Family of Germany's last emperor ends 99-year legal dispute over who owns art treasures
Thousands of cultural treasures from Germany's former Hohenzollern imperial family will remain on permanent display in museums in Berlin and Brandenburg, the country's new minister of state for culture, Wolfram Weimer, has announced..
After a dispute lasting almost 100 years, the descendants of the last German emperor have reached a landmark agreement with the federal government and with the states of Berlin and Brandenburg, he said.
'This agreement is a tremendous success for Germany as a cultural location and for the art-loving public,' Weimer said in Berlin.
'For a hundred years, there has been ongoing uncertainty about objects that are central to the art and collection history of Prussia and thus to German history as a whole.'
German Minister of State for Culture Wolfram Weimer. Photo: dpa
The treasures include a portrait of Elector Joachim I of Brandenburg by painter Lucas Cranach the Elder and a table service for the Breslau City Palace acquired by Emperor Frederick II..
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Standard
13-06-2025
- The Standard
Israel shuts global embassies after attack on Iran
An Israeli flag flutters as police secure the area of the embassy of Israel in Berlin, Germany, October 20, 2024. (Reuters/File Photo)
South China Morning Post
13-06-2025
- South China Morning Post
Cheerleaders to critics: German machinery makers call for EU action on China
Now, as exports dwindle and facing 'increasingly strong [Chinese] competitors' beefed up by 'unfair state subsidies', the industry is demanding that Brussels put in place trade barriers to protect it. A new position paper published on Thursday by the Mechanical Engineering Industry Association (VDMA), representing medium-sized manufacturers that help constitute Germany's famed Mittelstand group of businesses, marks a dramatic reversal for an industry that until recently lauded the Sino-German economic miracle. 'The EU should impose countervailing duties on imports from third countries if they violate EU anti-dumping or anti-subsidy rules. China is a particular focus here with its aggressive export policy,' read the VDMA's paper. The industry group – whose 3,600 members make everything from power transmission systems and machine tools to semiconductor machines and precision tools – made clear that it was ready to compete with Chinese rivals on a level playing field. However, it was also unequivocal that it feels those conditions do not exist and that it wants governments to intervene. 12:53 'Overtaking on a bend': how China's EV industry charged ahead to dominate the global market 'Overtaking on a bend': how China's EV industry charged ahead to dominate the global market 'Chinese companies are heavily subsidised by the government. And they supply products to Europe that sometimes disregard our technical regulations. China is not playing fair, and politicians must respond to this,' said Bertram Kawlath, VDMA's president.
South China Morning Post
11-06-2025
- South China Morning Post
Hey, Nato boss man, keep your hands off the Asia-Pacific region
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization has failed to deter or stop Russia from invading and annexing Ukrainian territories, yet it wants to expand into Asia-Pacific to take on China. Most of its European member states – Germany even has slight negative growth this year – is mired in economic slowdown, social malaise and political instability, yet they want to double, more or less, their national defence spending. Where will they find the money? That's why Nato chief Mark Rutte raised a few eyebrows among independent observers, especially those from Asia, when he told an audience in London this week that what happened in the Pacific was Nato's business too. It is? 'We cannot think that there is one theatre, which is the Euro-Atlantic theatre,' he said. 'We have to be conscious of the fact that this is all interconnected with what is happening in the Pacific.' He added, 'They are supporting, as we all know, Russia's war effort against Ukraine', thereby deliberately lumping China with Iran and North Korea. The latter two did offer materials and troops, not China. Well, since everything is connected in this world, Nato could argue the world is its oyster. Rutte is starting to sound like his predecessor Jens Stoltenberg, who had claimed a Nato mandate over the Indo-Pacific reaching the Middle East and Africa! Rutte also claimed that the West's partners in the region, including Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand, were 'really worried about what's happening in the Pacific'. Worried enough to do a Cold War redux? That's not clear, especially with the Japanese and South Koreans. Has Rutte taken a poll?
