[Nhcoll-l] FW: REPOST: New law regarding collecting and collections in Germany

Wed Nov 11 05:48:35 EST 2015

Hi Christian,

perfect summary!

The key question - as you said - is "valuable collection" goods. 
(without wanting to re-fuel the heated debating on putting a price on 
collections).

The other point - which will be more crucial for us & as detailed in my 
other email - is import checks. I addressed this to Mike Reich & his 
working group. We already discussed this informally within our 
administration, as Mike also belongs to "our" decentralised collections 
united under the umbrella of the Bavarian Natural History Collections 
(SNSB), he is a colleague of mine (even though I haven't met him in 
person yet)

All the best
Dirk

Am 11.11.2015 um 10:14 schrieb Christian Baars:
>
> Hi Genevieve,
>
> Thank you for sharing this, although I believe there has been a fair 
> amount of misinformation about this piece of German legislation. There 
> was a discussion on the British Geological Curators Group list 
> GEO-CURATORS at JISCMAIL.AC.UK <mailto:GEO-CURATORS at JISCMAIL.AC.UK>, and 
> I am aware of Mike Reich et al.’s preprint. I took the opportunity 
> last night to read up on the issue and responded to the GCG list, 
> which am copying below.
>
> While, as a native German speaker, I am able to read the associated 
> debates, being based in the UK I am not involved with the discussion 
> directly, but I hope my little analysis will help clarify the issue a 
> little. I cannot see, from the letter or the spirit of the 
> legislation, how natural science collections will be impacted on 
> negatively. The main concern appears to arise from the fact that, yet 
> again, natural science collections were overlooked and museum folk not 
> consulted during the preparation of this legislation, and may 
> inadvertently be caught up in increased beaurocracy. But the aim of 
> the legislation is, as outlined below, the prevention of looting 
> (particularly in the Middle East) and the illicit trade in cultural 
> objects into Germany, as well as the prevention of loss of important 
> cultural property from Germany.
>
> This was my reply to the GCG discussion:
>
> Perhaps I might offer some linguistic assistance to contribute to the
>
> debate about this new legislation, and hopefully will be able to calm the
>
> waters a little. I have just taken some time to delve into the available
>
> literature, which, I must say, is quite extensive (in newspapers, 
> magazines
>
> and on TV).
>
> Firstly, the new law was passed by the German government last week, so the
>
> petition is now unnecessary.
>
> Secondly, a very public debate in Germany during the summer affected some
>
> alterations to two early, unofficial versions which had been leaked in
>
> July.
>
> A quick summary: the purpose of this legislation is not to limit private
>
> collecting, far from it. The same law has existed since 1955 and protects
>
> German cultural objects of particular importance. The "new" law is merely
>
> an update of this existing legislation. This may be all you need to know,
>
> but if you care to read on I'll outline some details below.
>
> The reason for the update is two-fold:
>
> A) The currently enormous problem of looting and appearance of objects on
>
> the international market of objects from the Middle East (and other 
> areas),
>
> which funds terror organisations and results in a loss of cultural objects
>
> from the countries affected by looting - the update will make it more
>
> difficult to import illegally acquired objects into Germany. Hence an
>
> enhanced requirement for proof of provenance and ownership of objects
>
> imported into Germany. This is regarded as one contribution by the German
>
> government to the international protection of cultural property. There 
> were
>
> already provisions for this under the old law which have now been 
> enhanced.
>
