Berlinka (art collection)

The "Berlinka" ( _pl. from Berlin) Looted art is the Polish name for a German collection of historic material which was originally at the "Preußischen Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin" Prussian State Library at Berlin (Berlin State Library), but is now kept in the Jagiellonian Library in Kraków, Poland.

History

During the Second World War, German authorities moved the material to the Silesian Kloster Grüssau to protect it from Allied bombing. When Lower Silesia became Polish territory after the war, the Polish state secretly claimed the collection as war reparations.

The Polish government kept the "Berlinka"'s existence a secret until 1977, when Polish First Secretary Edward Gierek gave East German leader Erich Honecker seven pieces of sheet music, including Mozart's original manuscript of "Zauberflöte" and Beethoven's notes for his Ninth SymphonyDe iconDer Spiegel: BEUTEKUNST-RÜCKGABE Polen stellt sich stur , 08 August 2007 [http://www.spiegel.de/kultur/gesellschaft/0,1518,498915,00.html] ] , as a gift.

Poland claims that it should retain ownership of the "Berlinka" as compensation for Polish historical collections destroyed or looted by Germans during the Second World War; the total worth of Polish cultural heritage destroyed by Germany is estimated at 20 billion dollars.pl icon [http://serwisy.gazeta.pl/swiat/1,34239,4554829.html Rosjanie oddają skradzione dzieła sztuki] , Gazeta Wyborcza, 2007-10-14] The German media refers to the "Berlinka" as the "last German prisoner of war", and claims that Poland is in violation of the Hague Convention of 1907.De iconFrankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung: "Rückgabe von Beutekunst - Die letzten deutschen Kriegsgefangenen", 26 July 2006, [http://www.faz.net/s/RubEBED639C476B407798B1CE808F1F6632/Doc~E73D9568D79A14F7CB8686D42EC8ACD04~ATpl~Ecommon~Scontent.html] ]

Early 2006 Alan Kirkness, a Newsealand Germanist, who searched for fifteen years, discovered examples of the "Grimmsche Woerterbuch" with handwritten notes by the Grimm Brothers as part of the looted art taken from Germany at the Jagiellonian Library in Krakow.

In summer 2007, Der Spiegel quoted German foreign ministry representative Julia Gross as saying that negotiations over the disposition of the "Berlinka" had reached a low point. Earlier, Poland had stated that the return is out of the question. Previously, Poland has undertaken several initiatives, such as proposing a creation of a Polish-German foundation that would take possession of such disputed collections, but Germany has refused, each time demanding that Poland return the "Berlinka" unconditionally; Poland refuses, claiming that Germany still has much Polish material looted during WWII, and that this should be returned to Poland in exchange.

Contents

The "Berlinka" is known to contain over 300,000 manuscripts by individuals such as Martin Luther, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, and Friedrich Schiller. It also contains the original manuscript of the "Deutschlandlied", Germany's national anthem, and linguistic studies by the Grimm Brothers. [De icon German TV HR: "Handexemplare des Grimmschen Wörterbuchs in Krakau gefunden" [http://www.hr-online.de/website/rubriken/kultur/index.jsp?rubrik=5982&key=standard_document_16755474 ] ]

See also

*looted art
*Nazi plunder

References

External links

* [http://staatsbibliothek-berlin.de/english/imageflyer.html Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin website]
* [http://www.gazetawyborcza.pl/1,76842,4381443.html Berlin, Berlinka i bierna Warszawa] , Gazeta Wyborcza, 2007-08-11
* [http://www.dziedzictwo.pl/sources/straty/kalicki.html Czy oddamy Bibliotekę Pruską? ] , Gazeta Wyborcza, 2001-09-12