Collecting in Germany

[Kenelm Philip]

> Hitler banned butterfly collecting in Germany. As I understand it,
> that law was never repealed (please someone tell me it was!).

I have heard this claim before--but wonder if it's purely a legend. As
my (deceased) friend Hans Epstein told me back in the 1970s, collecting
butterflies was no problem in Germany for many years. However, with
the urging of a museum curator named Ebert, a law was passed sometime
after WWII that outlawed both _collecting_ native German butterflies,
and the possession of previously-made collections of same. Such collec-
tions had to be transferred to state-owned museums--like Ebert's. This
law was known locally as the 'Lex Eberti'--and was responsible for a
sudden increase of interest in exotic species among German collectors.

	That's the tale as I heard it told--any corrections would be
appreciated.

> Anyone in the United States having a German-caught specimen (from
> Germany in any of its geographic manifestations) from that time period
> to the present, is in  violation of the Lacey Act.

Despite claims to the contrary, even by F&WS people who should know
better, the 1981 revisions to the Lacey Act are not retroactive. Butter-
flies caught in Germany in violation of the 'Lex Eberti' since 1981 are
presumbly in violation of the Lacey Act if imported to the U.S. (unless
there are German permits available). Those caught before 1981 are not
covered--and in any case those caught before the 'Lex Eberti' came into
effect are no problem.

							Ken Philip
fnkwp at uaf.edu




 
 ------------------------------------------------------------ 

   For subscription and related information about LEPS-L visit:

   http://www.peabody.yale.edu/other/lepsl