Acquisitions and Provenance of Islamic Art between 1933 and 1945 (Erwerbungen und Provenienzen Islamischer Kunst zwischen 1933 und 1945)

How can we reconstruct the histories of Islamic art objects acquired in Germany between 1933 and 1945? What can provenance research reveal about the people, institutions and networks behind these collections?

A new anthology 'Erwerbungen und Provenienzen Islamischer Kunst zwischen 1933 und 1945 (Acquisitions and Provenance of Islamic Art between 1933 and 1945)' edited by Franziska Bloch and Miriam Kühn brings together 15 essays examining current research into the acquisition and provenance of Islamic art during the Nazi era.

A central focus is the fate of Jewish collectors and their collections, including Felix Ganz, Alfred Cassirer and Dr. Max Ginsberg. Their stories are closely connected to the holdings of the Museum for Islamic Art in Berlin and demonstrate how persecution, forced sales, displacement and the dispersal of collections also shaped museum collections.

The volume also examines acquisitions by museums and libraries, including the Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin, and explores approaches to making provenance research visible and accessible through museums.

Provenance research is essential to understanding an object’s biography: who owned it, how it changed hands, and under what circumstances it entered a collection. Where gaps remain, research can nevertheless reveal networks, historical contexts and responsibilities that are crucial to the way museums understand and care for their collections today. By bringing together current research and methodological perspectives, it provides a basis for further investigation into the histories of Islamic art collections in Germany.

The publication is mainly in German. Published by arthistoricum.net in 2026 and is available open access online.

Access the publication: https://doi.org/10.11588/arthistoricum.1638