> B) New to the law is that it will, in future, be more difficult to export
>
> cultural property from Germany into European countries. It was previously
>
> already difficult to export into non-European countries, but the
>
> regulations are now stricter. As a general rule, the export of objects on
>
> the "national register of objects of national importance", which are less
>
> than 70 years old and more valuable (in monetary terms) than 300.000 
> Euros,
>
> will require the approval of the culture minister.
>
> The law covers primarily art and archaeological objects (the financial
>
> value limits of different object classes differ somewhat, so the above is
>
> just a general rule). My own cynical view is that, once again, culture is
>
> equated with paintings and sculptures. However, going into the text of the
>
> law
>
> https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__www.bundesregierung.de_Webs_Breg_DE_Bundesregierung_BeauftragtefuerKulturundMedien_kultur_kulturgutschutz_-5Fnode.html&d=AwID-g&c=-dg2m7zWuuDZ0MUcV7Sdqw&r=CLFZJ3fvGSmDp7xK1dNZfh6uGV_h-8NVlo3fXNoRNzI&m=LNJfTxacgRicNJqcpbrB7U6bbt4Ogk3zz9TFCWaUY5o&s=hoH9V4bnKXog5dwuZ6xU31H5rDDIWQHQzWDT3_x2F2Y&e=  
> <https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__www.bundesregierung.de_Webs_Breg_DE_Bundesregierung_BeauftragtefuerKulturundMedien_kultur_kulturgutschutz_-5Fnode.html&d=AwMFAw&c=-dg2m7zWuuDZ0MUcV7Sdqw&r=CLFZJ3fvGSmDp7xK1dNZfh6uGV_h-8NVlo3fXNoRNzI&m=p1phI-xxHE7G7aLFEoVPeyovfrUColYcIsodKkKM46U&s=SwzoIuIBfuqXSzHpX9mh91WJAo4LUy0x7a2kat8xyqk&e=>, 
>
>
> on page 81 there is a an explanatory note to paragraph 7/2 which may be of
>
> relevance to natural science museums: some objects are regarded in the
>
> context of an entire collection, particularly books, natural science
>
> collections and archives, when being valued. In the example given, this
>
> means that a collection of beetles may be regarded as a single object, 
> even
>
> if an individual specimen would not be regarded worthy of inclusion in the
>
> national register. However, this assumes that someone decided a particular
>
> collection should be included in the national register, which involves a
>
> procedure and assessment by a commission (well, we are talking Germany
>
> here...).
>
> The people who have been most vociferously opposing it are art collectors
>
> who are concerned about a drop in value of their collections; the logic is
>
> that if the market for the paintings is now restricted to Germany, rather
>
> than all of Europe, in essence a limited market, there is less likelihood
>
> of fetching a price as high as at auctions in London.
>
> In my interpretation of the law (as far as I have read it) and the debate
>
> around its implementation, there is nothing to suggest that private
>
> collections will be illegal, or that trade shows will be made impossible.
>
> On the contrary, it appears a very sensible and timely update of a 
> piece of
>
> legislation that had already been around for 60 years.
>
> I hope the above helps.
>
> Best wishes
>
> Christian
>
> *From:*nhcoll-l-bounces at mailman.yale.edu 
> [mailto:nhcoll-l-bounces at mailman.yale.edu] *On Behalf Of *Tocci 
> (Lewis-Gentry), Genevieve
> *Sent:* 10 November 2015 20:22
> *To:* nhcoll-l at mailman.yale.edu
> *Subject:* [Nhcoll-l] FW: REPOST: New law regarding collecting and 
> collections in Germany
>
> A colleague sent me this and I don’t think I’ve seen it come across 
> this list. If it has, my apologies.
>
> Genevieve
>
> =================================================
> Genevieve E. Tocci (née Lewis-Gentry)
>
> Curatorial Assistant
> Harvard University Herbaria
> 22 Divinity Ave., Cambridge, MA 02138  U.S.A.
> Phone: 617-495-2365  Fax: 617-495-9484
> glewis-g at oeb.harvard.edu <mailto:glewis-g at oeb.harvard.edu>
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> *From:*Forum for marine, freshwater and terrestrial algae. 
> [ALGAE-L at LISTSERV.HEANET.IE] on behalf of Guiry, Michael 
