The Law of Stolen Art In Germany - Emma Pohlman


    In the The Art Law Podcast - The Law of Stolen Art in Germany, Katie Wilson-Milne and Steve Schindler, US lawyers, talk with German art lawyer Dr. Katharina Garbers-von Boehm about how ownership laws in Germany apply to art. They cover ideas like good and bad faith in deciding who owns something, the rule that favors whoever holds the object, and the doctrine of adverse possession, which can let someone who has stolen art, such as pieces looted by the Nazis, gain legal ownership after a certain number of years. They also compare this to U.S. law, especially regarding stolen property, look at “soft laws” that push for voluntary solutions when strict laws block them, and discuss recent changes in German law related to Nazi-looted art.
 
In this blog, I am not going to hit on every single topic that they did, however I would like to discuss some of the major topics that they talked about. First, I am going to cover the legal concepts of the US vs. Germany. In the US, no matter the thief, they are not able to pass over a good title. This means that no matter how innocent the buyer of the artwork is, the ownership rights remain with the original owner. The original owner is able to sue to recover the artwork at any time as long as the artwork is not barred by statutes of limitations. In Germany, good-faith acquisitions are possible. This means that if you do not know that the artwork was once stolen, and you purchase it, you are buying it in “good faith.” Stolen artworks are able to be brought to action house, and in that sense, the buyer is buying the artwork in good-faith and will have ownership of the artwork. The thief is basically using the auction house in this situation to do their dirty work for them. Also, if someone buys a stolen item in good faith, they may, under certain circumstances, eventually acquire valid ownership of the art.
 
So how does good-faith acquisitions work in Germany? First of all, the buyer of the artwork must not know that the art is stolen. The artwork must be purchased from an auction house, art gallery, or a seller who is legitimate. The transfer of the artwork must meet the policies of German property law. There are a few exceptions to this, however. If the artwork was stolen, lost, or involuntarily taken, the original owner usually is able to keep stronger rights. After a 10-year period of time that the owner has good-faith possession, the buy may become the legal owner of the artwork. The issue with this practice is that stolen art is not recoverable forever. There is a time limit on these, as long as the art is not passed from owner to owner over many short years. This creates a lot of tension in restitution cases, especially the older ones from the Nazi-era looting.
 

In the Podcast, Steve referenced a case about Cassirer Case. This case was a battle over Camille Pissarro’s painting as seen here. This painting was forcibly sold by Lily Cassirer, a Jewish woman to the Nazis. Sever decades later, it popped up in a museum in Spain. The Cassirer family fought the museum, and the painting was found to be stolen by the Nazi’s and returned to the family due to the laws in the US. If the case took place in Spain, the family would not have gotten the artwork back due to their good faith laws. This case took over 20 years to come to a settlement.
 

Both Steve and Katharina worked on a case regarding Inigo Philbrick. There was a case where the client that Steve was representing bought an artwork from a London Gallery. The artwork was shipped to the US and placed in storage. During transportation of the artwork to the US, the art was damaged, and the buyer wanted to get it fixed up. They asked Philbrick if he had any recommendations, and he said that if they would hand over the art, he would take care of it. The buyer turned over the art and Philbrick sold the art to a Belgian collector. Philbrick was known for doing this to several people and was eventually caught for his actions.
 
Overall, there is a big difference in time between the US and Germany. In the US, you are able to get a stolen artwork back, no matter how long ago it was stolen. In Germany, you have a maximum of 30 years in most cases to get artworks back, which in reality is not a long time because of the fact that you need to find your stolen artwork first. So the question here is, is it fair to treat claims over stolen art like regal civil disputes, or should artwork have special protections?
 
Also, there is a lot of cross-border friction regarding stolen art. Artwork in a German museum may legally be safe, but if the artwork enters the US, heirs can sue under American law. This policy destabilizes the international art markets due to the possibility of artwork being returned to their rightful owners after being purchased by another buyer. Does this difference in laws between the US and German laws weaken worldwide efforts to return stolen art? Would an international legal framework for artwork help?
 
Germany’s stolen art laws show how civil law favors stable markets over full protection for victims. But because of its Nazi history, Germany also adds moral and political fixes. This leaves open the question of whether law, ethics, and global rules can ever fully work together in handling stolen artwork.

 

ABC News, ABC News Network, abcnews.go.com/US/art-worlds-mini-madoff-arrested-remote-pacific-island/story?id=71227853. Accessed 8 Sept. 2025. 


Fedbarblog, September 24, 2024 in International Courts Reporter Series  International Law. “Art, Law, and Memory: The Complexities of International Restitution in the Cassirer Case.” Federal Bar Association, 20 Sept. 2024, www.fedbar.org/blog/art-law-and-memory-the-complexities-of-international-restitution-in-the-cassirer-case/.


Lufkin, Martha. “US Court Rules Nazi-Looted Pissarro Painting Belongs to Spain.” The Art Newspaper - International Art News and Events, The Art Newspaper - International art news and events, 13 Jan. 2024, www.theartnewspaper.com/2024/01/12/nazi-looted-pissarro-painting-spain. 


“The Law of Stolen Art in Germany.” The Art Law Podcast, 21 Feb. 2025, artlawpodcast.com/2025/02/21/the-law-of-stolen-art-in-germany/. 



 



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