On 17. July 2020 at 10 a.m., the Director-General of the State Archives, Dr. Margit Ksoll-Marcon and the Director-General of the Bavarian National MuseumMr. Dr. Frank Matthias Kammel, an archiving agreement. The agreement regulates the separation and transfer of archive-ready documents from the register of the Bavarian National Museum to the Bavarian State Archive.

As part of a press event, two recently handed over to the main state archives of the National Museum from the period 1930 to 1950 were presented and explained. The journals are of central importance especially for provenance research – the research into the acquisitions of works of art.
The written tradition of the Bavarian National Museum documents the long and eventful history of this institution as well as its collection and exhibition activities. King Maximilian II founded the National Museum in 1855. In 1867 the museum received a representative building in Maximilianstraße, which soon proved to be too small and inappropriate. The building still used today in the Prinzregentenstraße covered the National Museum in 1900.

Through the agreement to be concluded, the historical tradition of the Bavarian National Museum is to be kept safely and reliably and made accessible to research. The Bavarian Archives Act is a legal basis. If the National Museum needs the documentation for its own purposes, for example for the preparation of an exhibition, for scientific research or in the course of its administrative activity, recourse is possible at any time. Already in 2019, the Bavarian National Museum handed over the two access journals to the Bayerischer Hauptstaatsarchiv. These documents are of great importance especially for provenance research, i.e. the exploration of the origin and the often interchangeable history of the works of art stored in museums and collections. For many years, the Bavarian National Museum has been particularly committed to the research of provenance as well as to the identification and return of cultural objects that have been withdrawn due to persecution. In the “Provenienzforschung Bayern” research association (https://provenienzforschungsverbund-bayern.de/) the Bavarian National Museum has a leading role. Other members of the research association include the Bavarian State Archives, the Bayerische Staatsbibliothek and the Bayerische Staatsgemäldesammlungen.

Since the adoption of the Washington Declaration in 1998 and the corresponding commitment of the Federal Republic in the following year, Provenance research has gained considerable importance and scope. The result is an increasing demand for relevant documents in the state archives of Bavaria and especially in the Bavarian Main State Archives. Insufficient and much consulted stocks, which are already stored in the main state archive, are the compensation records of the Bavarian State Compensation Office, the asset control files of the Bavarian State Office for Asset Management and Recognition, the facts of the Bavarian Finance and of the Ministry of Culture. In addition, the collections of other culturally preserved institutions, such as the files of the Bayerische Staatsbibliothek or of the Bayerische Staatsgemäldesammlungen, are included. The decision of the Bavarian National Museum to submit its documents also makes it possible to use these stocks centrally in the Bavarian Main State Archive. A great relief for the national and international research landscape!

Submitted on 20.07.2020