UNIVERSITY OF COLOGNE

Democracy needs remembrance

Libraries not only preserve knowledge - they also bear responsibility for their history.
During the Nazi era, books were stolen, voices were silenced, knowledge was falsified.
Provenance research makes these traces visible and raises questions about origin, loss and justice.
By revealing what was concealed, libraries today are acting democratically: they create transparency, give back history and make it clear that participation also means coming to terms with it.

Exhibition at the start of the project

The project "Investigation of Nazi-looted property in the University and City Library of Cologne" begins in November 2025. This involves examining a section of the library's holdings for books that were illegally acquired during the National Socialist era. 

To mark the start of the project, we are showing examples of various suspected cases in the exhibition that are highly likely to have been confiscated as a result of persecution, without the acquisition routes having been reconstructed by the USB to date. In-depth research into the history of the items and their previous owners is being carried out as part of the project.

Nazi-looted property in public collections and libraries - processing since 1999

When the National Socialists came to power in 1933, they began to persecute political opponents and unwelcome organizations and, above all, to gradually take away the rights of Jewish citizens, eventually systematically murdering millions of them. The National Socialist state made extensive use of their property. Works of art and cultural assets were a particular focus. Millions of books were also confiscated, expropriated or otherwise unlawfully acquired by state agents. Many of these books ended up in the possession of public libraries.

In a joint declaration issued in 1999 by the federal government, the federal states and municipal umbrella organizations, they pledged to identify cultural assets seized under their auspices as a result of Nazi persecution and to reach fair and equitable solutions with their rightful owners. This can mean, for example, the return of the cultural assets or financial compensation.

The University and City Library of Cologne under National Socialism

The book collection of the USB grew by at least 200,000 volumes during the National Socialist era. Like other academic libraries, the USB served as a depository library for the holdings of (forcibly) dissolved organizations. In addition, the library director Hermann Corsten endeavored to expand the range of books by acquiring volumes from private collections, in some cases entire libraries. During the war years, the countries occupied by Germany also became sources of favorable acquisitions. Several "shopping trips" by Hermann Corsten through occupied Belgium and northern France are documented in this context. Against this background, it can be assumed that numerous books that came to us illegitimately are still in our collection.

With a few exceptions, all files that provide information about specific acquisitions made by the USB between 1933 and 1945 were destroyed during the war. References to previous owners can therefore often only be found in the books themselves. A selection of these features can be seen in the exhibition.

Further links

• Researching, recording and restituting provenances

• What are just and fair solutions? See the explanatory film by the German Lost Art Foundation. (in German)
  on YouTube.

   

Exhibition location

Cologne University and City Library

Universitätsstraße 33, 50931 Cologne

Admission

Of course, you can also visit the exhibition without a library card; it is located in the foyer at the main entrance.

Opening hours

Monday to Friday from 9 to midnight

Saturday and Sunday from 9 to 21

Contact

Project funding

Our special thanks go to the German Lost Art Foundation and the Cologne District Government for their generous support of the project.

Project manager

Bildnachweis: Universitätsgebäude, Historisches Archiv der Universität zu Köln