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Piece
German works of art. Correspondence between Lt Gen Lucius Clay, US Deputy Military...
Catalogue reference: FO 1039/241
What’s it about?
This record is about the German works of art. Correspondence between Lt Gen Lucius Clay, US Deputy Military... dating from 1945 - 1946 in the series Control Office for Germany and Austria and Foreign Office: Control Commission for.... It is held at The National Archives, Kew.
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Full description and record details
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Reference (The unique identifier to the record described, used to order and refer to it)
- FO 1039/241
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Date (When the record was created)
- 1945 - 1946
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Description (What the record is about)
- German works of art. <p>Correspondence between Lt Gen Lucius Clay, US Deputy Military Governor, and General Sir Brian H Robertson, Deputy Military Governor for the British Zone of the Control Commission for Germany in Berlin, regarding the mutual exchange of German works of art, archives, church treasures and museum material between the American and British zones, which were 'to be retained in Germany unless there is unanimous agreement of the Allied Control Council for their transfer elsewhere', dated January-February 1946. Agreeing with Clay that 'it would be desirable to establish on a quadripartite basis the policy governing the return of German works of art to all Zones in Germany', which should envisage 'the retention in Germany of the works of art concerned', Robertson states that 'there is little prospect of obtaining agreement on such a policy in the near future'. The two Deputy Military Governors agreed on the mutual exchange between the British and American zones after establishing the evident difficulties in reaching a quadripartite agreement: 'There is for example the question of the Prussian State Museums in Berlin to be decided. I understand that these Museums are for the most part in the Russian Sector of Berlin, while important elements of their collections are at present in American and British hands. The 200 pictures recently moved to the United States for safe keeping came I understand from these Museums'. On this matter, an earlier letter from Clay points out how 'we believe in the return of the remaining German works of art to the museums and places from which they were removed as soon as the German people are prepared to accept these works of art and to care for them properly'. Includes comments from Robertson's office on the planned exchange and a request to the British I A and C [Internal Affairs and Communications] Division to 'draft a suitable acknowledgement [...] thanking General Clay for his assistance and saying that he [the Deputy Military Governor] has instructed an officer of our Monuments, Fine Arts and Archives Branch to get in touch with his opposite member on General Clay's staff to settle details'.</p>
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Note (Additional information about the record)
- This document forms part of the Looted Art Collection; records selection and descriptions reproduced by the kind permission of the Commission for Looted Art in Europe.
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Held by (Who holds the record)
- The National Archives, Kew
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Former department reference (Former identifier given by the originating creator)
- ECON/1/336/27
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Legal status (A note as to whether the record being described is a Public Record or not)
- Public Record(s)
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Closure status (Whether the record is ‘open’ (available to the public) or ‘closed’ (not available due to a legal exemption))
- Open Document, Open Description
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Subjects (Categories and themes found in our collection (our subject list is under development, and some records may have no subjects or fewer than expected))
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Record URL
- https://beta.nationalarchives.gov.uk/catalogue/id/C1261439/
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Series information
FO 1039
Control Office for Germany and Austria and Foreign Office: Control Commission for...
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This record is held at The National Archives, Kew
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Within the series: FO 1039
Control Office for Germany and Austria and Foreign Office: Control Commission for...
You are currently looking at the piece: FO 1039/241
German works of art. Correspondence between Lt Gen Lucius Clay, US Deputy Military...
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