Registration: sekretariat.weller@jura.uni-bonn.de
Please note: This is going to be an on-site only event coducted in German.
On December 1, 2025, the Court of Arbitration for Nazi-Looted Cultural Property began its work. Its establishment is based on an Administrative Agreement between the federal govern-ment, the states, and municipal umbrella organizations. It operates on the basis of arbitration rules created specifically for the subject matter of the proceedings and renders decisions in accordance with specially created substantive rules, the “Assessment Framework.” All of these foundational documents are available here. English, French, and Hebrew translations are available there as well. Thirty-six distinguished individuals serve as arbitrators. The Presi-dium is co-chaired by Ms DDr Elisabeth Steiner and Mr Peter Müller, retired judge of the Ger-man Federal Constitutional Court.
In his presentation, Peter Müller will outline the opportunities and challenges facing the new institution. Following this, selected questions will be explored in greater depth during a panel discussion. Prof Dr Matthias Weller of the University of Bonn will serve as the discussion part-ner. Afterward, the audience is cordially invited to ask questions and participate in the discus-sion. We look forward to seeing you there!
Please register to attend at: sekretariat.weller@jura.uni-bonn.de.
The event is being held in cooperation with the Kunstmuseum Bonn and marks the start of a series of events organized by the Kunstmuseum Bonn leading up to the 30th anniversary of the Washington Principles on Nazi-Confiscated Art. To mark the 30th anniversary itself, the Kunstmuseum Bonn is planning an exhibition along with accompanying events.
On Wednesday, January 24, 2029, for example, the University of Bonn, in collaboration with the Kunstmuseum Bonn, will host a conference on the “Restatement of Restitution Rules for Nazi-Confiscated Art.” At this conference, the findings of this comprehensive comparative le-gal research on Germany, Austria, the Netherlands, France, the United Kingdom, and Switzer-land will be discussed and further developed. To this end, a Call for Papers titled “The ‘Restatement Update’ Project” will be issued shortly. This call is directed at legal experts from the aforementioned countries and invites them to present their observations on the respec-tive jurisdictions for discussion at the conference on January 24, 2029, and to publish them in a subsequent book.
This call complements the previously issued Call for Papers titled “30 Years after the Washing-ton Principles: Taking Stock, Looking Ahead” which aims for an assessment of the broader implementation of the Washington Principles across all 42 signatory states in a forthcoming book. Information on this Call can be found here.
Finally, we will soon issue a third Call for Papers on “Provenance Research and Data Protec-tion,” which, in the course of 2027, will explore the legal possibilities and limitations regarding access to and handling of data based on practical experience from provenance research.
We look forward to briefly updating you on these plans at the end of the event on October 22, 2026.
Please do not hesitate to forward our invitation to interested friends and colleagues of yours.
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