Discover success stories from provenance research on objects in the NK collection
This portal contains information on the characteristics, restitution status and provenance of cultural goods from World War II (defined as the period from 1933-1945). The information provided here comes from the databases of the Cultural Heritage Agency of the Netherlands (RCE).
The website supports free text searching which can be refined with filters. For advanced searching use AND, AND NOT, OR and *. You can use AND/AND NOT/OR to combine or exclude different search terms. For example, combining a provenance name with an object category. You can use the asterisk (*) if you are not sure about the spelling of a search term, enter part of the word and then *, for example Janssen* if you are unsure between Janssen and Janssens. For a more detailed guide see: https://www.collectienederland.nl/zoeken/
You can search through the following collections:
During the Second World War, tens of thousands of items of cultural value from the Netherlands ended up in Germany. Some were sold, more or less forcibly, but others were simply stolen, looted or confiscated. A proportion of these works were returned to the Netherlands after the war and became part of the national art collection. Up until the 1950s, many works were returned to their rightful owners. After that, some of the remainder were sold. Those left in state hands became known as the NK Collection, after Nederlands Kunstbezit (Netherlands Art Property), a foundation established in 1945. This collection consists of paintings, works on paper and works of applied art, such as furniture and ceramics.
In 2009, Dutch museums were asked to investigate the provenance history of their collections. Following research done by 163 museums, a list was drawn up of 173 objects suspected of having been looted, confiscated or sold under duress between 1933 and 1945. The Dutch Museums Association coordinated the project, a committee focusing on museum acquisitions from 1933 onwards (commissie 'Museale Verwervingen vanaf 1933') supervised the content and the Netherlands Ministry of Education, Culture and Science (OCW) provided financial support. The research project was formally concluded at the end of 2018.
Anyone who lost cultural objects during the occupation, or who had information about cultural objects that had fallen into enemy hands, was required to report this via a form to the Netherlands Art Property Foundation (SNK). These forms are kept at the National Archives. A large portion of the cultural objects has not returned to the Netherlands. This concerns approximately 15,000 forms and 2,000 object photographs. All of these were digitized in 2015 and largely made searchable and can be viewed through this portal.
After the war, the Netherlands Art Property Foundation (SNK) was tasked with repatriating as many cultural objects as possible that had been sold or involuntarily lost, primarily from Germany, to the Netherlands. In the Netherlands, these objects were returned to their original owners or heirs whenever possible. In the post-war years, the SNK returned over 700 objects.
Some of the cultural objects brought back to the Netherlands after the war by the Netherlands Art Property Foundation (SNK) and which could not be returned to an original owner or heir, were auctioned by the SNK between 1950 and 1953. These auctions primarily took place at the Frederik Muller and De Zon auction houses in Amsterdam. More than 2,000 objects were auctioned, and the proceeds were used for the reconstruction of the Netherlands. To eliminate the appearance of enrichment, the Dutch government decided in 2005 to provide financial compensation to the Cultural Heritage Foundation of the Portuguese-Israelite Community and the Jewish Historical Museum.
You can learn more about the Netherlands' restitution policy and how to submit an application for restitution.
