Geklärte Vermögensfragen? Die Unterlagen des LARoV Sachsen-Anhalt und ihre Bedeutung für Archive und Provenienzforschung

The presentation serves as an initial review of the findings. Following an overview of the source material – some 350 cases – it discusses specific archival issues, such as the necessary and possible levels of detail in cataloguing and options for making the material accessible. The focus is on findings and conflicts arising from official investigations into art and cultural property, illustrated by anonymised case studies. Specifically, questions regarding the LARoV’s research practices will be examined: Which institutions were contacted, and why? Which traces were (not) followed up, and for what reasons? The paper assesses the significance of the restitution of art and cultural property up to the recent past and concludes with an outlook on current challenges arising from the end of official clarification for archives, historical research, and provenance research.