Organizations of the Reich and the NSDAP accumulated great wealth through the end of the Second World War, whether in the form of cash, real estate, or mobile assets. This Nazi wealth was placed under controls by the Allies soon after the war in accordance with Control Council Law No. 2. In 1947, the Allied Control Council resolved to return the assets to their original owners, which in many cases had been expropriated. The problem would however arise that a large portion of the confiscated property had no known owner.

This project will investigate the process of returning Nazi assets after 1945. The lack of ownership opened up new possibilities in the reconfiguration of the material and political situation. The study will look into processes of redistribution and the debates on the distribution of these assets that emerged after 1947. Which actors were active in this process? How did the relocation of the assets influence the tasks and scope of action of the federal government, states, municipalities, unions, and parties?

The (re-)distribution of the assets will be viewed in the context of the democratization process that was being pursued. The aim here is to answer the question of how the Bavarian Finance Ministry dealt with the (material) legacy of the past. Further questions will focus on which people played a role in the process and what forms the administrative process adopted in this regard.