Provenance research focusses on the origin and changing ownership of cultural artefacts.
One of the main tasks of provenance research is to investigate and trace the path of cultural property that has been lost as a result of persecution. It is now possible, for example, to trace the systematic looting of musical instruments committed against the victims of National Socialism.
Many of these instruments were soon traded.
Similar to the art trade during and after World War II, we can assume that Switzerland played an important role as a hub for the trade of musical instruments, stringed instruments in particular.
At the initiative of the Schweizer Geigenbauschule (Swiss School of Violin Making), an international conference was held in April 2022 to present the current state of research and to lay the foundations for further research.
↘︎ Conference report by Dr Thomas Gartmann, Bern University of Applied Sciences, University of Arts, Head of Research