Provenance research

For over a decade now, not only museums but also, increasingly, libraries and archives have been turning their attention to the provenance of their collections. This is due in no small part to the fact that their users, who have become more aware of the issue, are asking more questions about the provenance of books and archival material.

The history of the Burgerbibliothek Bern and its acquisition policy, which focuses on the history of the city of Bern, suggest that there are few archival or library materials with problematic provenance.

In 2026, as part of a four-month project, initial provenance investigations were carried out across all the collections of the Burgerbibliothek. The archival and library materials examined were assigned to the classification categories A through D for provenance research, as developed by the Federal Office of Culture (FOC) for investigations into Nazi-looted art:

• Category A: The provenance can be largely reconstructed and is unproblematic. It can be ruled out with certainty or with a high degree of probability that the object was seized because of persecution or that it constitutes Nazi-looted art or colonial-era looted art.
• Category B: The provenance has not been conclusively clarified and there are gaps. Research to date has not yielded any grounds to suspect Nazi-looted art or colonial-era looted art. There are also no indications of Nazi-looted art or colonial-era looted art and/or any conspicuous circumstances.
• Category C: The provenance has not been conclusively clarified and there are gaps. Research to date has not yielded any evidence of Nazi-looted art or colonial-era looted art. However, there are indications of Nazi-looted art or colonial-era looted art and/or conspicuous circumstances. The provenance should be investigated further.
• Category D: The provenance is clearly problematic. The item in question was surrendered due to persecution, or is Nazi-looted art or colonial-era looted art. A fair and just solution should be sought.

As a result of these initial investigations, it can be noted that only for a small number of archival or library items – the majority of which are in the Bongarsiana / Codices collection – there are indications suggesting a problematic provenance. These items, which have been assigned to categories B and C, are now identified as such in our archives catalogue.