Sources in the Federal Archives – Stasi Records Archive

• Bestand MFS 1– Klassifikationspunkt 4.2.5

In 1983, the newly founded Arbeitsgruppe Bereich Kommerzielle Koordinierung (AG BKK) took over from Hauptabteilung XVIII the task of securing and monitoring commercial coordination within the Ministry of Foreign Trade (Kommerzielle Koordinierung (KoKo) im MfAH). Documents from this MfS structural unit are therefore of fundamental importance regarding the subject of cultural property confiscation, which is closely linked to the question of foreign currency procurement. A significant portion of the foreign currency income indispensable to the GDR’s planned economy was generated by the state’s access to and sale of private art and antique collections. The successful implementation of this form of foreign currency procurement was based on the close connection between the KoKo division in the MfAH and the AG BKK. This is underscored by the internal structure of the working group, which was divided into divisions, that mirrored the complex structure of KoKo companies trading all kinds of goods from raw materials to weapons and children’s clothing with non-socialist countries: Division 1: IMES Import-Export GmbH, SB ‘Letex’ and Investbauleitung Hönow; Division 2: Intrac H GmbH, Forum H GmbH, Berliner Import-Export-Gesellschaft, and Division 3: VE AHB Transinter, Internationales Handelszentrum Berlin (IHZ), KuA, BERAG and Delta. Divisions 2 and 3 were incorporated into Abteilung VII of Hauptabteilung XVIII on 1 October 1986.

The state and secret police personnel structures were deeply intertwined. The head of the KoKo department, Alexander Schalck-Golodkowski, as well as other employees of the department served as Offiziere im besonderen Einsatz (officers on special assignment) (OiBE), full-time unofficial employees (HIM) or unofficial employees (IM) of the State Security Service. This underscores the highly conspiratorial special status of the KoKo department responsible for foreign currency procurement.

The AG BKK’s remit included securing the International Trade Centre (IHZ), the warehouse for art and antiques in Mühlenbeck, and the trade in weapons, art, antiques, church treasures. Observation and investigation operations focused on the employees of Kunst- und Antiquitäten GmbH (KuA), KoKo, and affiliated companies, as well as on foreign business partners, exhibitors, and visitors to the Leipzig Trade Fair. AG BKK worked closely with HA XVIII, which was responsible for the GDR’s economy; HA II, responsible for counter-espionage; HA VI, responsible for border security; and Hauptverwaltung A (HV A), responsible for reconnaissance and espionage. This included, in particular, the exchange of information, the clarification of legal issues, the securing of illegal transports of art and cultural goods not controlled by the GDR customs administration, the secret service protection of buildings and facilities located in Western countries and the foreign companies of the KoKo division.

The AG BKK archives contain references to the KuA’s foreign business connections and to individual transactions. These relate to the sale of private art and antique collections, the sale of museum art and cultural properties, and the illegal trade in antiques. There is also documentation of surveillance operations targeting employees of the state and secret service division of KoKo, the KuA, private collectors/owners and art dealers in Germany and abroad. There was no equivalent to this central organisational unit at the regional level (District Administrations for State Security).

• Bestände MFS 1 - MFS 16 – Klassifikationspunkt 4.2.1

Until 1983, Abteilung 7 of Hauptabteilung XVIII was responsible for securing the KoKo department, which was founded in 1966 as part of the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Trade between the two German states. The security agency was responsible, in particular, for monitoring and securing the more than 150 trading companies, letterbox companies, and contacts with private individuals connected to the division. The KoKo division’s portfolio also included the seizure of artwork and the export of art and cultural objects. These activities, which often took place outside the legal framework, required a degree of secrecy – an expertise of the secret service. This division of the State Security Service also used full-time unofficial employees (HIM), unofficial employees (IM), and officers on special assignment (OiBE).

The relevant documentation on this subject consists of files relating to the security of the KoKo division as a whole and the KuA division in particular. They include the vetting of employees, particularly those in management positions (MfAH, KoKo, KuA, MfS), investigations into them on suspicion of personal enrichment, and checks on business partners (private individuals and companies) of the KoKo and KuA divisions from Western countries. In accordance with the secret police’s “line principle”, the respective Abteilungen XVIII at the district level were concerned with the protection of art and cultural property and the security of creating and hosting institutions (manufactories, production facilities, libraries, castles, museums, churches, palaces). A large number of informants (IM) were assigned to combat violations of foreign exchange, precious metals, tax, and/or customs legislation; theft; receiving stolen goods; smuggling; and illegal trade or speculation in antiques, art, and valuables. Arson and vandalism could also lead to investigations, which may have resulted in reports and/or lists containing useful information.

