Germany has Formally Returned Cultural Assets to Poland as Part of Ongoing Cultural Cooperation
The Polish-German intergovernmental consultation resulted in the restitution of cultural elements
January 21st, 2026
The 17th Polish–German intergovernmental consultations took place in Berlin on 1 December 2025. Among the key items on the agenda was Germany’s return to Poland of invaluable cultural assets that had been looted during the Second World War.
This restitution represents the most significant and valuable return of looted cultural heritage in modern Polish history. It encompasses seventy-three parchment documents dating from the thirteenth to the fifteenth centuries from the collections of the Central Archives of Historical Records in Warsaw, as well as the sculptural head of Saint James the Elder from the Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary at the High Castle in Malbork, all of which are being repatriated to Poland.
Among the seventy-three restituted parchment documents, the earliest is a papal privilege of protection issued by Pope Innocent III for the Teutonic Order in 1215. The most recent is a safe-conduct granted in 1466 by King Casimir IV Jagiellon to the Grand Master of the Order in advance of peace negotiations.
The holdings of the Central Archives of Historical Records in Warsaw, which included numerous Polish–Teutonic documents, were subject to systematic plunder during the German occupation between 1939 and 1945. The documents were transported to Berlin and incorporated into the collections of the Geheimes Staatsarchiv Preußischer Kulturbesitz.
Initial efforts to recover the materials began as early as 1948. In November 2022, the Polish Ministry of Culture and National Heritage submitted a comprehensive restitution claim to the Geheimes Staatsarchiv Preußischer Kulturbesitz, supported by extensive documentation tracing the circumstances of the wartime looting. This request was formally renewed through the Polish Embassy in Berlin in October 2023.
Marta Cienkowska, Minister of Culture and National Heritage, who took part in the intergovernmental consultations, submitted nine additional restitution applications to the German authorities. These applications concern a total of thirty-five cultural objects identified in Germany.
