Herbert M. Gutmann (1879-1942) collected paintings, porcelain, tapestries, and antiques. Mr. Gutmann was a collector of Dutch landscape as well as French and German Rococo paintings. Mr. Gutmann also collected Asian porcelain and Persian sculpture and porcelain. In addition, his possessions included Meissen porcelain, furniture, and fine tapestries.
The Hagen Family owned the banking house Hagen & Co. in Berlin, Germany. Carl Hagen (1856-1938), the founder of the bank and his son Louis Hagen (1888-1977), were members of supervisory boards of several companies. When the Anti-Jewish laws were enacted the bank house was forced into liquidation by January 1, 1938. Carl Hagen died on January 30, 1938. His children were trying to escape from Germany.
The Koordinierungsstelle für Kulturgutverluste, Germany’s central office for the documentation of lost cultural property, operated the Lost Art Internet Database which was a joint project by the Government and the States of the Federal Republic of Germany. This database registers cultural objects which were relocated, moved or seized, especially from Jewish owners, as a result of persecution under the Nazi dictatorship and World War II. The tasks of the Koordinierungsstelle were taken over by the German Lost Art Foundation in 2015.
Since 2002, Facts & Files has been conducting research on the art collection of the factory owner Richard Semmel. Richard Semmel collected Old Dutch masters as well as works by French artists, mostly impressionists paintings. His collection was featured in art historical publications.
The International Commission on Holocaust Era Insurance Claims (ICHEIC), Washington and London, initiated a procedure for the restitution of life insurance claims to victims of Nazi persecution and their relatives respectively. In order to prove the claims, an international research project was started.
In 2008, Facts & Files was commissioned by the Federal Office for Central Services and Unresolved Property Issues (BADV) to conduct provenance research. This research concerned the history of ownership of 181 water colours, drawings, sculptures, and paintings. The findings were collated in expert reports.
