19.10.2014 Germany returns painting seized by Nazis

Almost seventy years after the war, Germany returned to Poland a rare painting that the Nazis had stolen for Hitler's museum. Specifically, it was a work by the Venetian painter Francesco Guardi, entitled "The Palace Staircase". But the search is still on for thousands of works of art that have disappeared to parts unknown.

The 18th-century painting shows aristocrats ascending the staircase of the Doge's Palace in Venice. The Nazis stole it after the invasion of Poland. It was returned seven years ago. The Germans hoped to revive debates about the artworks they had also lost.

The painting "Palace Staircase" was stolen by the Nazis from the National Museum in Warsaw in 1939, shortly after Germany invaded Poland. After World War II, the painting went to the University of Heidelberg and then to the State Gallery of Baden-Württemberg. In the late 1990s it was only discovered that it belonged to Poland.

The painting was only returned to Germany after a long delay because of political disputes between Poland and Germany. There was a difference of opinion on the issue of the artworks lost during the Second World War.

"This painting went on a long odyssey. It represents the difficult history that links our two countries," German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said as he handed over the painting from Guardi to his Polish counterpart Radoslaw Sikorski in Berlin.

Also, Poland is still searching for thousands of artifacts looted from its museums and private collections during the war, although many items are known to have been destroyed by the Nazis.

"I hope that Monday's handover will also signal a restart of the blocked German-Polish dialogue on cultural artifacts," Steinmeier added.

Germany has long sought the return of some 300,000 books, drawings and manuscripts from the Prussian state library, known as the Berlinka. The collection contains handwritten musical scores by Mozart, Beethoven and Bach that were transported east by the Nazis to protect them from bombing during World War II.

The retreating German troops left them in what is now part of Poland. A large part of the collection is housed in the Jagiellonian University in Kraków.

Sources: www.bbc.com, www.dailymail.co.uk