Contents

• Preface
• The Commission’s work in the year under review
• Revision of the Danish Cultural Assets Act (Kulturværdiloven) and the Executive Order on Protection of Cultural Assets
• Revision of case-processing instructions and procedures of the Danish Commission on the Export of Cultural Assets
• UNIDROIT Convention and Act on the return and transfer of stolen or illegally exported cultural objects
• Revision of Council Directive 93/7
• Standing export licences for museums
• 20-year status report
• Case regarding a licence to export a collection of weapons
• Case regarding prohibition on export of flint dagger
• Case regarding manuscript of De Vises Steen
• Reservations
• Acquisitions
• Preview of auction catalogues
• Individual applications
• EU regulation on the export of cultural objects
• Privately owned cultural objects subject to export prohibitions etc.
• Financial framework of the Commission
• Secretariat of the Danish Commission on the Export of Cultural Assets

This is the 24th annual report to be issued by the Danish Commission on the Export of Cultural Assets since Act no. 332 of 4 June 1986 on the Protection of Cultural Assets in Denmark (Kulturværdiloven) came into force on 1 January 1987. This Act was revised in 2010 by Act no. 141 of 10 February 2010. The Danish Ministry of Culture has subsequently issued Consolidation Act no. 1270 of 16 November 2010 regarding protecting cultural assets in Denmark.  

In 2010 previous Danish legislation was revised and new international legislation was introduced in the field of cultural assets. In addition to the revision of the 1986 Act mentioned above on the Protection of Cultural Assets in Denmark, the Danish Folketing adopted a new Act regarding the return and transfer of stolen or illegally exported cultural objects, thereby acceding to the so-called UNIDROIT Convention of 24 June with effect from 30 November 2010. 

The work of the Danish Commission on the Export of Cultural Assets in 2010 thus included following up on revisions in the Danish Cultural Assets Act and taking part in the preparation of the new Executive Order on Protection of Cultural Assets in Denmark with a view to replacing Executive Order no. 404 of 11 June 1987.  

In addition, as usual the Danish Commission on the Export of Cultural Assets dealt with a wide range of cases regarding licences to export cultural assets. In this connection the Commission issued one export prohibition.  

In 2010 the Danish Commission on the Export of Cultural Assets did not acquire any cultural assets. 

Erland Kolding Nielsen
Chair

In recent annual reports the Danish Commission on the Export of Cultural Assets has provided information about the work of the Commission in connection with the revision of the Danish Cultural Assets Act and the Executive Order on Protection of Cultural Assets respectively.

In the annual report for 2009 the Danish Commission on the Export of Cultural Assets described the content of last year’s revision of the Danish Cultural Assets Act. As mentioned in the annual report for 2009, the 2010 revision includes new rules regarding the options available to the Minister for Culture for defining rules in the field of cultural assets.

For one thing, the Minister for Culture can lay down rules about the activities of the Danish Commission on the Export of Cultural Assets, including rules about auction houses informing the Commission when cultural objects which are covered by the Act are auctioned, and rules about auction houses informing buyers of such objects about the rules for exporting them. This constituted an increase in the obligation to provide information in relation to trading in cultural objects which are sold in both traditional auctions and internet auctions.
 
Secondly, the Minister for Culture can lay down rules about the processing of cases with regard to the two types of case in which export is only possible subject to a licence being issued by the Danish Commission on the Export of Cultural Assets: cases in which the owner proves that the cultural objects in question were created outside Denmark and imported to Denmark within the past 50 years, and cases in which the owner proves that objects are to be exported as part of the owner’s property in connection with his permanent residence outside Denmark.

As part of the preparation of a new Executive Order on Protection of Cultural Assets in Denmark, the Ministry of Culture held a meeting in October 2010 between the Minister, the auction houses and the Danish Commission on the Export of Cultural Assets regarding the obligation to provide information in internet auctions. The Commission was represented at the meeting, at which the framework for and extent of the obligation of auction houses to provide information were discussed, as well as other issues.