Thus far, relevant documents have been found in the following regional holdings: MFS 3 BVfS Cottbus, MFS 4 BVfS Dresden, MFS 6 BVfS Frankfurt (Oder), MFS 7 BVfS Gera, MFS 8 BVfS Halle, MFS 9 BVfS Karl-Marx-Stadt, MFS 10 BVfS Leipzig, and MFS 16 BVfS Suhl.

• Bestände MFS 1 - MFS 16 – Klassifikationspunkt 3.2.4

A working group originally subordinate to Bruno Beater, First Deputy Minister for State Security, was responsible for prosecuting smuggling and speculation offences. In 1982, it was incorporated into Hauptabteilung VII of the MfS as Abteilung 13. This department worked closely with Work Areas I and II of the Criminal Investigation Department and the customs and financial authorities of the GDR to investigate violations of customs, foreign exchange, and monetary regulations.

In addition to policy documents on preventing speculation and smuggling, the records also contain references to secret service investigations against museum staff, the KoKo and KuA divisions, appraisers, experts and individuals with significant private wealth. These operations led to photo reports of house searches and lists of cultural and valuable objects, which, in some cases, may help identify items. The decentralised records also contain references to cases in which (in some cases senior) employees of museums, (private or state) antique dealers, but also wealthy private individuals from the GDR and abroad came under the scrutiny of the MfS: on suspicion of violating foreign exchange, precious metals and/or customs legislation; for theft, receiving stolen goods, smuggling or removal of, or unauthorised trade or speculation in, antiques, art and cultural objects, porcelain and jewellery. The reports of the house searches carried out as part of the investigations sometimes include lists, descriptions, evaluations, and/or photographic documentation of the aforementioned items, which may also be useful for research.

Thus far, relevant documents have been found in the following regional holdings: MFS 4 BVfS Dresden, MFS 6 BVfS Frankfurt (Oder), MFS BVfS 7 Gera, MFS 8 BVfS Halle, MFS 10 BVfS Leipzig, MFS 11 BVfS Magdeburg, MFS 13 Potsdam and MFS 16 BVfS Suhl.

• Bestände MFS 1 - MFS 16 – Klassifikationspunkt 6.2

The Finance Departments at the central and regional levels of the State Security Service were responsible, among other things, for currency management and the administration and handling of evidence, which could include confiscated art and cultural objects in particular and valuables in general. The documentation, storage, sale, exploitation, and destruction of evidence were regulated by evidence directives (Befehl Nr. 3/84 des MfS, Minister Mielke, dated 5 January 1984, concerning the recording, storage, and distribution/utilisation of all evidence collected by the MfS service units). Regulations, agreements, and, in some cases, overviews of the evidence storage facility under the responsibility of the Office for Customs and Control of Goods Traffic (since 1962, the Customs Administration of the GDR) are documented. The records of these departments also contain references to the exploitation or use of evidence collected in the course of preliminary investigations and enquiries, as well as overviews of experts and appraisers, KuA statements of income and references to the transfer of jewellery to the goldsmiths of VEB Edelschmiede Zwickau.

Thus far, relevant documents have been found in the following holdings: MFS 1 Ministerium für Staatssicherheit, MFS 4 BVfS Dresden, MFS 5 BVfS Gera, MFS 9 BVfS Karl-Marx-Stadt and MFS 14 BVfS Rostock.

• Bestände MFS 1 - MFS 16 – Klassifikationspunkt 5.3

Arbeitsgebiet I der Kriminalpolizei (Work Area I of the Criminal Investigation Department) was established in 1959 from the operational divisions and groups of the Criminal Investigation Department under the responsibility of the Ministry of the Interior (MdI). Completed cases were archived under the abbreviations AOG and AKAG in Archive Holding 9 of the MfS and Archive Holding 5 of the BVfS. Hauptabteilung VII was responsible for cooperation with this area of criminal investigation. The surviving files contain information on thefts from churches, castles, and museums, as well as on the trade in paintings, antiques, precious metals, jewellery, and porcelain. In some cases, lists of the objects in question also exist.

Relevant documents are found in the following holdings: MFS 1 Ministerium für Staatssicherheit, MFS 2 BVfS Berlin, MFS 4 BVfS Dresden, MFS 5 BVfS Erfurt, MFS 9 BVfS Karl-Marx-Stadt, MFS 10 BVfS Leipzig, MFS 11 BVfS Magdeburg and MFS 13 BVfS Potsdam.

