Germany has returned a painting stolen by the Nazis in 1942 to the heirs of two Jewish brothers, Arthur and Eugen Goldschmidt. The artwork, a landscape titled “Valley of Mills near Amalfi” (ca. 1830) by 19th-century German artist Carl Blechen, was intended for a museum Adolf Hitler planned to establish.

The painting originally belonged to the Goldschmidt brothers, who were art collectors. Their father had purchased the piece in Berlin, and it was inherited by the brothers after his death. Arthur, a publisher, and Eugen, a chemist, faced relentless persecution under the Nazi regime. Following the horrors of Kristallnacht in November 1938, both brothers tragically took their own lives.

The Goldschmidt art collection was passed on to their nephew, Edgar Moor, who had recently emigrated to Johannesburg, South Africa. However, the collection remained in the brothers’ former Berlin apartment. In July 1942, the Gestapo confiscated all of Moor’s possessions left in Germany, including “Valley of Mills near Amalfi.”

Earlier this month, Germany’s Federal Art Administration announced that the government had returned the Blechen painting to Moor’s heirs, following the signing of a restitution agreement in May. The administration stated, “Based on the information available, it can be safely assumed that the painting in question was confiscated from Edgar Moor as a result of Nazi persecution.”

This restitution marks the 69th piece of artwork returned by the Federal Republic of Germany to rightful owners.

The Blechen painting was acquired in 1944 by a special commission set up by Hitler to curate items for a planned Führermuseum in Linz, Austria. “Valley of Mills near Amalfi” was stored in Hitler’s Munich building, the Führerbau, which still stands today. However, the painting was stolen in 1945. It was recovered by Munich police in 1946, and in June 1949, the American military government transferred it, along with other unrestituted objects, to Bavarian Prime Minister Hans Ehard. The painting was eventually handed over to Germany’s federal government in 1952 and officially became federal property in 1960, along with other items formerly owned by the Nazis.

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