On 3 March 2011 the Ministry of Culture submitted a draft Executive Order on Protection of Cultural Assets in Denmark for discussion. The Danish Commission on the Export of Cultural Assets has issued a statement to the Ministry.

The Danish Commission on the Export of Cultural Assets is currently revising its case-processing instructions and a memorandum describing its procedures. The two new documents are to contain references to both the Danish Open Files Act (Lov om offentlighed i forvaltningen) and the Executive Order on Protection of Cultural Assets in Denmark, so their completion must wait pending adoption of the new Danish Open Files Act and the issuing of the new Executive Order on Protection of Cultural Assets in Denmark, respectively.

In recent annual reports the Danish Commission on the Export of Cultural Assets has reported on the work involved in the Danish ratification of the UNIDROIT Convention of 1995 on stolen and illegally exported cultural objects. This convention primarily concerns the return of cultural objects in cases of theft and illegal export, respectively.

The UNIDROIT Convention is a supplement to UNESCO’s 1970 Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Property Transfer of Cultural Property.

The Danish Commission on the Export of Cultural Assets reports that on 18 May 2010 the Danish Folketing adopted a Bill on the return and transfer of stolen or illegally exported cultural objects. The Act came into force on 30 November 2010.

This Act makes it possible to recover stolen and illegally exported art objects from countries which have acceded to the UNIDROIT Convention. Similarly, the Act also makes it possible for Denmark to return cultural objects.

In 2009 the EU set up a working group whose brief was to identify problems associated with the application of Council Directive 93/7/EEC of 15 March 1993 on the return of cultural objects unlawfully removed from the territory of a Member State. The working group was also asked to suggest proposals for possible amendments of the directive. The directive was implemented into Danish law in Act no. 1104 of 22 December 1993 on the return of cultural objects unlawfully removed from the territory of a Member State.

In 2009 and 2010 the Ministry of Culture took part in three meetings of the working group in Brussels. The work of the group has now been concluded, but the work involved in potential proposals for revisions of the directive continues. The Danish Commission on the Export of Cultural Assets will continue to monitor this work.

The Danish Commission on the Export of Cultural Assets is still processing the case regarding issuing standing export licences under EU regulations. When the new application forms are available, the Commission will announce the fact on its homepage (www.kulturvaerdier.dk).

As mentioned in its recent annual reports, the Danish Commission on the Export of Cultural Assets has been working on a 20-year status report. This report was published in 2010 and was also published in the journal entitled Danske Museer (2010/2).

In 2009 the Danish Commission on the Export of Cultural Assets was asked for a licence to export a considerable collection of weapons ranging from the Hallstatt Period to the Viking Age, the middle of the Middle Ages, and the Bronze and Early Iron Ages. The Danish Commission on the Export of Cultural Assets felt that the collection did not contain any irreplaceable cultural assets for Denmark, so decided to grant an export licence in this case.

In 2010 the Danish Commission on the Export of Cultural Assets was asked for a licence to export a flint dagger dating back to the Stone Age. The Commission decided to prohibit the export of this flint dagger because it felt that it was an irreplaceable cultural asset. In its decision, the Commission attached importance to the fact that although the flint dagger was a casual find, it did (exceptionally) still retain information about its provenance in Stubberup on the island of Lolland.

The Danish Commission on the Export of Cultural Assets not only prohibited the export of the flint dagger – it also offered to acquire the object pursuant to section 11 of the Danish Cultural Assets Act. However, the owner did not wish to accept the offer submitted by the Commission. The flint dagger may not be exported from Denmark.

At the end of 2010 Bruun Rasmussen Kunstauktioner auctioned Hans Christian Andersen’s manuscript for the fairy-tale entitled De Vises Steen, published in 1858 (auction no. 815 Fine Art and Antiques). The manuscript was valued at DKK 2.5-3.5 million.

The manuscript was not sold at the auction, but it was subsequently bought for a much lower price by a trust fund. In 2011 the trust fund will donate the manuscript to the Royal Library.

