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Protection of cultural assets; promise of return

If foreign cultural property is to be temporarily loaned for an exhibition in Germany, the lender may be given a legally binding undertaking that it will be returned at the specified time.

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Bayerisches Staatsministerium für Wissenschaft und Kunst
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Procedure details

If foreign cultural property is to be loaned for an exhibition in Germany, the lender often fears, in view of the often very eventful acquisition history of art objects, that third parties could make claims during the stay of this cultural property in Germany, the assertion of which in court could prevent its return as agreed. This can lead to loan commitments or export licenses not being granted. In order to dispel such concerns, the lender can be issued with a "legally binding promise of return" before importing its cultural property, which means that the lender's claim for return cannot be countered by any rights asserted by third parties to the cultural property.

In order to obtain a legally binding promise of return, which is often a prerequisite for the granting of an export license in the case of loans, the borrower (regardless of its legal nature, e.g. also private institutions) can apply to the competent supreme state authority of the state in which the exhibition is to take place for the granting of the promise of return prior to import into the federal territory.

In Bavaria, this is the Bavarian State Ministry of Science and the Arts. Before granting the return approval, the supreme state authority must obtain the consent of the Federal Central Office, the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media.

The granting of the restitution commitment has the consequence that legal action or other judicial measures to temporarily secure the cultural property during a stay in Germany are inadmissible. This means that the timely return of the cultural property to the lender cannot be prevented by third-party measures. Once the promise of return has been given, it can no longer be withdrawn for the period specified in it.

  • foreign cultural property that has not yet been imported into Germany at the time of application
  • foreign lender
  • domestic borrower
  • Cultural property is to be temporarily imported into Germany for the purpose of holding an exhibition in Germany.

  • Information on lender and borrower
  • Information on the object on loan (brief description, inventory number...)
  • details of the intended exhibition (time, duration, place) and the agreed return time
  • Provenance
    (to be obtained at http://www.lostart.de) or otherwise professionally clarified provenance check

An application must be submitted to the Bavarian State Ministry of Science and the Arts for the issue of the restitution approval.

Before issuing the restitution approval, it obtains the consent of the Federal Central Office, the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media.

None

The application must be submitted in good time before import. Although there are no technical deadlines, it is strongly recommended that the relevant lead time is observed by submitting the application as early as possible.

Status: 30.07.2024
Editorially responsible for prodecure description: Bayerisches Staatsministerium für Wissenschaft und Kunst
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