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CRIME

Valuable Marc painting returned to heirs of Jewish owner

The Lower Saxony Landesbank NordLB has surprised the art world by returned a valuable painting to the heirs of its Jewish owner, collector Alfred Hess, whose collection was sold off cheap during the Third Reich.

Valuable Marc painting returned to heirs of Jewish owner
Photo: DPA

Rembert Schneider, spokesman for the bank told the Hannoversche Allgemeine Zeitung paper on Saturday, “We have restored it to the heirs of the previous Jewish owner.”

Although he admitted the bank had a moral duty to return it, he said there was not necessarily a legal one. The official handover actually took place late in 2008, the paper says, but has only now been reported.

The painting, Kinderbild (Katze hinter einem Baum) or “Children’s painting (cat behind a tree),” by Franz Marc, is on long-term loan to the Sprengel Museum in Hannover where it will remain.

It will have place of honour in the exhibition “Marc, Macke and Delaunay – the beauty of a shattering world (1910 – 1914)” which opens on March 29, where it will be marked with a sign saying “Private ownership.”

Anita Halpin, the granddaughter of Hess, who lives in England, has said she might be prepared to continue the loan of the painting to the museum.

She and her relatives created headlines and waves in the art world in 2006 when they sold the Kirchner painting Berliner Straßenszene or Berlin Street Scene, for around €30 million – shortly after retrieving it from the city’s Brücke Museum.

This sparked a controversial discussion about restoration of art to the heirs of Jews who had been forced to sell, or who could only sell their art at artificially reduced prices when desperate to escape the Nazis.

The circumstances in which this latest painting was taken from an exhibition in 1936, into the possession of the Hannover company Pelikan could not be explained despite months of intensive research commissioned by the bank. It is not known whether Hess’ son, by then living in exile in London, had ordered the sale or received its full worth.

The Hess heirs have further open claims against ten more German museums, for works which include further Marc and Kirchner paintings.

BUSINESS

Elon Musk visits Tesla’s sabotage-hit German factory

Elon Musk travelled Wednesday to Tesla's factory near Berlin to lend his workers "support" after the plant was forced to halt production by a suspected arson attack on nearby power lines.

Elon Musk visits Tesla's sabotage-hit German factory

The Tesla CEO addressed thousands of employees on arrival at the site, accusing “eco-terrorists” of the sabotage as he defended his company’s green credentials.

With his son X AE A-XII in his arms, Musk said: “I am here to support you.”

The billionaire’s visit came a week after power lines supplying the electric carmaker’s only European plant were set on fire in an act of sabotage claimed by a far-left group called the Vulkangruppe (Volcano Group).

READ ALSO: Far-left group claims ‘sabotage’ on Tesla’s German factory

Musk had said then that the attack was “extremely dumb”, while the company said it would cost it several hundred million euros.

A week on, the lights have come back on at the site, but Andre Thierig, who heads the site, said on LinkedIn that it would “take a bit of time” before production is back to full speed.

Industry experts have warned that the reputational impact caused by the sabotage on the region could be more severe than the losses suffered by Tesla.

Tesla’s German plant started production in 2022 following an arduous two-year approval and construction process dogged by administrative and legal obstacles.

Tesla wants to expand the site by 170 hectares and boost production up to one million vehicles annually to feed Europe’s growing demand for electric cars and take on rivals who are shifting away from combustion engine vehicles.

But the plans have annoyed local residents, who voted against the project in a non-binding ballot last month.

After the vote, Tesla said it might have to rethink the plans. Environmental activists opposed to the expansion of the factory have recently also set up a camp in a wooded area near the plant.

READ ALSO: Why is Tesla’s expansion near Berlin so controversial?

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