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Recommendations and binding opinions concerning Nazi looted art

The Restitutions Committee

During Nazi regime (1933-1945), art was stolen on a large scale from mostly Jewish owners. A looted work of art can nowadays be in the possession of the Dutch authorities, a museum or a private person. Do you suspect that an art object used to belong to your family and that it was lost as a result of the Nazi regime? You can then submit a request for restitution to the Advisory Committee on the Assessment of Restitution Applications for Items of Cultural Value and the Second World War (or the Restitutions Committee for short).

I want to submit an application I received a request
  • ‘Claim exhibition’ of paintings, drawings and tapestries in Rijksmuseum Amsterdam, 1950
    ‘Claim exhibition” in the Rijksmuseum Amsterdam, 1950
  • Amerikaanse soldaten tonen roofkunst op het Duitse kasteel Neuschwanstein, 1945
    'Monuments Men' at Neuschwanstein Castle (Bavaria), 1945

Looted Art & Restitutions Committee Documentary

To mark twenty years of Dutch restitution policy, the Restitutions Committee has released its Looted Art & Restitution documentary.

It shows how the Committee does its work and how it prepares recommendations and rulings. The documentary also reveals how emotional the process of unearthing the history associated with an artwork can be for descendants.

Watch the documentary
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Advice on applications for restitution

about the committee

The Restitutions Committee has advised on Nazi looted art in the Netherlands since 2001. It also shares knowledge on the subject through newsletters, lectures, symposia and publications. The Committee was established by the Ministry of Culture, Education and Science but operates independently. It consists of seven members and a secretariat and is based in The Hague.

Meet the Committee
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RECOMMENDATIONS AND BINDING OPINIONS

View the latest recommendations/binding opinions

View all recommendations

  • Binding opinion regarding Stern-Lippmann / Eindhoven City Council II

    Recommendation

    The Committee has assessed an application dated 25 February 2019 for restitution of the painting Blick auf Murnau mit Kirche by the artist Wassily Kandinsky. The request for reconsideration by the Eindhoven City Council and the Applicants was submitted on the grounds of new facts that apparently had emerged from correspondence and lists of artworks that were not previously known to the Committee. The Committee has established that these documents do indeed contain new facts.

    Read more

  • Lisser & Rosenkranz (B)

    Recommendation

    In a letter dated 15 December 2021 the Minister asked the Committee for advice. This was prompted by the restitution application from XX, one of the heirs of Franz Koenigs, to the Minister in a letter of 18 November 2021.

    Read more
    NK 1408 - Christus aan het kruis met Maria, Maria Magdalena en Johannes de Evangelist

  • Feldmann (II)

    Recommendation

    In a letter dated 13 December 2018, the Minister of Education, Culture and Science asked the Restitutions Committee for advice about an application for restitution of the drawing The Mariage of Tobias and Sara by the artist Pieter Coecke van Aelst.

    Read more

Network of European Restitution Committees

International cooperation

Germany, France, Austria and the United Kingdom also have restitution committees for advice on Nazi looted art. In 2017, the five European restitution committees expressed their wish for closer cooperation and sharing knowledge. This resulted in the establishment of the Network of European Restitution Committees on Nazi-Looted Art. The Network meets regularly and publishes a Newsletter with contributions on restitution matters from the different countries.

Read the Network's latest Newsletter

Read the latest news

CURRENT

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Restitutions Committee Binding opinion: Kandinsky Painting Blick auf Murnau mit Kirche Finally Returns to Heirs of Jewish Family

News

15 September 2022

The Restitutions Committee rules that the painting Blick auf Murnau mit Kirche by the artist Wassily Kandinsky is to be restituted by Eindhoven City Council to the heirs of Johanna Margarethe Stern-Lippmann (1874-1944). The Restitutions Committee concluded on the basis of new facts that it is sufficiently plausible that Margarethe Stern-Lippman lost possession involuntarily during the Nazi regime.

Read more Over Restitutions Committee Binding opinion: Kandinsky Painting Blick auf Murnau mit Kirche Finally Returns to Heirs of Jewish Family

Restitutions Committee’s Advice: The State Restitutes Coecke van Aelst Drawing to Feldmann Heirs

News

25 August 2022

The Restitutions Committee has advised the State Secretary for Culture and Media to grant the application for restitution of the drawing The Marriage of Tobias and Sara by Pieter Coecke van Aelst.

Read more Over Restitutions Committee’s Advice: The State Restitutes Coecke van Aelst Drawing to Feldmann Heirs

Annual Report 2021

Annual report

18 May 2022

Change and renewal dominated 2021 for the Restitutions Committee. The report issued by the Nazi Looted Art Restitution Policy Evaluation […]

Read more Over Annual Report 2021

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