Hohenzollern deal: Finally solved art conflict after almost 100 years!

Hohenzollern deal: Finally solved art conflict after almost 100 years!

Berlin, Deutschland - The Foundation Prussian Cultural Owners (SPK) took a decisive step on May 26, 2025 to end a conflict that lasts almost 100 years with the descendants of the last German emperor. The deal, which was already announced by Cultural Minister Wolfram Weimer in mid -May, affects the return of almost 3,000 individual pieces to the Hohenzollern house. This agreement is not only a milestone for cooperation between the state and the noble family, but also ensures the whereabouts of many valuable art objects in public museums.

As part of this agreement, the SPK will hand over almost 3,000 art objects, including 2,122 coins as well as a table with a porcelain plate and the painting "View Potsdam from the Brauhausberg", to the Hohenzollern. Negotiations have been managed intensively over the past eight years, and a solution has been working on a solution since 2014. However, the affected museums still have to agree to the agreement; The committees of the German Historical Museum should deal with the topic in June.

the decades of dispute

The conflict of the possession of art treasures that has existed between the Hohenzollern house and the public sector since 1926 began after the end of the monarchy in 1918, when the assets of the last German Emperor Wilhelm II were confiscated. A central measure of the agreement provides for the establishment of a new private law foundation in which controversial stocks are transferred. This affects not only works of art, but also furniture, textiles and archive stocks, many of them are in the collections of public museums.

The Hohenzollern have made claims for returns since German unity, which were formulated as part of the compensation performance law. After long and difficult negotiations on real estate claims that were rejected by the public sector, the Hohenzollern in 2023 withdrew their lawsuits to compensation to re -enter into discussions with the SPK in 2024.

future of art treasures

With the current agreement, not only an unsolved legal dispute is enclosed, but also secured the whereabouts of important works of art in museums. SPK President Hermann Parzinger emphasizes that this agreement ultimately benefits museum visitors. Some objects are now summarized in the new Hohenzollersch art ownership, so that among other things, the Hohenzollern can get more involved in the administration of this collection in the future.

The symbolic termination of the Hohenzollern dispute took place in front of the historic Sanssouci Castle in Potsdam, a place that is not only of historical importance for the Hohenzollern, but also applies as a cultural heritage in the region. While the new foundation awards three seats in the Board of Trustees to the Hohenzollern, most art treasures in the museums of the Prussian Palaces and Gardens Berlin-Brandenburg, the SPK and the German Historical Museum should remain.

Overall, the agreement affects up to 27,000 pieces, and there is hope that this solution will continue to promote the dialogue that has started through art, history and perspective of German culture in the future. By regulating the questions of possession, a foundation for future cooperation between the Hohenzollern and the public institutions is laid.

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