The house in Munich's Schwabing
district, where art masterpieces stolen by the Nazis were discovered in
a flat of Cornelius Gurlitt, pictured on November 4, 2013 (AFP
Photo/Christof Stache)
Jerusalem
(AFP) - Israel and Germany have agreed to conduct joint research in
museums in both countries aimed at determining the original ownership of
Jewish-owned art looted by Nazis, officials said.
Under
an agreement signed Sunday by Israeli culture ministry director general
Orly Froman and German Culture Minister Monika Gruetters, art experts
from the two countries will undergo training and coordinate the
formation of joint data bases.
"The
cooperation between German and Israeli institutions on provenance
research of Nazi-confiscated art and Judaica is a great vote of
confidence," Gruetters said in a statement.
Israeli
Culture Minister Limor Livnat said the agreement could lead to
restitution of art stolen by Nazis to the Jewish heirs, a statement from
her ministry read.
Livnat
noted the ongoing cooperation between Israel and Germany on Nazi-era art
provenance, including the presence of two Israeli curators in a German
committee dealing with the collection found in the Munich flat of
Cornelius Gurlitt.
Gurlitt,
who died last month at 81, was the son of a Nazi-era art dealer who
hoarded hundreds of paintings valued at hundreds of millions of dollars.
Prior
to his death he had struck a deal with German authorities to help track
down the rightful owners of the 1,280 artworks, including Jews whose
property was stolen or extorted under the Third Reich.
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