Lawsuits :

5 December 2016: Flechtheim heirs file suit in USA for recovery of eight paintings in Bavaria

The lawsuit filed against the Bavarian State Paintings Collections and the Free State of Bavaria for the restitution of eight paintings alleges that the paintings were lost to Flechtheim "due to the policy of racial persecution and genocide". According to the suit, the defendants claim to have valid title to a number of the paintings via a donor, Günther Franke who, they say, bought the paintings in 1932, but "for which there is no proof". The plaintiffs assert that, "On the contrary, Flechtheim was still the owner of the Paintings when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi party seized power on January 30, 1933 and it was only the Nazi-induced destruction of his livelihood and subsequent escape from Germany that allowed Franke to possess these Paintings much later before conveying them to the Defendants".

To read the suit in full, click here.