Family of Germany's last emperor ends 99-year legal dispute over who owns art treasures
Thousands of cultural treasures from Germany's former Hohenzollern imperial family will remain on permanent display in museums in Berlin and Brandenburg, the country's new minister of state for culture, Wolfram Weimer, has announced..
After a dispute lasting almost 100 years, the descendants of the last German emperor have reached a landmark agreement with the federal government and with the states of Berlin and Brandenburg, he said.
'This agreement is a tremendous success for Germany as a cultural location and for the art-loving public,' Weimer said in Berlin.
'For a hundred years, there has been ongoing uncertainty about objects that are central to the art and collection history of Prussia and thus to German history as a whole.'
German Minister of State for Culture Wolfram Weimer. Photo: dpa
The treasures include a portrait of Elector Joachim I of Brandenburg by painter Lucas Cranach the Elder and a table service for the Breslau City Palace acquired by Emperor Frederick II..
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
South China Morning Post
a day ago
- South China Morning Post
Maybe better to let Ukraine, Russia ‘fight for a while', Trump tells Germany's Merz
US President Donald Trump said Thursday that it might be better to let Ukraine and Russia 'fight for a while' before pulling them apart and pursuing peace. Advertisement In an Oval Office meeting with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, Trump likened the war in Ukraine – which Russia invaded in early 2022 – to a fight between two young children who hated each other. 'Sometimes you're better off letting them fight for a while and then pulling them apart,' Trump said. He added that he had relayed that analogy to Russian President Vladimir Putin in their phone conversation on Wednesday. Asked about Trump's comments as the two leaders sat next to each other, Merz stressed that both he and Trump agreed 'on this war and how terrible this war is going on', pointing to the US president as the 'key person in the world' who would be able to stop the bloodshed. But Merz also emphasised that Germany 'was on the side of Ukraine' and that Kyiv was attacking only military targets, not Russian civilians. Advertisement 'We are trying to get them stronger,' Merz said of Ukraine. Thursday's meeting marked the first time that the two leaders sat down in person. After exchanging pleasantries – Merz gave Trump a gold-framed birth certificate of the US president's grandfather Friedrich Trump, who immigrated from Germany – the two leaders were to discuss issues such as Ukraine, trade and Nato spending.
South China Morning Post
a day ago
- South China Morning Post
Trump tells Germany's Merz it might be better to let Ukraine, Russia ‘fight for a while'
US President Donald Trump said Thursday that it might be better to let Ukraine and Russia 'fight for a while' before pulling them apart and pursuing peace. Advertisement In an Oval Office meeting with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, Trump likened the war in Ukraine – which Russia invaded in early 2022 – to a fight between two young children who hated each other. 'Sometimes you're better off letting them fight for a while and then pulling them apart,' Trump said. He added that he had relayed that analogy to Russian President Vladimir Putin in their phone conversation on Wednesday. Asked about Trump's comments as the two leaders sat next to each other, Merz stressed that both he and Trump agreed 'on this war and how terrible this war is going on', pointing to the US president as the 'key person in the world' who would be able to stop the bloodshed. But Merz also emphasised that Germany 'was on the side of Ukraine' and that Kyiv was attacking only military targets, not Russian civilians. Advertisement 'We are trying to get them stronger,' Merz said of Ukraine.
South China Morning Post
2 days ago
- South China Morning Post
US reveals pick for Nato's next supreme allied commander
President Donald Trump 's administration announced on Thursday its nomination for the next top US general in Europe and said the US military officer would also assume the traditional role of Supreme Allied Commander Europe (Saceur). Trump's decision to nominate US Air Force Lieutenant General Alexus Grynkewich to both roles, which was first reported by Reuters, will relieve European Nato allies and even some of Trump's fellow Republicans amid concerns about a retrenchment in American military leadership of Nato Grynkewich must be confirmed by the US Senate. The position of Saceur, which oversees all Nato operations in Europe, has been filled by a US general since its creation after World War II. US Army General Dwight D. Eisenhower became the alliance's first Saceur in 1951. Still, since taking office in January, Trump's administration has pressured Nato allies to ramp up their defence spending, saying Europe should be primarily responsible for defence on the European continent. Speaking at Nato headquarters earlier on Thursday, US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth said he was confident that members of the Nato alliance would agree to a major boost in defence spending. Photo: AP Trump has also said he wants Nato allies to boost investment in defence to 5 per cent of gross domestic product, up from the current target of 2 per cent.
