Bavaria approves creation of Nazi loot panel and independent entity for provenance research

Bavaria approved reforms to how it handles Nazi-looted art claims, including moving provenance research out of museums into a separate, independent entity and creating a new panel to evaluate claims. The decision follows the resignation of Bernhard Maaz, director of the Bavarian State Painting Collections, after media accusations that the institution was concealing stolen works and delaying restitutions. Culture minister Markus Blume said the new entity will employ eight provenance researchers and be attached to Munich’s Institut für Zeitgeschichte, aiming for greater transparency and faster progress. A new panel led by Raphael Gross, president of the German Historical Museum, will issue recommendations to the state based on the research, a model compared to systems in Austria and the Netherlands.

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