Warum der deutsche Staat Provenienzforschung fördert – die erinnerungspolitischen Funktionen der Aufarbeitung von Kunst- und Kulturgüterentzug

In contemporary Germany, state-sponsored provenance research is closely tied to the concept of a culture of remembrance and reckoning with historical injustice. While its institutional anchoring and public funding may seem self-evident today, the organized dispossession of cultural property by the German Empire, Nazi Germany, and the GDR remained marginal in public discourse for decades. Drawing on approaches that understand past-oriented political action as a legitimation strategy, the paper conceptualizes the institutionalization of provenance research since 1990 as part of a significant shift in German memory politics.

This contribution asks why, and when, political actors supported provenance research. It argues that public funding, framed as historical responsibility serves memory-political functions: it legitimizes Germany nationally and internationally, preserves Germany’s ‘Kulturnation’ reputation and serves to renegotiate a collective identity.