Us Court Dismisses Dispute Over Nazi Era Guelph Treasure Art

A US court has dismissed a lawsuit against a German museum institution over medieval treasure filed by heirs of Nazi-era Jewish art dealers, saying the US lacked jurisdiction to hear such a lawsuit. The foundation that oversees the Berlin museums said in a statement Tuesday that the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia last week granted the foundation’s motion to dismiss a 2015 restitution lawsuit filed against it, ending the case in USA, absent plaintiff’s appeal. The Welfenschatz, or Guelph Treasure, at the center of a long-running ownership dispute, includes silver and gold crosses, altars, intricate silverware and other relics worth more than 200 million euros ($200 million). The collection, which has been on display in Berlin since the early 1960s and is now housed in the city’s Bode Museum, is considered the largest collection of German church treasures in public hands. The heirs argued that their ancestors had no choice but to sell the Christian items in 1935 to the Nazi government for less than they were worth. The state institution that owns the collection said the collectors were not forced to sell the treasures, arguing among other things that the collection was not even in Germany at the time of its sale. On Tuesday, the president of the museum foundation, also known as Stiftung Preussischer Kulturbesitz or SPK, Herrmann Parzinger, welcomed the court decision. “SPK is pleased with the district court’s decision, which reaffirms SPK’s long-held view that this lawsuit seeking the return of the Guelph Treasure should not be tried in a US court,” Parzinger said. “The SPK has also long argued that this lawsuit was without merit, as the sale of the Guelph treasure in 1935 was not a forced sale due to Nazi persecution,” he added. The heirs initially pursued their claims in Germany, but a German commission found that the sale of the artworks was voluntary and for fair market value. A lawsuit was then filed in the United States. Germany and the SPK foundation argued that the case did not belong in US courts. The U.S. District Court decision follows a February 2021 U.S. Supreme Court decision that overturned a lower court’s denial of the Berlin foundation’s earlier motion to dismiss that lawsuit. Our Morning Update and Afternoon Update newsletters are written by Globe editors, giving you a concise summary of the day’s most important headlines. Sign up today.

title: “Us Court Dismisses Dispute Over Nazi Era Guelph Treasure Art Klmat” ShowToc: true date: “2022-10-30” author: “Anthony Smith”

A US court has dismissed a lawsuit against a German museum institution over medieval treasure filed by heirs of Nazi-era Jewish art dealers, saying the US lacked jurisdiction to hear such a lawsuit. The foundation that oversees the Berlin museums said in a statement Tuesday that the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia last week granted the foundation’s motion to dismiss a 2015 restitution lawsuit filed against it, ending the case in USA, absent plaintiff’s appeal. The Welfenschatz, or Guelph Treasure, at the center of a long-running ownership dispute, includes silver and gold crosses, altars, intricate silverware and other relics worth more than 200 million euros ($200 million). The collection, which has been on display in Berlin since the early 1960s and is now housed in the city’s Bode Museum, is considered the largest collection of German church treasures in public hands. The heirs argued that their ancestors had no choice but to sell the Christian items in 1935 to the Nazi government for less than they were worth. The state institution that owns the collection said the collectors were not forced to sell the treasures, arguing among other things that the collection was not even in Germany at the time of its sale. On Tuesday, the president of the museum foundation, also known as Stiftung Preussischer Kulturbesitz or SPK, Herrmann Parzinger, welcomed the court decision. “SPK is pleased with the district court’s decision, which reaffirms SPK’s long-held view that this lawsuit seeking the return of the Guelph Treasure should not be tried in a US court,” Parzinger said. “The SPK has also long argued that this lawsuit was without merit, as the sale of the Guelph treasure in 1935 was not a forced sale due to Nazi persecution,” he added. The heirs initially pursued their claims in Germany, but a German commission found that the sale of the artworks was voluntary and for fair market value. A lawsuit was then filed in the United States. Germany and the SPK foundation argued that the case did not belong in US courts. The U.S. District Court decision follows a February 2021 U.S. Supreme Court decision that overturned a lower court’s denial of the Berlin foundation’s earlier motion to dismiss that lawsuit. Our Morning Update and Afternoon Update newsletters are written by Globe editors, giving you a concise summary of the day’s most important headlines. Sign up today.

