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“Reichsbank” furniture

Insight into Provenance Research at the Stadtmuseum Berlin

Zweiteiliger Sessel mit Fußbank, lindgrüne Seide und vergoldete Delphine © Stadtmuseum Berlin | Foto: Stefan Petri
© Stadtmuseum Berlin | Foto: Stefan Petri

For the “Tag der Provenienzforschung” 2022 in Germany, take a peek behind the scenes at a current research project at the Stadtmuseum Berlin: provenance research on the so-called “Reichsbank” furniture.

Die Bleistift-Aufschrift „abgesandt Paris 13.VII.1943“, die unter einem Tisch gefunden wurde © Stadtmuseum Berlin | Foto: Stefan Petri
© Stadtmuseum Berlin | Foto: Stefan Petri
The Märkisches Museum received this disparate set in the early 1950s from the GDR’s Ministry of Finance. But what does French furniture have to do with Berlin history, and why would the young fiscal bureaucracy have dozens of foreign antiques? A penciled note on the interior rim of a table gives the first hint: “sent from Paris 13.VII.1943.”

At least some of this enigmatic furniture was bought in occupied France and brought to Berlin in order to decorate the Reichsbank, which was to serve as an ostentatious centerpiece of the Nazi capital. After Nazi Germany’s defeat, the old bank housed first Soviet headquarters, then Berlin and GDR financial institutions. And, for a time, the furniture.

Our goal is to follow the path this furniture took to the Stadtmuseum Berlin in reverse, using clues in inventory books, old photographs and documents, and not least the more or less cryptic markings on the objects themselves. This research reveals insights into the historical periods it cuts across: the GDR and post-war Berlin, National Socialism, even monarchial France. Piecing together the scattered sources, we hope to be able to answer to the most important question: who are this furniture’s rightful owners?

Contact

Dr. Regina Stein
Provenienzforschung
Fachteam Zentrale Dokumentation
E-Mail
(030) 353 059-573