Title
Looting and Restitution in Libraries (Raub und Restitution in Bibliotheken)
Location
Nordbuffet, Vienna Town Hall (Rathaus)
Description
In 2001, the Viennese Municipal and Regional Library restituted the Strauß-Meyszner Collection (sheet music and manuscript scores, correspondence, works of art and objects relating to Johann Strauß) to the heirs. It was subsequently bought back by the Viennese Municipal and Provincial Library, where an exhibition on the collection was scheduled to open in May 2003.
In connection with the exhibition, the Library organised a symposium on looted books and manuscripts to discuss the role of libraries under National Socialism and their post-war involvement in restitution. The symposium was organised in cooperation with the Austrian Society of German Language and Literature Studies and the Association of Austrian Librarians, and was supported by the City of Vienna's Department of Culture.
The symposium papers covered the following issues:
The conference papers can be downloaded from the library's website.
Symposium Programme
Wednesday, 23 April 2003
9:00 Welcoming Speech and Opening
Walter Obermaier (Director of the Viennese Municipal and Provincial Library)
Andreas Mailath-Pokorny (Municipal Councillor for Culture and Science)
Part 1: Disenfranchisement and Looting
9:40 The Disenfranchising of the Austrian Jews under National Socialism
Gerhard Botz, Institute for Contemporary History, University of Vienna
10:00 The Fate of Jewish Libraries in Austria
Evelyn Adunka, Vienna
10:15 Library Policy in the "Ostmark"
Peter Malina, University Library, Vienna
10:30 Discussion
10:50 Break
11:05 The German Library reveals holdings from the Bücherverwertungsstelle Wien (Book Disposal Unit, Vienna)
Grit Nitzsche, Coordination Office for Looted Cultural Assets, Magdeburg
11:20 Looted Jewish Libraries in Belgium (in English)
Daniel Dratwa, Musée Juif de Belgique
11:35 Book Looting in the "Generalgouvernement"
Andrzej Mezynski, Biblioteka Semjmowa, Warsaw
11:50 Jewish Libraries at the Reich Central Security Office (Reichssicherheitshauptamt) 1936-1945
Werner Schroeder, Oldenburg
12:05 Discussion
13:30 Lunch Break
Part 2: The Restitution of Library Holdings after 1945
14:30 Dealing with the Past
Brigitte Bailer-Galanda, Austrian Historians' Commisison
14:50 Export Ban and Heritage Protection
Theodor Brückler, Federal Office of Historical Monuments (Bundesdenkmalamt) Vienna
15:05 The Negotiations on the Strauß Collections in the Viennese Municipal Library
Maria Wirth, Vienna
15:20 Discussion
15:45 Break
16:05 The Library of the Jewish Museum in Prague
Andrea Braunová, Zidovske Museum v Praze
16:20 The Problems of the Restitution of Books to Libraries in Belgium 1945-2002 (in English)
Jacques Lust, Belgische Nationalkommission, Brussels
16:35 Orphaned Jewish Books in post-war Amsterdam (in English)
F.J. Hoogewoud, Bibliotheca Rosenthaliana, Amsterdam
16:50 Discussion
17:30 End
Thursday, 24 April 2003
Part 3: The Re-evaluation of "questionable acquisitions" since the 1990s
9:00 The Repatriation of Library Materials - International Experiences (in English)
Norman Palmer, London
9:20 The Situation in Austria
Robert Holzbauer, Federal Office of Historical Monuments (Bundesdenkmalamt), Vienna
9:35 The "Handreichung" (Guidelines) of the Coordination Office for Looted Cultural Assets in Deutschland
Veronica Albrink, Leverkusen
9:50 First Practical Experiences in Germany
Jürgen Babendreier, Bremen University Library
10:05 Discussion
10:30 Break
10:50 The Restitution of the Ex Libris collection of Marco Birnholz
Marianne Jobst-Rieder, National Library of Austria, Vienna
11:05 The Caesar Hirsch Collection
Bernt von Egidy, Tübingen University Library
11:20 The Tracing of Looted Property at Magdeburg University Library: A Report from Practical Experience
Bernd Reifenberg, Magdeburg University Library
11:35 Discussion
11:55 Break
12:15 The "Stürmer Library" in Nuremberg
Jim Tobias, Nuremberg Centre for Research on National Socialism
12:30 Restitution and Searching for Heirs at the National Library of Austria
Margot Werner, National Library of Austria, Vienna
12:45 Restitution and Searching for Heirs at the Viennese Municipal and Provincial Library
Gerhard Renner and Christian Mertens, Viennese Municipal and Provincial Library
13:00 Final Discussion
13:45 End of the Symposium
Contact Details
Christian Mertens
Wiener Stadt- und Landesbibliothek
Rathaus
A-1082 Wien
Tel: +43 (0)1 4000 84920
Fax: + 43 (0)1 4000 7219
Email: christian.mertens@wienbibliothek.at
Source
Wiener Stadt- und Landesbibliothek (Municipal and Provincial Library of Vienna)
<http://www.stadtbibliothek.wien.at/bibliothek/veranstaltungen/restitution/toc-de.htm>, first accessed 27 March 2003. Link updated 20 July 2007.