Germany

Germany to replace Nazi-loot advisory panel with binding arbitration

The changes will allow Germany to better meet its commitments under the Washington Principles, the country's culture minister says

German museum director at centre of row over cancelled Candice Breitz exhibition steps down

Andrea Jahn will leave her post four months after Breitz's show was cancelled over her views on the conflict in Gaza

Tania Bruguera’s reading at Hamburger Bahnhof shut down after heated pro-Palestine protests

A statement from the museum says the incident involved activists using “hate speech” towards one of the readers and a museum director

Berlin Senate drops 'anti-discrimination clause' in funding agreements after protests

Senator Joe Chialo says he is responding to criticism that the clause restricted the freedom of art

Frankfurt’s Städel shows anniversary gift of works by Honoré Daumier

Collector Hans-Jürgen Hellwig will donate more than 4,000 works by the French artist best-known for his cartoons

German culture minister implements changes to ease restitution of Nazi-looted art

But her most important reform proposal faces opposition from the state of Bavaria

German Academy of Arts criticises 'dangerous' violations of artistic freedom

The statement follows a number of exhibition cancellations because of curators’ or artists’ views on the Middle East conflict

Berlin’s state museums raise ticket prices as costs climb

“We have to increase income and reduce spending,” says Hermann Parzinger, the president of the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation

German authorities repatriate 75 ancient artefacts to Mexico

All but one of the items were voluntarily handed over by the Museum Schloss Salder in Salzgitter

Candice Breitz exhibition in Germany is cancelled over her Middle East views

The artist says the “level of German self-righteousness is beyond absurd”

German photo biennial cancelled after curator’s posts are deemed antisemitic

The host cities warn that the cancellation jeopardises “the future of the entire event"

Hamburg art collector and patron Harald Falckenberg dies aged 80

Falckenberg, one of Germany’s most important private art collectors, once said he was drawn to “outsiders and freaks"

German parliament approves Berlin centre devoted to Nazi terror in occupied Europe

The new centre is to “include groups of victims who have so far received less attention,” the Bundestag says

Bavaria recovers a Baroque painting with help from the FBI

The landscape was in the possession of the family of an American soldier who had served in post-war Germany

What will German monasteries do with colonial-era objects in their collections?

Wide-ranging nationwide survey will catalogue artefacts held by monasteries and convents that were collected by missionaries in Africa, Asia and South America

Former German museum worker sentenced to prison for stealing and selling paintings

He replaced a painting by Franz von Stuck with a forgery and sold the original

German Nazi-looted art panel calls for more powers and a new law

The advisory commission said it sees the current framework as “unsatisfactory” and “in need of an urgent overhaul”

Booksreview

The genius of Germany’s medieval carvers

Wood has long been deep in the German psyche, as seen in the work of the country’s master sculptors

Previously unseen Nietzsche paintings go on show in Weimar

Exhibition wants to show the "making of" the nihilist philosopher's personality cult

Dresden museum returns four objects to Australia’s Kaurna community

The spear, digging stick, cudgel and net were brought home by German missionaries nearly 200 years ago

Maya skull carving found in German antique shop returned to Mexico

A skull relief carving hailing from the ancient Mayan city of Chichén Itzá has been repatriated

Suspects arrested in theft of gold coins from German museum

The trove stolen from the Kelten Römer Museum near Munich was the biggest Celtic gold find of the 20th century

Yet again, a US court dismisses Nazi-era Guelph Treasure art lawsuit

The descendants of the €200m collection's Jewish former owners had appealed a 2022 regional court ruling

Lempertz to sell Max Pechstein self-portrait following settlement with Jewish doctor's heirs

The painting was pulled from a sale in June following reports it was sold under duress in 1936 by Walter Blank, who died in Spain while fleeing Nazi Germany

Germany returns two Indigenous masks to Colombia after more than a century

During their time in Berlin, the two sacred masks were treated with a pesticide that may still be dangerous

Booksreview

Paul Goesch, the Gläserne Kette member murdered by the Nazis, reappraised in new book

The visionary but misunderstood German architect was a proto post-Modernist

Germany has the most private contemporary art museums in the world, new report reveals

According to the art collector data company Larry's List, the burgeoning private museums sector now comprises 446 institutions worldwide, 111 of which have opened since 2016

German city restitutes a Renoir to the heirs of a Jewish banker and buys it back

View of the Sea from Haut Cagnes will in future be displayed with information about its former owner, Jakob Goldschmidt

Picasso portrait sells for €3.4m at Van Ham, a house record

The auction house's evening sale on 5 June was the most successful in its history