Provenance Research:
Universitätsbibliothek Tübingen (Tübingen University Library
Library
Universitätsbibliothek Tübingen
(Tübingen University Library)
Research into
Nazi-confiscated cultural property in the
library'scollection
In 1999 research by a local journalist brought to
attention the presence in the Tübingen University Library of the confiscated
library of ear, nose and throat specialist Dr. Cäsar Hirsch (1885-1940). Dr.
Cäsar Hirsch fled from Stuttgart to Switzerland with his family in 1933. His
specialist library on otorhinolaryngology was confiscated by the Gestapo and
given to the Tübingen University Library in 1938 on loan. In 1941 the Library
negotiated to pay the Gestapo a token sum to become the legal owner of the
collection, which consisted of 1,100 magazines and periodicals and 8,000 single
issues and dissertations, some dating back to the early 19th century. The case
was considered an example of the Finance Office being able to profit from the
seizure of Jewish owned property. Following the journalist's identification of
Dr Hirsch's heir in the USA in 1999, the library was returned in 2001 and is now
part of the Louise M. Darling Biomedical Library at the University of
California, Los Angeles.
Research into cultural property missing from
the library
No information is available.
Contact
Details
Universitätsbibliothek Tübingen
Wilhelmstr.
7
72074 Tübingen
Tel: +49 (0) 7071 29 0
Fax: + 49 (0)
707129-5990
Email: registratur@verwaltung.uni-tuebingen.de
http://www.uni-tuebingen.de/ub/ in
German and English
Source
Peter-Michael
Berger, 'Die Rückgabe der Bibliothek von Cäsar Hirsch', in Koordinierungsstelle
für Kulturgutverluste (ed.), Beiträge öffentlicher Einrichtungen der
Bundesrepublik Deutschland zum Umgang mit Kulturgütern aus ehemaligem jüdischen
Besitz (Magdeburg: Koordinierungsstelle für Kulturgutverluste, 2001),
294-299. In German, summary in English
<http://www.uni-tuebingen.de/ub/> accessed 18 December 2002
Hans Joachim Lang, 'Ein Geschenk der Gestapo'
TAZ , 20 June 2001, 6
<http://www.ub.uni-marburg.de/allg/aktiv/taz.pdf>,
accessed 18 December 2002
