Ancient Vases from the Berlin Collection of Classical Antiquities relocated as a consequence of WWII in the State Historical Museum Moscow: Development, treatment, and publication.

• Applicant: Professor Dr. Andreas Scholl
• Subject Area: Classical, Roman, Christian and Islamic Archaeology
• Term: from 2018 to 2023
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 406114258

Thousands of art works from the Berlin Antikensammlung are still missing after the end of the World War II and after the repatriation actions of the Soviet Union in 1957/58 and 1977, including over 1500 ancient vases and fragments. Due to the war, about 200 antique vases from Berlin are relocated to the State Historical Museum in Moscow. According to the Russian Federation Law of 15. 04. 1998 No. 64-FS "On the cultural objects that were sent to the USSR as a result of the Second World War and located in the territory of the Russian Federation", they are considered as Russian state property, while Germany continues to restitute pleads. In this political stalemate, only contacts at the technical level are possible, as the Petersburg Dialogue allows. At the invitation of the State Historical Museum Moscow, representatives of the Antikensammlung of the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin in 2015 were able to visit a large number of antique vessels and thus for the first time became acquainted with works of art that had been missing for decades. In a cooperation agreement between the State Historical Museum Moscow (GIM) and the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation (SPK) and its Antikensammlung (ANT), a joint development of these vases was agreed for the purpose of their publication.With the scientific treatment of these decades of research withheld highlights of Greek, South-Italian and Etruscan ceramics, a sensitive gap in the scientific discourse would be closed. The publication of these objects online and in print as well as in an exhibition would make works, previously known only on the basis of pre-war photos and descriptions in museum catalogs of the 19th century, available for research.This concerns about 200 antique vessels and a collection of about 500 fragments (Mycenaean, Minoan, early-Attic) including the restoration of the mostly broken vessels. According to state and international law, vases cannot leave Russia for either restorative or archaeological research. All work on the object (restoration, photography, material analysis, further scientific investigations) must therefore be made in Russia. In a work plan 4-5 years are estimated for the project. The scientific work should be carried out by a group of Russian, German, and international vase specialists ("vase network").

• DFG Programme: Research Grants
• International Connection: Russia
• Cooperation Partners: Dr. Georgy Lomtadze; Dr. Denis Zhuravlev
• Co-Investigator: Ursula Kästner