What does the Act on the Protection of Cultural Property mean for…?
The German Act on the Protection of Cultural Property (Kulturgutschutzgesetz, KGSG) combined the provisions on the protection of cultural property that previously applied under German law into a single piece of legislation, thereby consolidating in one place various regulatory requirements of interest to a range of different target groups.
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Many of these regulatory provisions were already in force, and were merely reworded to clarify their meaning and placed within a uniform regulatory framework. This applies to the provisions concerning the entry of cultural objects in a register of cultural property of national significance and the provisions concerning the return of cultural objects to other countries if they have been unlawfully removed from these countries and brought to Germany. Conversely, other provisions – such as those concerning exports of cultural objects from Germany to another EU Member State, those concerning imports of cultural objects and those concerning the due diligence requirements that apply to dealing in cultural property – were added for the first time in 2016.
To ensure that the information that is particularly relevant to individual target groups is easily available, sections of the website specifically targeted at these groups can be accessed via the side navigation bar.