As part of the project entitled “Ermittlung von NS-Raubgut in der Universitäts- und Stadtbibliothek Köln” (Identification of Nazi-looted cultural property in the University and City Library Cologne), a research team is examining part of the library’s historical collection. The aim is to identify books that came into the library’s possession unlawfully as a result of Nazi persecution. The German Lost Art Foundation and the Ministry of Culture and Science of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia are providing initial funding for the project until 2028. The project team is seeking additional funding so that they can conduct a thorough check of the entire collection for books confiscated through Nazi persecution. Although the University and City Library Cologne (USB) has been conducting provenance research for more than twenty years, this funding allows for a more comprehensive, systematic assessment than was previously possible.

Many of the books in the historical collection of the University and City Library Cologne originally belonged to a wide range of institutions or private individuals. During the Nazi era, books came into the USB’s possession in various ways, for example, through expropriation or as confiscated library holdings from dissolved associations, trade unions, or other organizations. Books also came from people who were forced to sell their private libraries to survive or to be able to emigrate.

The initial goal of the project is to systematically examine part of the collection of the Historical City Library Cologne for suspected cases of Nazi-looted cultural property. Next, the project team will attempt to trace the provenance and changes in ownership, and to uncover the fates of the previous owners. In cases involving Nazi-looted property, they will also identify potential heirs and work to find just and fair solutions. The history of acquisition and ownership and details about provenance are documented and – where legally permissible – published on platforms such as the Open Cologne Provenance Portal or the ‘Proveana’ research database.

“The University of Cologne is committed to the Washington Principles. By systematically searching the collections of the University and City Library Cologne for property looted during the Nazi era and by investigating its provenance, the library is helping address historical injustices. I would like to thank the project team for their valuable work. I would also like to thank the German Lost Art Foundation and the Ministry of Culture and Science of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia for their funding,” says Professor Dr Joybrato Mukherjee, Rector of the University of Cologne.

The USB has a collection of approximately 400,000 books published before 1945. “However, due to the war, very few inventory books have survived. We have to take each book off the shelf and look through it,” says Dr Christiane Hoffrath, head of the USB’s Historical Collections and Holdings Department.

The University and City Library Cologne has been proactively addressing this issue since 2005, establishing itself as a pioneer in provenance research amongst the many libraries in Germany. Thanks in part to the work of volunteers, USB staff have already been able to examine tens of thousands of books.

In the course of their research, they came across, for example, the story of the Viennese sisters Elise and Helene Richter, who were forced to sell off their extensive private library in order to pay the so called ‘Jewish Property Levy’. A large proportion of the works ended up in Cologne. The staff were able to trace the books’ journey and return the Richter Library to three heirs in 2014.

The current project builds on this experience. The team is confident that, by conducting systematic research into the provenance of other books for the first time, it will uncover individual stories that will foster a deeper understanding of history and facilitate further restitutions. “The guiding principle behind our work is that these books do not belong to us. We are looking for a fair and equitable solution for them,” says Dr Tobias Jansen, a research fellow on the project.

The USB is the central university library of the University of Cologne and, with a collection of approximately 4.4 million titles, the largest academic library in North Rhine-Westphalia. Founded in 1920, it has its roots in several predecessor institutions, including the Historical City Library of Cologne.