Gurlitt Case :
13 May 2014: The Kunstmuseum Bern to Make its Next Statement in Early June
Press Release by the Kunstmuseum Bern:
The management of Kunstmuseum Bern wishes to announce that, following the media coverage of the past few days, it will be issuing no further statements on the Gurlitt inheritance for the time being. The management is currently busy reviewing information that will allow the Board of Trustees of Kunstmuseum Bern to make a preliminary assessment of the situation. Kunstmuseum Bern will notify the media at the appropriate time. We currently expect this to be early June.
Following the announcement that the private-law foundation Kunstmuseum Bern has been appointed sole heir of Mr Cornelius Gurlitt, the museum has received a large number of enquiries from the media. On May 7 the following media release was published:
"Today, May 7, 2014, Kunstmuseum Bern was informed by Mr Christoph Edel, lawyer to Mr Cornelius Gurlitt, who died yesterday, May 6, 2014, by telephone and in writing that Mr Cornelius Gurlitt has appointed the private-law foundation Kunstmuseum Bern his unrestricted and unfettered sole heir. Despite speculation in the media that Mr Gurlitt had bequeathed his collection to an art institution outside Germany, the news came like a bolt from the blue, since at no time has Mr Gurlitt had any connection with Kunstmuseum Bern. The Board of Trustees and Directors of Kunstmuseum Bern are surprised and delighted, but at the same time do not wish to conceal the fact that this magnificent bequest brings with it a considerable burden of responsibility and a wealth of questions of the most difficult and sensitive kind, and questions in particular of a legal and ethical nature. They will not be in a position to issue a more detailed statement before first consulting the relevant files and making contact with the appropriate authorities."