• Bestände MFS 1 - MFS 16 – Klassifikationspunkt 5.1.3

Since 1963, the State Security Service had been performing investigative functions in accordance with Section 98 of the GDR Criminal Procedure Code. In this context, investigations (MfS terminology: Untersuchungen) were also conducted against collectors and dealers of art and cultural assets. Information on investigative activities and current cases can be found in the official documents of (Haupt)Abteilungen IX under classification point 5.2. Investigative Body.

Completed cases were archived under the heading „Archived Investigative Cases” in Archive Holding 1 – the so-called „Operative Hauptablage” (Main Operational File). The central ministerial records contain investigation files on cases of illegal export and import, the purchase of cultural property and valuables, customs, foreign exchange and tax offences, and violations of the Precious Metals Act.

Archived investigation files on the aforementioned criminal offences can be found in the holdings MFS 3 BVfS Cottbus, MFS 4 BVfS Dresden, MFS 5 BVfS Erfurt, MFS 6 BVfS Frankfurt (Oder), MFS 8 BVfS Halle, MFS 9 BVfS Karl-Marx-Stadt, MFS 10 BVfS Leipzig, MFS 12 BVfS Neubrandenburg and MFS 14 BVfS Rostock. The records there also include files on other criminal offences that contain asset statements or declarations and may therefore contain useful information on individual objects.

• Bestände MFS 1 - MFS 16 – Klassifikationspunkt 4.3.3

The State Security Service also archived completed files on unofficial employees of the State Security Service under the heading „AIM“ in Archive Holding 1 („Operative Hauptablage“). In the course of such unofficial cooperation, information was collected on private and state trade in antiques, tax offences, receiving stolen goods, smuggling, and theft of cultural property, expert activities, and the business partners of the KuA. Many of these files relate to persons explicitly recruited to provide security for the MfAH, KuA and KoKo divisions.

Regional records – so far only verified for MFS 4 BVfS Dresden and MFS 14 BVfS Rostock – also contain archived case files on Inoffizielle Mitarbeiter - IM (unofficial employees) relating to the above-mentioned topics. These include references to the tolerated or even deliberate involvement of (including senior) employees of museums, churches, antique and art dealers, public officials and even IM and HIM agents of the State Security Service.

• Bestände MFS 1 - MFS 16 – Klassifikationspunkt 4.3.2

In the course of ‘operational cases’ and ‘operational person controls’, the State Security Service used conspiratorial means to monitor individuals or groups of individuals suspected of engaging in hostile activities against the GDR. The completed files were stored under the headings „AOP“ and „AOPK“ in the central and regional Archive Holding 1 ‘Operative Hauptablage’. In connection with these secret service investigations, which did not necessarily result in criminal prosecution but which massively disrupted people’s professional and private lives, information was also collected on trade, smuggling, and the handling of stolen goods involving cultural property and valuables. The intended aim was often the seizure of assets. The asset lists compiled for this purpose sometimes contain detailed descriptions and, in exceptional cases, even references to the origin and destination of individual works of art and/or valuables.

Thus far, such investigative cases have been found in the following holdings: MFS 1 Ministerium für Staatssicherheit den Beständen MFS 1 , MFS 4 BVfS Dresden, MFS 5 BVfS Erfurt, MFS 6 BVfS Frankfurt (Oder), MFS 7 BVfS Gera, MFS 8 BVfS Halle, MFS 10 BVfS Leipzig, MFS 11 BVfS Magdeburg, MFS 12 BVfS Neubrandenburg, MFS 14 BVfS Rostock and MFS 15 BVfS Schwerin.

„Aktion Licht“ can be seen as the start of a systematic state operation to confiscate cultural property. As part of this „secret service operation“, from 6 to 7 January 1962 – five months after the Berlin Wall was built – safe deposit boxes and vaults, mainly located in banks and savings banks (Sparkassen), were opened and the valuables they contained were confiscated as „property of the people“. This confiscation took place in two stages and was carried out in cases where the owner could no longer be identified, as well as in cases where it would have been possible to trace the owner. It began with a letter (BArch MfS BV Eft AS 8/62, Bl. 3-14) from Minister Erich Mielke, dated 20 December 1961, and identified in the regional records of the BVfS Erfurt (MFS 5), concerning the opening of safes, vaults and other facilities in savings banks (Sparkassen), banks and other financial institutions, The BVfS and country offices, supported by informants (IM), were responsible for implementation. As a result of these raids, which were controlled and carried out by the secret police, valuables valued at several million East German marks are believed to have been confiscated and quickly sold.

