Stuttgart/Heidelberg (dpa/lsw) - The state of Baden-Württemberg has returned a painting from the collection of a Jewish art collector to his heirs. The industrialist Carl Sachs had to sell the work "Student Michaelis mit Papierrolle" by the Heidelberg artist Wilhelm Trübner after fleeing Nazi Germany in 1943 in order to secure his living in Switzerland, the Ministry of Science in Stuttgart announced on Monday. The state bought the painting in 1989 and gave it to the Kurpfälzisches Museum in Heidelberg as a permanent loan.
Science Minister Theresia Bauer (Greens) said on Monday that she was glad that the return was "quickly" possible because of the well-researched origin of the work after a similar case. "Injustice cannot be undone. I am therefore glad that by returning it again we can at least contribute to material redress for the injustice committed."
It is very important to the state to return all cultural assets in its possession that were confiscated from those persecuted by the National Socialist dictatorship. Last year, the state had already returned the painting "Black Forest Landscape" by Hans Thoma from the Kunsthalle Karlsruhe to the heirs of Sachs.
