The Guelph Treasure: Back to Square One

Published on 25 February 2021, by Vincent Noce

The Supreme Court of the United States has left the fate of the Guelph Treasure unresolved. On February 3, the justices dismissed the case brought by descendants of victims of Nazi spoliation, confirming that American courts are incompetent to rule on international human rights violations.

Guelph Treasure : reliquary from the Brunswick Cathedral in Braunschweig, Germany.©... The Guelph Treasure: Back to Square One

Guelph Treasure : reliquary from the Brunswick Cathedral in Braunschweig, Germany.
© Berlin Museums, Museum of Decorative Arts / Jürgen Liepe

The unanimous decision was foreseeable after the reservations voiced at the December 7 hearing. In 1935, three Jewish Berlin antique dealers sold half of the Guelph Treasure, now in the Berlin Museum, to Goering for one-third its actual value. The heirs say it was a forced sale: anxious…

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