In its preview of auction catalogues in 2010, the Danish Commission on the Export of Cultural Assets had no reservations to make.

The Danish Commission on the Export of Cultural Assets did not acquire any cultural objects in 2010.

A considerable proportion of the work done by the Danish Commission on the Export of Cultural Assets consists of a preview of auction catalogues. The procedure in connection with this preview is laid down in section 9 of the Executive Order on Protection of Cultural Assets in Denmark, and involves the Commission carrying out a preliminary review of catalogues before auctions are held – and perhaps an inspection of certain objects as well. To make this possible, the Commission and secretariat must receive the catalogues no later than ten days prior to auction to enable the Commission to review and evaluate their content.

The Danish Commission on the Export of Cultural Assets then stipulates which objects and works the Commission are subject to reservation – in other words, which objects and works require an application to be made to the Commission for more detailed assessment and a decision before an export licence can be granted. If an application for an export licence is refused, section 11 of the Danish Cultural Assets Act requires the Commission to submit an offer to buy the object or work in question at a price corresponding to the knock-down price plus the cost of auction, corresponding to the net purchase price paid by the buyer.

The preview may also lead the Commission to recommend that the Minister for Culture should make a decision pursuant to the rules on dispensation set out in section 2 subsection 4 of the Danish Cultural Assets Act. In 1997 the Commission specified that its reservations may also extend to objects which will subsequently require a recommendation to the Minister for Culture. On the other hand, catalogue items for which there are no reservations can be exported after being auctioned without any restrictions.

In 2010 the Danish Commission on the Export of Cultural Assets had agreements regarding the preview of catalogues with four auction houses: Lauritz.com ved Museumsbygningen, Living Auctions in Vejle and Bruun Rasmussen Kunstauktioner, and Thomas Høiland Auktioner with regard to coin catalogues. (Bruun Rasmussen Kunstauktioner took over all the activities of Thomas Høiland Auktioner as of 1 January 2011.)

Section 11 of the Danish Cultural Assets Act stipulates that the Danish Commission on the Export of Cultural Assets must submit offers regarding the acquisition of objects at market price if applications for export licences are refused. The value of the object concerned is determined following consultation with special experts. The following have been appointed as advisors for the Commission: Foreningen af Auktionsledere i Danmark, Dansk Kunst Antikvitetshandler Union, Den Danske Antikvarboghandler¬forening and Kunst- og Antikvitetshandler Ringen.

In 2010 the Danish Commission on the Export of Cultural Assets received 29 individual applications for export licences regarding cultural objects owned by private individuals. All these applications were granted apart from two. In one of these two cases, an export prohibition was issued in 2010 (cf. above), while the other case had not yet been concluded at the end of 2010.

Following the creation of the Single Market, with border checks being waived between EU countries as a general rule, it has been decided that the national culture-protection rules of the individual EU member states should still apply. So the creation of the Single Market has not changed anything in the Danish Cultural Assets Act or the practice applied in relation to this Act. This is still the Act that decides when and under which conditions a prohibition can be imposed on the export of cultural objects from Denmark to EU countries or countries outside the EU.

In order to strengthen the protection of national cultural interests, a common set of rules has also been created to prevent the illegal export of cultural objects outside the EU’s common customs borders pursuant to Council Regulation no. 3911/92 of 9 December 1992 on the export of cultural goods. This Regulation, which came into force on 1 April 1993, is codified by Council Regulation no. 116/2009 of 18 December 2008 on the export of cultural goods. These rules about exports to countries outside the EU mean that the export of certain cultural objects requires an export licence, and that in these cases a special European application form must be used. The Danish Commission on the Export of Cultural Assets administers the Danish legislation, as well as administering the common EU rules in Danish territory.

