Mainz State Museum

In recent years, projects supported by the German Lost Art Foundation (Deutsche Zentrum Kulturgutverluste) have revealed that the former owners had not given up their works of art voluntarily. The works of art were embezzled, confiscated, expropriated and looted. Or the owners were forced to sell due to economic hardship.

Through this walk, we want to focus on thosee people and their lives. We want to tell the human stories behind these works of art. That's why we're introducing presenting some of Mainz's art enthusiasts and collectors. They were very differentThere were vast differences in their personalities. They didn't have much in common, but they all came from Jewish families. Karoline Weis lived in modest circumstances. Gerti Salomon came from an upper-middle-class family in which religious traditions played no role. Felix Ganz had even turned to Christianity. But that didn't matter to the National Socialist powers that be: For them, they were Jews, members of an inferior race. As Jews, they were robbed, humiliated and murdered.

In 1998, Germany committed to the Washington Declaration to do educational work, find the rightful owners and reach an agreement with them. Many museums, including the Mainz State Museum, have set up research units to investigate the provenance and ownership of the items. This work can be understood as the reparation of a moral debt. But it is also an expression of respect for the victims who were once our fellow citizens.

Our first stop is less than two hundred meters away: When you standing in front of the main entrance to the State Museum, you will see a church on your right. Go in the opposite direction. You will cross a small side street. The house "Große Bleiche 39" is only a few meters away, on the corner of Große Bleiche and Schießgartenstraße.