Abstract:
The cultural system underwent significant changes following the Second World War. Works of art were not
exempt from the conflict and were employed as instruments of power and propaganda. The National Socialist
regime actively sought to eradicate cultural opposition. Cultural heritage holds immense value for the
community that creates and safeguards it. To destroy it is to assault the community and disregards essential
rights. UNESCO and other supranational organizations formed after the conflict have implemented regulations
aimed at safeguarding cultural heritage. These include a legislative system incorporating crucial international
laws pertaining to the preservation of cultural property, such as the 1954 Hague Convention, the 1970 Paris
Convention, and the 1995 Rome Unidroit Convention. Today, they serve as legal benchmark in cases involving
the circulation, removal and return of works of art. The latter issue is complex but still relevant, as the recent
Guelph Treasure case shows. The Welfenschatz is a collection of ecclesiastical medieval art housed in the
Berlin Decorative Arts Museum. In 1935, the collection was owned by a group of Jewish art dealers who sold
it to the Dresdner Bank (acting as agent for the Prussian State) for 4.25 million Reichsmarks. In 2008, some
of their heirs submitted a request to Germany, claiming the return of the collection. The lawsuit has since
escalated, involving the German State, Restitution Commissions, US courts and even the US Supreme Court.
It was not the first time that heirs of persecuted Jews had sought compensation in the United States.
Nevertheless, the 2021 Supreme Court's ruling is bound to be controversial and will set the stage for a general
reassessment of restitution cases.
