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The Federal Office for Foreign Restitution, BAR ​

Overview ​

The Federal Archives (Bundesarchiv) acquired the documents of the Federal Office for Foreign Restitution (Bundesamt für Äußere Restitutionen, BAR) in 2022. This significant collection, documents the post-World War II restitution efforts of cultural and other assets that were confiscated or looted by German authorities including the Wehrmacht during the occupation of territories.

The collection is particularly valuable for researchers studying art restitution, post-war justice processes, cultural heritage protection, and Germany's efforts to address Nazi-era confiscations. Almost all documents were deemed archivally significant due to their dense informational content and historical importance.

Content ​

  • Documentation relating to the Restitution of cultural property looted during Nazi occupation.
  • Documentation concerning the Post-war claims processing by Allied authorities and German institutions.
  • Investigation and documentation of stolen art and cultural objects.
  • Documentation regarding international restitution negotiations and Agreements.
  • Documents relating to the History of the Trust Administration for Cultural Assets (Treuhandverwaltung für Kulturgut, TVK).
  • Documents of the claims from various nations (originally documented in microfilms).
  • Records of decisions and appeals processes.
  • Documentation regarding the interactivty between the Federal Office for Foreign Restitution BAR (Bundesamt für Äußere Restitution) and TVK (Treuhandverwaltung für Kulturgutverluste) in tracking and returning cultural assets, whilst the BAR processed the examination of claims and the restitution of cultural objects, the TVK compiled information on the fate of the missing objects.

DocQuest Search Features ​

  • Full-text search available
  • Metadata-based filtering
  • Document-level navigation

385 subcollections have been chosen, as relevant for provenance research, searchable through the DocQuest interface. Access the page level by selecting "Meta search". Access the collection level (archival metadata) by selecting "Search on Collection Level".