> [michael.guiry at NUIGALWAY.IE]
> *Sent:* Monday, November 09, 2015 4:11 AM
> *To:* ALGAE-L at LISTSERV.HEANET.IE <mailto:ALGAE-L at LISTSERV.HEANET.IE>
> *Subject:* REPOST: New law regarding collecting and collections in Germany
>
> REPOST: This matter could have Europe-wide implications if the EU were 
> to move in the same direction, as has happened previously.
>
> Dear colleagues,
>
> There has been a quite strange movement in Germany and a new law which 
> will strongly impact private and institutional collecting/collections. 
> While I do see the problem with private collecting, specifically when 
> it concerns archaeological artefacts the present formulation of the 
> new law seems to apply for palaeontological, geological and even (!) 
> biological objects too as our colleague from the Stuttgart Museum and 
> the Munich University found out. Apparently the new law will impose 
> numerous additional obligations (loans of scientific material will be 
> needed to be approved of by the ministry; retrospective proof of 
> acquisition; destructive sampling will apparently be prohibited; 
> etc.). [My emphasis, Mike Guiry]
>
> This would seriously impact both biodiversity and palaeontological 
> research. Our German colleagues try to fight the new law and appeal 
> for a revised formulation of the term “national cultural heritage”.
>
> More information can be found here (in German unfortunately):
>
> https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__www.researchgate.net_publication_283346678-5FDie-5FKulturgutschutz-2DNovelle-5F-5FBehinderung-5Ffr-5Fdie-5Fwissenschaftliche-5FPalontologie-5Fund-5Fpalontologische-5FSammlungen-5F-5FThe-5Fnew-5Fdraft-5Fact-5Fto-5Fprotect-5Fcultural-5Fproperty-5F-5FObstruction-5Fof-5Fscientific-5Fpalaeontology-5Fand-5Fpalaeontological-5Fcollections&d=AwID-g&c=-dg2m7zWuuDZ0MUcV7Sdqw&r=CLFZJ3fvGSmDp7xK1dNZfh6uGV_h-8NVlo3fXNoRNzI&m=LNJfTxacgRicNJqcpbrB7U6bbt4Ogk3zz9TFCWaUY5o&s=WEKsIYjIXokZMcaZt_3YdETF8B7y6qeKsQyU8DizhI4&e=  
> <https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__www.researchgate.net_publication_283346678-5FDie-5FKulturgutschutz-2DNovelle-5F-5FBehinderung-5Ffr-5Fdie-5Fwissenschaftliche-5FPalontologie-5Fund-5Fpalontologische-5FSammlungen-5F-5FThe-5Fnew-5Fdraft-5Fact-5Fto-5Fprotect-5Fcultural-5Fproperty-5F-5FObstruction-5Fof-5Fscientific-5Fpalaeontology-5Fand-5Fpalaeontological-5Fcollections&d=CwMGaQ&c=WO-RGvefibhHBZq3fL85hQ&r=DIsuBb5t5bVW9F_2zlAmGeRoCQx2KceZP-3k9VQb_6s&m=C32OFdAw8Aka8fUQ8IorOjOR7GhRCPMl1t68AgkxOxI&s=EiD6jIAyG7Pm_UCNzElafMTyLVPGEG1SLZ4LRjrM0qg&e=>
>
> There is also petition against this law:
>
> https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__www.openpetition.de_petition_online_fuer-2Dden-2Derhalt-2Ddes-2Dprivaten-2Dsammelns&d=AwID-g&c=-dg2m7zWuuDZ0MUcV7Sdqw&r=CLFZJ3fvGSmDp7xK1dNZfh6uGV_h-8NVlo3fXNoRNzI&m=LNJfTxacgRicNJqcpbrB7U6bbt4Ogk3zz9TFCWaUY5o&s=YmP4tLtH3tu71hhuBW_Ynj_BSfoeadRvtH2Ta4KFSxQ&e=  
> <https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__www.openpetition.de_petition_online_fuer-2Dden-2Derhalt-2Ddes-2Dprivaten-2Dsammelns&d=CwMGaQ&c=WO-RGvefibhHBZq3fL85hQ&r=DIsuBb5t5bVW9F_2zlAmGeRoCQx2KceZP-3k9VQb_6s&m=C32OFdAw8Aka8fUQ8IorOjOR7GhRCPMl1t68AgkxOxI&s=-2I-7NvuWh5TjmhxZ1A6Sa-dOZiaXax4jbfhhh_5ftU&e=>
>
> All the best
>
> Andreas
>
> ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> *Dr. Andreas Kroh*
> Annalen des Naturhistorischen Museums in Wien, Serie A, Editor-in-Chief
>
> Natural History Museum Vienna
>
> Geological-Paleontological Dept.
>
> Burgring 7 – 1010 Vienna – Austria – EU*
> *Tel: 0043-1-52177-576
> Fax: 0043-1-52177-459
>
> www.nhm-wien.ac.at/kroh.html 
> <https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__www.nhm-2Dwien.ac.at_kroh.html&d=CwMGaQ&c=WO-RGvefibhHBZq3fL85hQ&r=DIsuBb5t5bVW9F_2zlAmGeRoCQx2KceZP-3k9VQb_6s&m=C32OFdAw8Aka8fUQ8IorOjOR7GhRCPMl1t68AgkxOxI&s=nTR_efnefDCBTGufdIP7plDdRFB6l1oFZor1EIHmWG4&e=>
>
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