The written records from „Aktion Licht“, which was extended to armouries in castles, manor houses, museum depots, private homes and archive facilities, are extensive. Regional focal points can be identified specifically in the southwestern districts of the GDR, such as Dresden, Gera, Karl-Marx-Stadt, Leipzig, and Magdeburg. However, it cannot necessarily be concluded from this that these regional clusters of records also reflect the regions in which particularly lucrative profits were generated. Rather, this is due to the fact that the State Security Service had already destroyed some of the documents created at the beginning of the second decade of the agency’s existence.

In addition to the minister’s letter on the second stage of „Aktion Licht“ (BArch MfS BdL-Dok No. 3958), the central ministerial records contain a summary list of the confiscated valuables (BArch MfS HA XVIII Nr. 13326, Bl. 2 - 3) and a final report.

The State Security Service’s regional records include action and deployment plans, detailed reports and notes by employees involved in „Aktion Licht“, claims for damages and receipts for fees paid to the experts involved. There are also a few lists of confiscated items that can serve as a basis for provenance research. „Protocols on found objects“ from „Aktion Licht“ are also preserved in the partial holdings of the GDR Ministry of Finance’s Vault Administration in the Federal Archives in Berlin-Lichterfelde.

Furniture and porcelain were among the preferred goods exported by Kunst und Antiquitäten GmbH (KuA), which belonged to the KoKo division. An evaluation of the sources in the indexed documents of the State Security Service shows that, in addition to the pictorial reports of confiscated art and cultural property compiled in the course of preliminary investigations (especially HA and Abteilungen VIII of the MFS 1 to MFS 16 holdings) there are also many references to attempts to export such objects in connection with inheritance, emigration or successful escapes from the GDR. In the case of authorised emigration, people resettling to the Federal Republic of Germany or West Berlin attempted to take their cultural property with them. In cases of successful escapes from the GDR, the export of valuable items was usually handled by trusted third parties.

Since both those wishing to leave the country and those who had already fled were subject to a screening process by the Central Coordination Group for Resettlement or its regional counterpart – the district coordination groups – attempts to export cultural property were generally unsuccessful and resulted in the confiscation of the items. It was not uncommon for the supposed trusted third party – including those from Western countries – to be serving as informants for the State Security Service.

In connection with preliminary investigations into the theft of valuable porcelain and furniture from museums and collections, pictorial reports also offer avenues for research. However, descriptive information on these objects has not been found using the keyword search. The BVfS Suhl (MFS 16) archive contains an inventory of furniture and household goods from the Bibra Castle in southern Thuringia. This survey was carried out in 1964 due to the planned relocation of a family member of the former castle owners to a son living in the Federal Republic of Germany. The file (BArch MfS BV Suhl Abt. XX Nr. 1019) also contains further references to the planned transfer of the family archive and art objects to the State Archive and the State Museum Meiningen, as well as to the removal of silver cutlery from the estate in the early 1980s.

Another interesting reference can be found in the IM file ‘Hans Borau’. (BArch MfS AIM 6499/88, Teil II Bd. 2, Bl. 328). Borau was one of the KuA directors. The IM reported that Axel Hilpert, an employee of the Pirna antique trade, had the opportunity to visit a furniture warehouse belonging to the Soviet armed forces in Potsdam in 1981. He discovered a large number of stored furniture and antiques there, originating from the clearance of villas in the Potsdam area immediately after the war in 1945. Despite some war damage, Hilpert assumed that the items were still of considerable value. In the course of the systematic search for sellable cultural property, showrooms from porcelain factories were also sought. One such room, comprising approximately 14,000 individual items, was found at VEB Feinkeramik Katzhütte. Despite the factory director’s resistance, the transfer to the KuA was enforced at the highest ministerial level by the deputy minister for state security, Gerhard Neiber.

In the early 1980s, the State Security Service became interested in toys, particularly porcelain dolls. The background to this was that two private individuals from the eastern Harz region had discovered at a waste dump valuable remnants of doll production from a former toy factory dating back to the first half of the 20th century.

After realising that private individuals in the GDR would not be able to exploit for profit the large quantities of material they had found, they tried to set up a recycling company with the help of the mayor and other state authorities. They also made practical proposals, including suggesting that prisoners do the necessary cleanup work. However, when the state authorities realised that this was a clear opportunity to earn foreign currency, the MfS occupied the waste dump and had the two enterprising private collectors arrested. The excavation of the dolls was carried out by soldiers from the MfS guard regiment, who performed security and salvage work for several weeks. The finds and the porcelain factory’s sample collection, comprising over 10,000 pieces, were sold through the KuA.