Applications for licences to export cultural objects to third countries must therefore be submitted to the Danish Commission on the Export of Cultural Assets, which will decide whether to issue an export licence in each individual case. There are certain differences between the two sets of rules with regard to categories and value/age limits, and the system means that applications must also be submitted for export licences in a range of cases in which licences are not required under the Danish Cultural Assets Act.

In 2010 the Danish Commission on the Export of Cultural Assets received a total of 31 applications for licences to export a total of 92 individual works under EU regulations. 28 of these applications covering 89 objects were submitted by museums and private individuals requiring a temporary export licence in connection with lending objects to exhibitions abroad. In addition, a definitive export licence was granted to three applications covering three objects.

At the end of 2010 the following cultural objects located in Denmark and owned by private collectors from outside Denmark were subject to a prohibition against removal from Denmark:

1. Carl Bloch’s portrait of Hans Christian Andersen (1869), 1997.
2. Wilhelm Marstrand’s painting Reclining Model (1833), 1998.
3. C.W. Eckersberg’s painting View through a Door to Running Figures (1845), 1998.

Furthermore, at the end of 2010 the following cultural objects located in Denmark and owned by private Danish collectors were subject to a prohibition against removal from Denmark:

1. An Amati violin (1627), 2001.
2. The remaining parts of the Ålholm Collection (17th and 18th centuries), 1996-97.
3. A flint dagger from Stubberup near Nysted (Stone Age), 2010.

The years in brackets refer to the years or periods of origin, while the other years indicate the years in which an export prohibition was imposed.

Finally, the Danish Commission on the Export of Cultural Assets finds it necessary to mention that the Commission has a reservation concerning the following cultural object, which was not originally covered by the Danish Cultural Assets Act ¹⁾ :
1. Lauritz Tuxen’s painting On Leaving the Table (1906), 1991 and 1995.

The year in brackets refers to the year of origin, while the other years indicate the years in which the Danish Commission on the Export of Cultural Assets has made a reservation.

The Danish Commission on the Export of Cultural Assets regards the case of Lauritz Tuxen’s painting as a parallel to the cases in which the Commission has imposed an export prohibition. Before the Danish Commission on the Export of Cultural Assets made a reservation concerning Lauritz Tuxen’s painting, the Minister for Culture had decided (on the recommendation of the Commission) that the painting should be covered by the Danish Cultural Assets Act, cf. section 2 subsection 4 of the Act. If an application for an export licence had then been submitted to the Danish Commission on the Export of Cultural Assets, the Commission could have imposed an export prohibition. However, the case was not presented to the Commission in 1991 or 1995; and nor was the Commission informed about the subsequent change in ownership pursuant to section 4 of the Act.

The reservation means that if this cultural object is to be exported from Denmark, an application for an export licence must be submitted by the owner at the time in question.

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¹⁾ This does not constitute a complete list of the cultural objects about which the Danish Commission on the Export of Cultural Assets has made a reservation.

In the state budget for 2002, the government decided to change the financing principle for the acquisition of objects that were subject to an export prohibition under section 11 of the Danish Cultural Assets Act. The notes in the budget stated that “From 2002, expenditure for the purpose will be defrayed by the government institution under the area to which the acquisition belongs. The expenditure may be borne temporarily out of the ministry’s reserves”. The remaining reservation grant of the Danish Commission on the Export of Cultural Assets lapsed in 2009.

The Secretariat of the Danish Commission on the Export of Cultural Assets has been placed under the Heritage Agency of Denmark, and in 2010 Eva Arnfeldt Jensen, administrative clerk, was responsible for the Secretariat. The Commission’s legal secretary was Susanne Thuesen Simonsen, LLM, special consultant. 


Danish Commission on the Export of Cultural Assets, 28 April 2011.

Asbjørn Hellum
National Archivist and Director General of the Danish State Archives

Bodil Busk Laursen
Director of Design Museum Denmark

Per Kristian Madsen
Director General of the National Museum of Denmark

Erland Kolding Nielsen
(chair)
Director General of the Royal Library

Karsten Ohrt
(deputy chair)
Director of the National Gallery of Denmark