct research, like the museums of the Republic of Austria subordinate at the time to the Federal Ministry of Education and Art, into the "correct acquisition" of cultural items by its collections between ...(details)
Natural History Museum
More that 20 million objects are stored in the Natural History Museum; the collections comprise specimens of animals, plants, minerals, rocks and fossils as well as anthropological specimens. Since the enactment of the Art Restitution Act, 1998 (Federal Law Gazette I, 181/1998), the holdings of the NHM have been reviewed ...(details)
Technical Museum Vienna with Austrian Mediathek
Over 1,000 objects and over 750 books were inventoried in the Technical Museum Vienna during the National Socialism era. Provenance research at this museum focuses on verifying how these objects were acquired. The acquisitions by the museum since 1945 are also beeing systematically checked ...(details)
Tyrolean Provincial Museum Ferdinandeum
The Tyrolean Provincial Museum Ferdinandeum has also received art and cultural property from Jewish ownership, which had been seized by the National Socialist Regime. From 1938, the former Institute for the Preservation of Monuments in Vienna circulated object lists, with the help of which it was possible to compile ...(details)
Universalmuseum Joanneum
In early April 1998, a work group consisting of museum employees and designated Acquisitions and Restitutions from Jewish ownership 1938-1955 was established at the Landesmuseum Joanneum. Its task was to examine file materials from the National Socialist and post-war eras with a view to assessing whether objects ...(details)
Upper Austrian Provincial Museums
The Upper Austrian Provincial Museums have been carrying out provenance research since 1999. After an initial internal report had been compiled in the year 2000, the University of Linz was commissioned to carry out a research project on the subject of... (details)
Vienna City Library
The Vienna City Library (formerly Vienna Municipal and Provincial Library) was founded in 1856. Although it was not centrally involved in the organised looting of books and libraries during the National Socialist era, like other institutions it also strove to acquire objects cheaply or free of charge, mostly confiscated or seized ...(details)
Vienna Museum
The City of Vienna is seeking the former owners of art and cultural objects looted during the National Socialist era. It would like to return the objects currently in its possession to their original owners and is therefore asking for the assistance of the citizens of Vienna in identifying them. On 29 April 1999 the Vienna City Council adopted ...(details)
Vienna University Library
In 2004, the University Library Vienna became the first university library in Austria to establish a project for provenance research. Although its holdings do not fall under the scope of application of the Kunstrückgabegesetz ("Art Restitution Law"), the University Library Vienna decided ... (details)