title: “Us Court Dismisses Dispute Over Nazi Era Guelph Treasure Art Klmat” ShowToc: true date: “2022-12-18” author: “Elizabeth Vann”

A US court has dismissed a lawsuit against a German museum institution over medieval treasure filed by heirs of Nazi-era Jewish art dealers, saying the US lacked jurisdiction to hear such a lawsuit. The foundation that oversees the Berlin museums said in a statement Tuesday that the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia last week granted the foundation’s motion to dismiss a 2015 restitution lawsuit filed against it, ending the case in USA, absent plaintiff’s appeal. The Welfenschatz, or Guelph Treasure, at the center of a long-running ownership dispute, includes silver and gold crosses, altars, intricate silverware and other relics worth more than 200 million euros ($200 million). The collection, which has been on display in Berlin since the early 1960s and is now housed in the city’s Bode Museum, is considered the largest collection of German church treasures in public hands. The heirs argued that their ancestors had no choice but to sell the Christian items in 1935 to the Nazi government for less than they were worth. The state institution that owns the collection said the collectors were not forced to sell the treasures, arguing among other things that the collection was not even in Germany at the time of its sale. On Tuesday, the president of the museum foundation, also known as Stiftung Preussischer Kulturbesitz or SPK, Herrmann Parzinger, welcomed the court decision. “SPK is pleased with the district court’s decision, which reaffirms SPK’s long-held view that this lawsuit seeking the return of the Guelph Treasure should not be tried in a US court,” Parzinger said. “The SPK has also long argued that this lawsuit was without merit, as the sale of the Guelph treasure in 1935 was not a forced sale due to Nazi persecution,” he added. The heirs initially pursued their claims in Germany, but a German commission found that the sale of the artworks was voluntary and for fair market value. A lawsuit was then filed in the United States. Germany and the SPK foundation argued that the case did not belong in US courts. The U.S. District Court decision follows a February 2021 U.S. Supreme Court decision that overturned a lower court’s denial of the Berlin foundation’s earlier motion to dismiss that lawsuit. Our Morning Update and Afternoon Update newsletters are written by Globe editors, giving you a concise summary of the day’s most important headlines. Sign up today.

title: “Us Court Dismisses Dispute Over Nazi Era Guelph Treasure Art Klmat” ShowToc: true date: “2022-11-04” author: “Denise Dunmore”

A US court has dismissed a lawsuit against a German museum institution over medieval treasure filed by heirs of Nazi-era Jewish art dealers, saying the US lacked jurisdiction to hear such a lawsuit. The foundation that oversees the Berlin museums said in a statement Tuesday that the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia last week granted the foundation’s motion to dismiss a 2015 restitution lawsuit filed against it, ending the case in USA, absent plaintiff’s appeal. The Welfenschatz, or Guelph Treasure, at the center of a long-running ownership dispute, includes silver and gold crosses, altars, intricate silverware and other relics worth more than 200 million euros ($200 million). The collection, which has been on display in Berlin since the early 1960s and is now housed in the city’s Bode Museum, is considered the largest collection of German church treasures in public hands. The heirs argued that their ancestors had no choice but to sell the Christian items in 1935 to the Nazi government for less than they were worth. The state institution that owns the collection said the collectors were not forced to sell the treasures, arguing among other things that the collection was not even in Germany at the time of its sale. On Tuesday, the president of the museum foundation, also known as Stiftung Preussischer Kulturbesitz or SPK, Herrmann Parzinger, welcomed the court decision. “SPK is pleased with the district court’s decision, which reaffirms SPK’s long-held view that this lawsuit seeking the return of the Guelph Treasure should not be tried in a US court,” Parzinger said. “The SPK has also long argued that this lawsuit was without merit, as the sale of the Guelph treasure in 1935 was not a forced sale due to Nazi persecution,” he added. The heirs initially pursued their claims in Germany, but a German commission found that the sale of the artworks was voluntary and for fair market value. A lawsuit was then filed in the United States. Germany and the SPK foundation argued that the case did not belong in US courts. The U.S. District Court decision follows a February 2021 U.S. Supreme Court decision that overturned a lower court’s denial of the Berlin foundation’s earlier motion to dismiss that lawsuit. Our Morning Update and Afternoon Update newsletters are written by Globe editors, giving you a concise summary of the day’s most important headlines. Sign up today.