Sunday tour in the Lindenau Museum: rediscover art history!”

Sunday tour in the Lindenau Museum: rediscover art history!”

On Sunday, October 26, 2025, the Lindenau Museum in Altenburg invites you to a special Sunday tour at 2:00 p.m. Under the title “Welcome home! – Altenburg purchases by the Lindenau Museum after 1945,” provenance researcher Marianne Lose leads through the exhibition, which deals with purchases from Altenburg and the region after the Second World War. The event is free of charge and takes place at Kunstgasse 1. Through this tour, the museum would like to provide insights into its work and emphasize the importance of transparency and processing in modern museum work, especially with regard to the historical relevance of the works of art.

The new additions made during the tenure of director Hanns-Conon von der Gabelentz include paintings and works on paper. The art historical and historical significance of these works is underpinned by the topic of provenance research, which deals with the origin of the works of art, the art market after 1945 as well as personal networks and legacies.

The role of provenance research

The Lindenau Museum is actively involved in provenance research, which aims to check the museum's holdings for possible confiscations due to Nazi persecution. This is done as part of the Lindenau21PLUS project, which aims to shed light on contexts of injustice from the Soviet occupation zone and the GDR. The research work is intended to help identify works of art whose previous owners were persecuted during National Socialism. These people often had to sell their property below value in order to finance their departure or to survive.

The provenance research is not only focused on coming to terms with the Nazi past. They also offer the opportunity to reconstruct the object biographies of works of art, which leads to a better understanding of art and cultural history. In this way, dates and contexts of works are determined and interesting details about the artists are brought to light.

Challenges and solutions

The return of cultural assets confiscated as a result of Nazi persecution remains a complex issue. In the Joint Declaration of 1999, the federal, state and local governments committed themselves to identifying these cultural assets and locating heirs. The measures may include financial compensation, publicizing the persecution story or the return of the objects. However, the restitution laws after the Second World War led to only a few returns, especially in the Soviet occupation zone and in the GDR, where compensation for property losses was not provided.

The Property Act (VermG) before reunification was intended to provide relief, but was only partially effective due to tight deadlines. Provenance research at the Lindenau Museum therefore makes an important contribution to clarifying the history of the works of art and the circumstances under which they came into the museum's possession.

The upcoming tour is an opportunity for those interested to learn more about these topics and gain insight into the ongoing work of the Lindenau Museum. The event underlines the importance of coming to terms with history and the responsibility that museums have today to make the past transparent and reflect it.