Alan Philipp of London and Gerald Stiebel of Santa Fe, New Mexico have filed a lawsuit in the US against Germany and a German museum. Heirs of Nazi-era Jewish art dealers, the decedents are fighting for the return of a $226 million medieval treasure trove known as the Welfenschatz or Guelph Treasure.
The collection, originally an 82 piece set of church relics was purchased from a Braunschweig Duke by a group of Jewish art dealers from Frankfurt in 1929. Half of the trove was sold once the great Depression hit and as Hitler came to power, the remaining half was sold to the Prussian state, led by Nazi Hermann Goring.
According to reports, the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation strongly believes that the collection was not sold under Nazi demand and should remain at the Museum of Decorative Arts, in Berlin, where it has been since the 1960s.
Heirs of Nazi-era Jewish art dealers sue for return of treasure in US courts