Flanders is establishing a permanent commission for the restitution of Nazi-looted art, the government decided earlier this week, according to the minister of culture Caroline Gennez.
The move is intended to provide a clear and structured policy for artworks that may have been looted by the Nazi regime. Claims will in future be examined by a dedicated restitution commission, which will advise the Flemish government in cases involving works held in its own collections.
Local authorities, private owners and heirs will also be able to submit claims to the body. The commission will conduct provenance research and hear from all parties involved.
Two restitution claims are currently pending with the Flemish government, concerning three artworks in the collection of the Royal Museum of Fine Arts Antwerp (KMSKA). These cases will also be transferred to the new commission.
The decision follows recommendations made by a temporary commission on Nazi-looted art that was active last year.
In parallel, Flanders will step up proactive provenance research, as outlined in the Strategic Vision Note on Arts and Heritage approved earlier this year. Financial support will be made available for the screening and investigation of collections.
“The mass robbery of Jewish families was a deliberate strategy of the Nazis and an essential part of the Holocaust,” said Gennez. “Artworks that were stolen or sold under duress before and during the Second World War must be returned to their rightful owners. After all these years, we as Flanders can finally begin to rectify this historical injustice.”
The establishment of the commission comes amid renewed attention to restitution cases in Belgium over the past few years. In 2025, a 17th-century painting, The Return of the Holy Family from the Flight into Egypt by Jacob Jordaens, was returned to the descendants of its rightful owners at the Kazerne Dossin memorial site in Mechelen, nearly 80 years after it was stolen by the Nazis.
Valued at around 800,000 euros, the artwork had been traced through extensive research before being restored and handed back to the heirs.
