--- title: Cornelius Gurlitt Bequeaths Nazi-Era Art Collection to Swiss Museum description: Officials at the Kunstmuseum in Bern described the gift of more than 1,000 works previously considered lost or destroyed in World War II as both a "delight" and a "burden," due to its abundance of masterpieces and murky ethical implications canonical: https://time.com/91431/nazi-era-art-collection-bequeathed-swiss-museum/ author: Dan Kedmey article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-05-07T22:12:36.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-21T07:42:42.201Z article:section: World og:title: Cornelius Gurlitt Bequeaths Nazi-Era Art Collection to Swiss Museum og:description: Officials at the Kunstmuseum in Bern described the gift of more than 1,000 works previously considered lost or destroyed in World War II as both a "delight" and a "burden," due to its abundance of masterpieces and murky ethical implications og:url: https://time.com/91431/nazi-era-art-collection-bequeathed-swiss-museum/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4b4262dbb5aab1ae/69868e56e8524ba6fe602c4c/kunstmuseum-bern-nazi-art.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Kunstmuseum Bern og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Cornelius Gurlitt Bequeaths Nazi-Era Art Collection to Swiss Museum twitter:description: Officials at the Kunstmuseum in Bern described the gift of more than 1,000 works previously considered lost or destroyed in World War II as both a "delight" and a "burden," due to its abundance of masterpieces and murky ethical implications twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4b4262dbb5aab1ae/69868e56e8524ba6fe602c4c/kunstmuseum-bern-nazi-art.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Nazi-Era Art Collection Bequeathed to Swiss Museum  by [Dan Kedmey](/author/dan-kedmey/)  ## Dan Kedmey May 7, 2014 10:12 PM CUT  The facade of the Kunstmuseum Bern art museum is seen in the Swiss capital of Bern on May 7, 2014. The facade of the Kunstmuseum Bern art museum is seen in the Swiss capital of Bern on May 7, 2014.Arnd Wiegmann—Reuters  by [Dan Kedmey](/author/dan-kedmey/)  ## Dan Kedmey May 7, 2014 10:12 PM CUT Cornelius Gurlitt, son of a Nazi-era art collector, bequeathed his controversial collection of [modernist masterpieces](http://time.com/6468/more-art-found-in-nazi-trove/ "undefined") to a museum in Bern, Switzerland, according to a statement from the Kunstmuseum. The vast collection — which includes works by Picasso, Chagall and Matisse — contains some 1300 works previously thought to have been lost or destroyed in World War II, [NBC reports](http://www.nbcnews.com/news/europe/cornelius-gurlitt-leaves-nazi-era-art-trove-swiss-museum-n99111 "undefined"), but which were actually hidden in an apartment and home in Austria. Matthias Frehner, director of the Kunstmuseum, [released](http://kunstmuseumbern.ch/en/service/media/media-release-2014/07-05-14-1139.html "undefined") a public statement stating that a lawyer to Cornelius Gurlitt, who [died](http://time.com/89370/cornelius-gurlitt-hoarder-nazi-art-dies/ "undefined") on Tuesday at age 81, contacted the museum with the news that it had been listed as Gurlitt’s sole heir. Calling it a “bolt from the blue,” museum officials expressed delight with the bequest, while acknowledging its [murky legal and ethical standing](http://time.com/57839/nazi-art-deal-leaves-burden-of-proof-on-heirs-of-holocaust-victims/ "undefined"). The biggest concern is whether the art was rightfully owned by the Gurlitt family or if some of the collection was stolen and sold on the black market. [Potential claimants](http://www.lostart.de/Webs/EN/Datenbank/KunstfundMuenchen.html "undefined") are being directed to a website should they believe that any of the works legally belong to them. “This magnificent bequest brings with it a considerable burden of responsibility and a wealth of questions of the most difficult and sensitive kind,” the museum wrote in a public statement. \[[_NBC_](http://www.nbcnews.com/news/europe/cornelius-gurlitt-leaves-nazi-era-art-trove-swiss-museum-n99111 "undefined")\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/91431/nazi-era-art-collection-bequeathed-swiss-museum/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/91431/nazi-era-art-collection-bequeathed-swiss-museum/"},"headline":"Nazi-Era Art Collection Bequeathed to Swiss Museum","datePublished":"2014-05-07T22:12:36.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T07:42:42.201Z","description":"Officials at the Kunstmuseum in Bern described the gift of more than 1,000 works previously considered lost or destroyed in World War II as both a \"delight\" and a \"burden,\" due to its abundance of masterpieces and murky ethical implications","url":"https://time.com/91431/nazi-era-art-collection-bequeathed-swiss-museum/","keywords":["Art","Nazi","Museum"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4b4262dbb5aab1ae/69868e56e8524ba6fe602c4c/kunstmuseum-bern-nazi-art.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Dan Kedmey","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/dan-kedmey/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4b4262dbb5aab1ae/69868e56e8524ba6fe602c4c/kunstmuseum-bern-nazi-art.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Kunstmuseum Bern","caption":"Kunstmuseum Bern","creditText":"Arnd Wiegmann—Reuters","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/art/","name":"Art"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/91431/nazi-era-art-collection-bequeathed-swiss-museum/","name":"Nazi-Era Art Collection Bequeathed to Swiss Museum"}}]}] ```