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104-473: The ERR was initially a project of Hohe Schule der NSDAP , a Nazi-oriented elite university, which was subordinate to Alfred Rosenberg . Rosenberg wanted it to be a research institute filled with cultural material on the opponents of the Nazi ideology. These included Jewish, Masonic , Communist and democratic organizations from throughout Germany and from the occupied countries. Plans to build monumental buildings for

208-516: A Viking army was defeated by the Frankish king Arnulf of Carinthia (see: Battle of Leuven ). According to a legend, the city's red and white arms depict the blood-stained shores of the river Dyle after this battle, similarly to the flag of Austria and the flag of Latvia . Situated beside this river, and near to the stronghold of the Dukes of Brabant , Leuven became the most important centre of trade in

312-605: A center for the evaluation of looted documents. By August 1943, it contained more than 500,000 catalogued volumes. Most of the Jewish materials collected by Amt VII related to Zionist groups, rescue agencies, communities, and cultural organizations. Materials pertaining to Jewish political, economic, cultural, and intellectual leaders were also collected. Seeligmann, who founded the Genootschap voor Joodsche Wetenschap in Nederland (Society for

416-406: A growing number of tourists. Leuven is the worldwide headquarters of Anheuser-Busch InBev , the largest beer company in the world and is considered one of the largest fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) companies in the world. InBev's Stella Artois brewery and main offices dominate the entire north-eastern part of the town, between the railway station and the canal to Mechelen . Finally, Leuven

520-539: A large number of books and stuffed boxes with old newspapers. Despite those heroic efforts to save the collection, the Germans were still able to send a great number of books to Adelsdorf (Adelin) in Silesia . Fortunately, after the war the library was able to recover most of the books that Abb had evacuated form the library." Later in the war, the main reading room was used as sleeping quarters for German soldiers, and other parts of

624-595: A major European center for art and knowledge with humanists like Erasmus and Hieronymus van Busleyden working there. In 1517 the latter founded the Collegium Trilingue in which the three ancient languages: Latin , Greek and Hebrew were taught. It promoted the critical study of classical literature and the Bible. Thomas More published his Utopia at Dirk Martens printing house in Leuven in 1516. Gemma Frisius laid

728-477: A military band, and the joyful shouts of the soldiers silenced the sounds of Jewish cries." In the note of Vaycheslav M. Molotov [sic: Vyacheslav Molotov ], People’s Commissar for Foreign Affairs, dated 27 April 1942, presented before the International Military Tribunal , it was recorded that the Germans burned the library of 40,000 volumes belonging to one of the oldest agricultural libraries in

832-623: A ray of beauty and joy into [his] revered life." ERR staff stated that nearly 100 such volumes were created during the years of their art looting operation." "The latest advice from authentic neutral sources said that the Gestapo had seized the libraries of all the Masonic organizations in France. The Bibliothèque Nationale (the French National Library) there upon put in a claim for these books, but

936-415: A reprisal, which at the time was legal under international law, as the Germans alleged that Belgian civilians had taken part in the fighting and killed German troops. The old library building was rebuilt after the war, and much of the collection was replaced. A new, dedicated Central Library was built on the square now known as Ladeuzeplein ; it was officially opened on 4 July 1928. In World War II, after

1040-456: A rich beer culture, being the birthplace of several beers such as Stella Artois , Leuvense Tripel, Domus and Keizersberg. It has several bars priding themselves in offering a wide variety of local and international beers, including a bar that claims to offer more than 3000 different beers. The Higher Institute of Philosophy holds the archives of the German philosopher Edmund Husserl . Leuven

1144-823: A section of the ERR, confiscated numerous Jewish art collections, often of international renown (for instance, the Rothschild collection). In the Netherlands, this Sonderstab did not seize much more than about a thousand works of art. The Sonderstab Musik, Kirchen, Osten, Bibliothekenaufbau der Hohen Schule und Rassenpolititische Fragen (Special Staffs for Music, Churches, the East, the High School Library and Race-political Questions) each fought for its own corner. By 1942, no fewer than 3,500 collections, libraries and archives had been ‘secured’ by

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1248-613: A small profit. One incident involved an assistant of Dr. Pohl dumping out five cases of rare books in order to make room for an illegal shipment of hogs. "The Einsatzstab Reichleiter Rosenberg (ERR), established by Rosenberg in 1939, was represented in the Netherlands by an Amsterdam office. In 1940, the ERR confiscated all property belonging to the Freemasons , among which was the famous Biblioteca Klossiana . This library had been bought by Prince Hendrik (1876–1934) ( Duke Henry of Mecklenburg-Schwerin ), husband of Queen Wilhemina ( Wilhelmina of

1352-850: A summer rock festival, Marktrock . Leuven has some university orchestras, such as the University Symphony Orchestra  [ nl ] (USO), the University Symphonic Band  [ nl ] (UHO). and the Arenberg Orchestra  [ nl ] . In September 2009, the M – Museum Leuven opened in Leuven. It is a museum for both contemporary and historical art, located near het Ladeuzeplein. It has hosted exhibitions by international artists such as Angus Fairhurst, Sol LeWitt, Roe Ethridge and Charles Burns as well as Belgian artists such as Ilse D'Hollander, Jan Vercruysse, Antoon Van Dyck and Freek Wambacq. Leuven has

