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Swiss Museum to Accept Nazi-era Art Trove

A museum in Switzerland has decided to accept hundreds of artworks from the son of a Nazi-era art dealer. German authorities seized a priceless collection of 1,280 artworks in 2012, hidden in an apartment in the city of Munich. Many of the works were looted from Jewish families across Europe by the Nazis.

The collection of paintings was discovered by tax inspectors who were searching the Munich apartment of Cornelius Gurlitt, son of Adolf Hitler’s art dealer Hildebrand Gurlitt in 2012.

Cornelius Gurlitt died in May this year - and named the Bern Art Museum in Switzerland as his ‘sole heir’. President of the museum’s Board of Trustees Christoph Schaeublin announced Monday it would accept some of the artworks.

Schaeublin said the decision was far from easy for the board of trustees. He added there were certainly no feelings of triumph, which would be absolutely inappropriate in light of the art collection's history.

Among the works are paintings by Pablo Picasso and Pierre-Auguste Renoir. The Bern Art Museum said it would not accept looted artworks, and pledged to help return stolen paintings to their rightful owners.

That will not be an easy task, says Christopher Marinello of Art Recovery International in London, which specializes in stolen and disputed artworks.

“It is extremely difficult to identify and prove a claim to Nazi-looted artwork. Many of these people were fleeing for their lives and the last thing they were about to do is grab a box of receipts," said Marinello.

An agreement known as the "Washington Principles" aims to make it easier for claimants to prove ownership of stolen art. German authorities have struggled to deal with the fallout of the extraordinary find in 2012, says Marinello.

“There is a lot to be learned in this case and the way it was handled for the next time. And I do believe there will be a next time. We have not seen the last of hordes of Nazi-looted works of art," he said.

The recovery of some of the art looted by the Nazis was dramatized in the 2013 movie The Monuments Men, starring George Clooney.

Earlier this year, a photo album depicting such stolen masterpieces was donated to the United States’ National Archives.

Eighty-eight-year-old Harry Ettlinger was one of the original Monuments Men - six soldiers from a US Army unit tasked with recovering thousands of looted artworks at the end of World War 2, some of them hidden inside salt mines. He recalled his first mission.

“The first one happened to contain the stained glass windows from the cathedral of Strasbourg, and [General Dwight] Eisenhower made a big deal about it, rightfully so, and it was my job to go down into the mine and have miners help me get those boxes up and put on trucks to be returned," said Ettlinger.

Nearly 70 years after that mission, the hunt continues for more priceless art.

【參考譯文】

德國收藏者去世 珍貴藏品捐給瑞士美術(shù)館

瑞士一家美術(shù)館說，將接受一名德國人捐贈(zèng)的珍貴藝術(shù)品收藏。這些珍品中有些據(jù)信是納粹從猶太人手裡劫掠的。

瑞士伯爾尼美術(shù)館星期一表示將把這些畫作納入館藏，但會(huì)確保歸還納粹德國從猶太人手裡奪走的藝術(shù)品。

德國當(dāng)局2012年在調(diào)查稅務(wù)的時(shí)候，從德國人古爾利特在慕尼黑的公寓中拿走了1200多件藏品。

古爾利特表示這些畫都是他父親通過合法手段獲得的。古爾利特的父親曾是希特勒的藝術(shù)品經(jīng)紀(jì)人，幫助希特勒從博物館和猶太收藏者手裡奪取藝術(shù)品。很多猶太收藏者在二戰(zhàn)中死于納粹集中營。

古爾利特今年5月去世，終年81歲。據(jù)法新社報(bào)道，古爾利特生前對(duì)德國政府如此對(duì)他感到憤怒，他因此立下遺囑，將所有藏品捐給瑞士伯爾尼美術(shù)館而不是德國的任何一家博物館。他捐贈(zèng)的藏品中有畢加索，莫奈和夏加爾等大師的作品。

世界猶太人大會(huì)在伯爾尼美術(shù)館星期一宣佈接受捐贈(zèng)之前說， 伯爾尼美術(shù)館不應(yīng)當(dāng)接受，因?yàn)樗麄儗⒚鎸?duì)很多法律訴訟。

古爾利特的一位親戚表示將對(duì)古爾利特立遺囑時(shí)精神是否正常提出異議，這樣一來，伯爾尼美術(shù)館可能無法立即接收這批藝術(shù)藏品。

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