Milestone reached on the way to the Court of Arbitration for Nazi-looted Cultural Property: Committee agrees on an Executive Committee and list of arbitrators

At the Federal Chancellery yesterday, a selection committee appointed the Executive Committee for the Court of Arbitration for Nazi-looted Cultural Property and agreed on a list of 36 arbitrators. 

Dr Elisabeth Steiner and Mr Peter Müller were appointed to serve as the Executive Committee for the Court of Arbitration. The following were chosen to serve as arbitrators for a term of five years (in alphabetical order): Dr Julia Bešlin, Prof. Dr Magnus Brechtken, Prof. Dr Stephan Breidenbach, Prof. Dr Michael Brenner, Dr Annette Brockmöller, Peter Clausen, Helmut Dedy, Dr Axel Drecoll, Dr Caroline Flick, Nathan Gelbart, Prof. Dr Beate Gsell, Prof. Dr Isabel Heinemann, Dr Hans-Joachim Heßler, Dr Anja Heuß, Prof. Dr Christiane Kuller, Prof. Dr Benjamin Lahusen, Dr Sophie Lillie, Uwe Lübking, Dr Jürgen Matthäus, François Moyse, Peter Müller, Daniel Neumann, David Nossen, Dr Julien von Reitzenstein, Sebastian Remelé, Dr Jan-Robert von Renesse, Doron Rubin, Prof. Dr Leo Schapiro, Gudrun Schäpers, Dr Iris Schmeisser, Dr Elisabeth Steiner, Prof. Dr Natan Sznaider, Dr Katja Terlau, Prof. Dr Christian Waldhoff, Dr Avraham Weber, Johanna Werner.

The selection committee was made up of two representatives each of the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media, the federal states, and the national associations of local authorities; and three representatives each of the Central Council of Jews in Germany and of the Claims Conference. The Court of Arbitration for Nazi-looted Cultural Property will replace the Advisory Commission effective 1 December 2025.

Establishing arbitration is an important step to improve the return of Nazi-looted cultural property and fulfils one of several objectives set out in the Federal Government’s Coalition Agreement. In addition to introducing arbitration, these objectives include creating an effective law on the restitution of Nazi-looted cultural property in order to arrive at a satisfactory and legally certain solution for unresolved cases involving Nazi-looted property. 

Wolfram Weimer, Minister of State for Culture and the Media, stated: “In making these decisions, we have taken the last major step towards establishing a Court of Arbitration for Nazi-looted Cultural Property – together with the Central Council of Jews in Germany and the Claims Conference, for which I am very grateful. Germany’s lasting obligation, which the Federal Government acknowledges, arises out of our deep respect for the victims and their families, who were robbed of their possessions, their liberty and their lives under the National Socialist reign of terror. Establishing the new Court of Arbitration for Nazi-looted Cultural Property creates new momentum to address this historical injustice. Allowing victims and their legal successors to apply unilaterally for arbitration for the first time gives them easier access to a procedure which leads to binding decisions and reduces the burden of proof. I would also like to thank the outstanding arbitrators for their commitment to just and fair solutions in the spirit of the Washington Principles and their willingness to make such solutions possible.”

Dr Josef Schuster, President of the Central Council of Jews in Germany, said: “Designating the arbitrators is a decisive milestone. Together with the federal, state and local governments and the Claims Conference, we have put together a balanced list of highly qualified arbitrators for the Court of Arbitration for Nazi-looted Cultural Property. This body will bring its seriousness and professionalism to bear in deciding on restitution issues. We nonetheless need a binding law on restitution which also requires non-state holders of cultural property to allow the examination of restitution claims. Voluntary commitments are not enough. Other European countries have made more progress in this regard.”

Rüdiger Mahlo, representative of the Claims Conference in Europe, said: “We welcome yesterday’s decision, which sends an important signal for survivors, their families and heirs worldwide. After decades of waiting, they can now finally begin to make their claims for restitution on their own initiative. But resolving all of the cases that remain open will require a law on restitution. That is the next logical step which must now be taken.”

