Database searches
The registers of cultural property of national significance maintained by the Länder are compiled in a searchable database. This database contains entries for objects that have been recognized as cultural property of national significance or movable cultural monuments protected on the basis of the German Act to Prevent the Exodus of German Cultural Property (Gesetz zum Schutz deutschen Kulturgutes gegen Abwanderung, KultgSchG) as amended by the Act of 18 May 2007, the German Act on the Protection of Cultural Property (Kulturgutschutzgesetz, KGSG) of 31 July 2016 or the monument conservation acts of the Länder. Protection in Germany also confers a special protected status on the cultural property or monument within the EU Member States and the signatory states to the 1970 UNESCO Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property.
The previous terminological distinction between archival records and cultural property ceased to apply upon the entry into force of the Act on the Protection of Cultural Property. The term “cultural property” is defined in Section 2 (1) (10) KGSG and includes in particular:
• objects in museums, such as paintings, prints, sculptures or decorative arts;
• objects in libraries, such as manuscripts, incunables or early prints;
• objects in archives, such as documents, files or official gazettes.
The database incorporates:
• the registers of cultural property of national significance maintained by the Länder;
• the registers of archival records of national significance maintained by the Länder (until 31 July 2017);
• an overview of movable cultural monuments and other movable objects protected under the legislation on monuments;
• printable versions of all the registers maintained by the Länder.
A cultural object or movable cultural monument may appear in multiple registers or overviews. Details of protection granted under the legislation on monuments or entailed estates are published in this database only if it is permitted by the law of the Land in question. The recommended course of action in such cases is to make contact with the competent Land authority.