Bureau Herkomst Gezocht / Origins Unknown Agency

About Bureau Herkomst Gezocht / Origins Unknown Agency

During the Second World War, tens of thousands works of art that had belonged to Jewish private individuals ended up in Germany. They lost their possessions in forced sales, through looting or confiscation. After the war, as many objects as possible were brought back to the Netherlands with the intention of locating the rightful owners. This was not possible for a large number of objects. In 1998 the Bureau Herkomst Gezocht (Origins Unknown Agency), established by the Ministry of Culture, was assigned to investigate this collection. The results of this project, completed in 2005, can be found on our website. Additionally we receive a substantial amount of requests for information every year regarding looted art in general and artworks which have gone missing. 20.000 Missing Works of Art Recently we have started a new project. The aim is to digitize the registration of more than 20.000 works of art that were not recovered after the Second World War and have been missing ever since. Also we are trying to find as much provenance information as possible on these works of art, in the best case their current whereabouts. One of the most important sources for this research project on looted art-treasuries is the archive of the Stichting Nederlandsch Kunstbezit (SNK) in the National Archives and the Netherlands Institute for Art History. We are planning to launch our renewed website with the first results of the project at the end of this year. On the website a searchable database will be implemented in which all relevant information regarding these missing works of art, such as provenance info, the SNK declaration forms and photographs will be published on a frequent basis. The function of our website will be twofold. On the one hand we would like to publish as much information regarding these missing works of art as possible. On the other hand we are hoping that you will be able to help us find more information.

Keywords

• Looted Art 1933-1945
• Provenance Research

Address

• Headquarters

  Prins Willem Alexanderhof 202595BE Den HaagZuid-Holland, Netherlands

Team by function

Based on 2 public job profiles as of 4 September 2026.

• Research / R&D2