Speaking on behalf of the federal states, Timon Gremmels, Hessian State Minister of Science and Research, Arts and Culture, said: “Returning Nazi-confiscated cultural property is not solely a question of justice. For a democratic Germany, it is an essential step in reckoning with our own history. The new Court of Arbitration provides a procedure which enables binding decisions and finally offers the victims and their descendants certainty and recognition. In future, no public institution will be able to refuse to examine its own collections – that is our shared promise for cultural policy.”

Another representative of the federal states, Markus Blume, Bavarian State Minister for Science and the Arts, added: “We stand on the threshold of a new era in the return of Nazi-looted cultural property. With the unanimous selection of the arbitrators, we have reached one of the final major milestones in establishing arbitration as a new and legally binding procedure. The balanced representation of the federal, state and local governments, the Central Council of Jews and the Claims Conference is a sign of our strong resolve. The 36 members chosen are experienced and highly qualified in the fields of legal studies, history and art history. Their broad range of expertise will ensure the differentiated assessment of the legal and historical aspects as well as just and fair decision-making in every case. Our goal is clear: speeding up the process, creating trust and enabling justice, even in difficult cases.”

Speaking on behalf of the Federation of German Local Authority Associations, Christian Schuchardt, Executive Director of the Association of German Cities, said: “In the joint declaration committing to the Washington Principles, Germany’s local authorities expressed their desire to play an active role in the restitution of Nazi-looted cultural property. Introducing arbitration is a further important step to take responsibility and provide justice for the Jewish victims of National Socialism and their families. We thank all of the arbitrators, who will be working to achieve this goal and find just and fair solutions in the cases to come.”

The new Court of Arbitration for Nazi-looted Cultural Property will significantly improve the return process for such property: victims and their legal successors will be able to apply for arbitration unilaterally, giving them easier access to the decision-making procedure. Binding decisions will replace non-binding recommendations. The arbitration panels will decide solely on the basis of an assessment framework which provides for a reduced burden of proof and thereby does greater justice to the cases that remain open – more than 80 years after the end of the Second World War. This assessment framework takes the place of the “Orientierungshilfe” offered by the Guidelines for implementing the Statement by the Federal Government, the Länder and the national associations of local authorities on the tracing and return of Nazi-confiscated art, especially Jewish property, of December 1999. 

At the 20th High-Level Cultural Policy Meeting on 13 March 2024, the Federation, the federal states and the national associations of local authorities agreed on a fundamental reform of the Advisory Commission in order to better achieve the objectives of the Washington Principles. The Administrative Agreement of 26 March 2025 lay the foundation for establishing the Court of Arbitration for Nazi-looted Cultural Property. The Central Council of Jews in Germany and the Claims Conference were involved in drafting the founding documents for the Court of Arbitration for Nazi-looted Cultural Property.

These documents are available in German, English, French and Hebrew here: https://kulturstaatsminister.de

Contact information:

Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media of the Federal Republic of Germany, Press Relations Division, telephone: (030) 18 681-43333, fax: (030) 18681-55366, email: presse@bkm-info.bund.de 

Claims Conference Europe Office, Dr Ruth Kinet, telephone: +49 151 72 14 74 73, email: ruth.kinet@claimscon.org, and Cornelia Levi, telephone: +49 151 688 56 222, email: cornelia.levi@claimscon.org 

Central Council of Jews in Germany, Press Relations, telephone: (030) 28 44 56 0, fax: (030) 28 44 56 13, email: presse@zentralratderjuden.de 

Secretariat of the Standing Conference of Ministers of Education and Cultural Affairs of the Länder (KMK), Michael Reichmann, press spokesperson, telephone: (030) 25418-462, email: michael.reichmann@kmk.org 

Federation of German Local Authority Associations: 

Association of German Cities, Timm Steinborg, press spokesperson, telephone: (030) 3 77 11-130
Association of German Counties, Dr Markus Mempel, press spokesperson, telephone: (030) 59 00 97-312
German Association of Towns and Municipalities, Alexander Handschuh, press spokesperson, telephone: (030) 7 73 07-253