Germany, compensation for the Nazi theft of an eighteenth-century Guarneri violin: over 280 thousand euros to the heirs of the owner

BERLIN. The legal battle linked to the 18th century Guarneri violin stolen by the Nazis from its legitimate owner in 1938, a merchant of musical instruments of Jewish origin, ended with a compensation of over 280 thousand euros. The Franz Hofmann and Sophie Hagemann Foundation has announced that it has paid 285,000 euros to the descendants of the trader Felix Hildesheimer, according to Dpa. The legitimate owner, after the expropriation of the violin produced in Italy by luthier Giuseppe Guarneri in 1706 and after being removed from his instrument shop, had taken his own life in 1939. The owner of the foundation, Sophie Hageman, had taken possession of the instrument in 1974 to play it herself. The National Socialist Theft Commission has raised the compensation figure from € 100,000 to € 285,000.