What meaning do gifts have in times of terror and dictatorship? Is a gift under duress still a gift? The ULB Darmstadt and its predecessor institutions have always accepted gifts of books from the public and from regional associations and institutions. As part of the search for Nazi-looted property in the library, which has been funded by the German Centre for Lost Cultural Assets since 2022, several cases have become known in which the circumstances of the gift raise many questions.

The lecture offers an insight into the methods of provenance research and describes the background to successful and failed donations to the library during the Nazi era. The case studies include the Protestant publicist Dr. Heinrich Frenzel (1859-1939), the family of the teacher Michael Elias (1867-1926) and Freemasons from Darmstadt.

Further informations about the International Provenance Research Day.

Venue

ULB Stadtmitte
S1|20 Vortragssaal UG
Magdalenenstraße 8
64289 Darmstadt

Contact

Andreas Göller