Enlarge image
The two bronze horses being transported away after the 2015 raid
Photo: Fredrik Von Erichsen / AP / dpa
Agreement in the legal dispute over the Nazi art discovered in the Palatinate in 2015: once the two mighty bronze horses stood on the terrace in front of Adolf Hitler's study, then they were first in the possession of the Soviet army before they were considered lost for many years.
After the statues were found six years ago by an entrepreneur in the Palatinate, they are now to become the property of the federal government.
The Federal Republic of Germany reached an out-of-court settlement with the defendant, as the federal art administration announced on Monday.
A spokesman for the Frankenthal regional court confirmed an out-of-court settlement with the dpa.
The dispute was about Nazi art discovered in Bad Dürkheim in 2015.
She was found in a raid on suspicion of stealing illegally obtained federal assets.
Among the total of around one hundred tons of Nazi art seized were the oversized »Striding Horses« by the sculptor Josef Thorak - they stood in front of Adolf Hitler's Reich Chancellery in Berlin.
Works by the Nazi sculptors Arno Breker and Fritz Klimsch were also found at that time.
The Federal Republic of Germany had demanded the surrender of the bronze horses and other bronze sculptures, claiming that they had become their property through the reunification treaty.
The defendant entrepreneur, in turn, had stated that he had legitimately bought the works.
The Berlin Administrative Court had dismissed one of the man's lawsuits.
The Federal Republic of Germany then sued the Frankenthal Regional Court, which initially ordered written preliminary proceedings for the publication of the "Nazi propaganda art".
A hearing for the hearing was then canceled in December 2020 because settlement negotiations were being held, as the regional court spokesman said.
According to the communication, the settlement that has now been made stipulates that the man will hand over the "Striding Horses" to the Federal Republic, but that the remaining sculptures will remain with him.
The Federal Republic of Germany therefore wants to exhibit the »Striding Horses«.
zob / dpa