Jewish World Congress warns Kunstmuseum Bern about Cornelius Gurlitt collection

Jewish World Congress warns Kuntsmuseum Bern

Ronald Lauder, President of Jewish World Congress, has warned that the Kunstmuseum Bern would open itself up to an onslaught of lawsuits if the institution were to accept the 1,300-piece collection of late German collector Cornelius Gurlitt.

Around 600 works from the collection are suspected to potentially be Nazi loot; Lauder told German newspaper Der Spiegel that to accept the collection would be to “open a Pandora’s box” with the probability of an influx of claims from Jewish heirs and German museums trying to reclaim works that belong to them.

As previously reported, Kunstmuseum has claimed that it will not accept any work which is currently under restitution claims or is suspected to have been looted by the Nazis. Furthermore, Neue Zürcher Zeitung has acknowledged that it must be remembered that if the collection does not go to Kunstmuseum, it will probably end up in the hands of Gurlitt’s relatives, making restitution claims even more complex.