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Import

The rules of the Act on the Protection of Cultural Property (Kulturgutschutzgesetz, KGSG) seek to prevent cultural property unlawfully exported from foreign countries from being imported into the Federal Republic of Germany. The legislator’s main concern is to draw up a framework of legal provisions which make it hard for cultural property that is removed illegally from its country of origin to be taken across borders and which enable a country to recover its property using international return mechanisms. The import rules thus mirror the export restrictions adopted by countries of origin to protect their cultural property and implement the UNESCO 1970 Convention that obligates Germany and around 140 further nations to protect cultural objects of each signatory state. Therefore, German law states that cultural property can be imported legally into Germany only if it has been exported legally from its country of origin.


No retroactive effect of import regulations

Binding provisions of constitutional and international law mean that the general regulations on imports of cultural property outlined in the KGSG apply only to imports that have occurred since the entry into force of the KGSG, and do not have retroactive effect. Cultural property located in Germany before this date is not subject to the import regulations of the KGSG. However, the applicable due diligence requirements (Section 40 et seqq. KGSG) must be met if the cultural property is to be sold in Germany.


Import ban (Section 28 KGSG)

Section 28 KGSG explicitly bans imports in three different cases:

  1. Cases in which cultural property that has been classified as national cultural property by an EU Member State or a state party to the 1970 UNESCO Convention has been exported from the territory of this latter in violation of its laws.

    Classification as national cultural property by a Member State or state party confers a special protection status on cultural property under the law of the relevant country of origin. Further information on the cultural property protected in the various countries of origin and the import regulations that exist, as well as contact details for the competent bodies in the countries of origin, can be found in the section of this website on Cultural property law abroad.

    With respect to EU Member States, the reference date as regards unlawful exports is not the date of accession to the EU, but 1 January 1993 in every instance, even if the relevant country acceded to the EU only at a later date. This reference date is stipulated by Directive 2014/60/EU on the return of cultural objects, which was in turn based on previous rules that dated back to 1992 (Directive 93/7/EEC) but that gained legal force for the first time on 1 January 1993.

    With respect to state parties to the UNESCO Convention, the reference date is the date on which the UNESCO Convention gained binding force in the respective country of origin on the one hand, and in the Federal Republic of Germany on the other. The earliest possible reference date is therefore 26 April 2007, which is when the Convention entered into force in the Federal Republic of Germany. For all state parties that acceded to the Convention at a later date, the Convention is deemed to have gained binding effect three months after the relevant declaration to UNESCO.

  2. Cases involving violations of directly applicable EU legislation restricting or prohibiting the cross-border transport of cultural property.

    This relates to the two EU Regulations currently in force that prohibit imports and exports of cultural items from and into Iraq and Syria and dealing in such items. Further information in this respect can be found in the section on European law.

  3. Cases involving violations of Section I(1) of the Protocol to the Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict. Further information in this respect can be found in the section on International law.


Evidence of lawful imports

Proof that cultural property protected in its country of origin has been exported legally must be provided by accompanying documents that substantiate this.


Consequences of a violation of the import ban

Pursuant to Section 83 (1) (3) KGSG, anyone who, in violation of Section 28 KGSG, imports cultural property which he or she knows has been removed in violation of legislation referred to in Section 28 shall be liable to punishment. This provision does not apply in cases of negligence, but a failure to carry the documents required pursuant to Section 30, whether through negligence or intent, may constitute an administrative offence (Section 84 (2) KGSG).

If there are reasonable grounds to believe that Section 28 KGSG will be violated or in the event of a lack of documentation pursuant to Section 30 KGSG, the competent Land authority is required to seize the cultural property (Section 33 (1) (1) (b) or Section 33 (1) (2) KGSG).

Finally, a violation of the import ban means that the import is unlawful pursuant to Section 32 (1) (2) KGSG.


Unlawful imports (Section 32 KGSG)

By way of contrast to Section 28 KGSG that provides an import ban, Section 32 KGSG sets out provisions that become relevant only if return proceedings are initiated or if cultural property is placed on the market in Germany at a later date. For example, the due diligence requirements mean that it is necessary to check whether cultural property was imported unlawfully before it is offered for sale (placed on the market) in Germany. Unlawful imports are also significant in respect of the return proceedings that may be initiated in the country of origin (Sections 50 et seqq. KGSG) and in respect of the ban on re-exports (Section 21 (3) KGSG).

The illegality of the import to Germany is linked to an illegal export from the respective country of origin. The assessment of the import according to the standard of Section 32 KGSG is only possible for such imports that took place after the entry into force of this regulation on 6. August 2016. There is no retroactive effect on earlier imports. The extent to which exports from the country of origin must be traced back in time is determined by the cut-off dates specified in Section 32 (1) no. 1 KGSG.