The New York State Department of Financial Services, the Bavarian Ministry of Science and the Arts and the Bavarian State Painting Collections announced the return of Albert Lang’s 1892 painting Music (Arcadian Scene) to the heirs of Sofie Heilbronner. The department’s Holocaust Claims Processing Office helped identify and recover the work, which had been held by the Bavarian State Painting Collections. Heilbronner’s belongings were seized and auctioned by the German government after she fled Nazi persecution for the United States in 1938, with the proceeds confiscated by the Nazi regime. After her heirs sought assistance in 2018, the office matched the painting with the lost work and filed a restitution claim. Since its establishment in 1997, the office has helped return more than USD 184 million in assets and resolved claims involving more than 370 cultural objects.
2026-09-22New York State Department of Financial Services
New York State Department of Financial Services helps return Nazi-looted Albert Lang painting to rightful owner’s heirs
The New York State Department of Financial Services helped return Albert Lang’s Music (Arcadian Scene), seized following Nazi persecution, to the heirs of Sofie Heilbronner. Its Holocaust Claims Processing Office identified the painting in the Bavarian State Painting Collections and filed the restitution claim.