The Nikolsburg hoard revisited

When last mentioned on April 25, 2011, the Nikolsburg Castle nestled in the town of Mikulov in south Moravia, close to the Austrian border, had served as a depot for art objects looted by elements of the Einsatzstab Reichsleiter Rosenberg (ERR) mostly in France and Belgium between 1941 and 1944.

As it turns out, many more objects than previously known came from looted Belgian collections, including those belonging to Hugo Andriesse (HA), Cahen d’Anvers (CA), Frenkel-Reder (FRE), Erik Lyndhurst (LYN). Objects also reached Nikolsburg which had been forcibly removed from owners who remain unidentified to this day, within the framework of the so-called M-Aktion, designated as BN or Belg. MA in German-occupied Belgium. Whether or not they survived the Nikolsburg fires produced by fierce fighting in late April 1945 remains to be seen.

Meanwhile, here are some samples of the objects salvaged from Nikolsburg. It is still unclear whether or not they were repatriated to France.

MA-OST 18—Chinese pot, Kang-hsi period Source: Bundesarchiv via ERR Project

MA-OST 160 – Chinese seated lion, Sung Period Source: Bundesarchiv via ERR Project

MA-P 82 – 19th Century porcelain platter depicting a street scene Source: NARA via ERR Project

DW 2593 – David David-Weill Collection – mid-18th Century bougeoir Source: Bundesarchiv via ERR Project

BEM 8 – Paul Bemberg Collection – 2 Taoist ‘faith protectors’ or ‘mountaintops’ from the Kang-hsi period. Source: Bundesarchiv via ERR Project