1456-619: A university city since 1425. This makes it the oldest university city in the Low Countries . KU Leuven , the largest Dutch-speaking university in the world and the largest university in the Low Countries (and thus also Belgium's largest university), has its flagship campus in Leuven. The city is home of the headquarters of Anheuser-Busch InBev , the world's largest beer brewer and sixth-largest fast-moving consumer goods company. The earliest mention of Leuven ( Loven ) dates from 891, when

1560-544: Is composed of N-VA (10 seats), PVDA (1 seat) and Vlaams Belang (1 seat). One of Belgium's conservatories is based in Leuven: the Lemmens Institute , which is described as "Faculty of Music, Performing Arts and Education". It is known for its music therapy education and its wordart-drama education. Kunstencentrum STUK is a cultural centre and venue in the city center for music, theatre, sound art , and dance. Leuven holds

1664-505: Is one of Europe's largest academic hospitals. As a result, large numbers of private service providers are active in the medical, financial and legal fields. Because it is the capital of the province of Flemish Brabant , many governmental institutions are located in Leuven, as well as the regional headquarters of transport corporations such as De Lijn . As one of Flanders Art-Cities, with a large range of cafés, restaurants, cultural institutions and shopping neighbourhoods, Leuven also attracts

1768-660: Is one of the oldest athletics clubs in Belgium, where 1964 Olympic gold medallist Gaston Roelants was a member. There is also a GAA club in Leuven, the club is named, 'the Earls of Leuven', after the Flight of the Earls . The Earls of Leuven has become one of the most well-known GAA clubs in Europe, and is an affiliated University sports club. The city of Leuven has become the home of Collegiate Gaelic Games activity in Europe due to its organisation of

1872-480: Is that when the areas in Ukraine are evacuated, not a human being, not a single head of cattle, not a hundredweight of cereals, and not a railway line remains behind; that not a house remains standing, not a mine exists that is not ruined for years to come, that there is no well left unpoisoned. The enemy must really find a land completely burnt and destroyed." It is estimated that Germany looted three million books during

1976-450: Is the ancestral home of the KBC Group . KBC is one of the leading financial groups in Europe. It is a multi-channel bank-insurance group, with a geographic focus on Belgium and Central Europe, catering mainly to retail clients, SMEs and local midcaps. As one of the largest companies in Belgium and it has its insurance and auto lease HQ in Leuven. As of 1 January 2024, the population of Leuven

2080-493: Is the capital and largest city of the province of Flemish Brabant in the Flemish Region of Belgium . It is located about 25 kilometres (16 miles) east of Brussels . The municipality itself comprises the sub-municipalities of Heverlee , Kessel-Lo , Leuven proper, Wilsele , Wijgmaal and part of Haasrode and Korbeek-Lo . It is the eighth largest city in Belgium, with more than 100,244 inhabitants. Leuven has been

2184-558: The Bernheim-Jeunes who specialized in Impressionists and post-Impressionists painters, and in 1901 had opened the first Van Gogh show; and Paul Rosenberg , the contracted dealer of Picasso and Braque . During the next several years, the ERR would be engaged in an extensive and elaborate art looting operation in France that was part of Hitler’s much larger premeditated plan to steal art treasures from conquered nations. Soon after

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2288-688: The Charles University Library in Prague were stolen as a unit." A library was created in the Theresienstadt ghetto, about forty miles from Prague . Books were brought in by many of the people deported to this camp as part of their personal possessions, but also books from the collections of the Rabbinical Seminary Libraries of Berlin and Breslau , and the Jewish communities of Berlin and Vienna were also shipped there. Part of

2392-1189: The Grand Orient de France , had been abandoned in Paris . This was one of the most important Masonic grand lodge in Europe. Ebert personally guarded the building, with its library collection, museum and archives, until he could turn it over to the army. This was one point in the origin of the ERR, which eventually developed into a central headquarters in Berlin, with subsidiary offices ( Hauptarbeitsgruppen (Main Work Groups) in Paris, Amsterdam , Brussels , Belgrade , Riga and other cities. "In January 1940, Hitler gave Rosenberg his task: to loot Jewish and Masonic cultural treasures, including synagogues, libraries, and archives in western Europe. By fall 1940, Hitler ordered Rosenberg to confiscate all Jewish art collections since these materials were now deemed "ownerless" by Nazi decree. Jews in France, as in most of Europe, were now labeled "stateless" and no longer had property rights. With France part of

2496-782: The Hauptarbeitsgruppe Frankreich (Main Working Group, France) of the ERR- France having been divided into five districts. The libraries of the Alliance Israélite Universelle (AIU) and the French Rabbinical Seminary (SIF) were high on the list of German locations to loot. The AIU had built a new library in 1937, including an eight story high tower and reading room, and boasting of 50,000 books. By March 1940, 647 crates of books had been removed from

2600-800: The Institute for Research on the Jewish Question in Frankfurt , but especially for the library of the Hohe Schule . The operations staff had eight main regional task forces and five technical task forces (music, visual arts, history, libraries, churches). Raids connected with the ERR also plundered the belongings of people deported to Nazi concentration camps . Between April 1941 to July 1944, 29 convoys transported goods seized from Paris to Neuschwanstein Castle in Germany,

2704-699: The Korolenko Library in Kharkov , the occupiers used the books as paving stones for the muddy street in order to facilitate the passage of motor vehicles." "ERR dispatches note they had to abandon their offices before the removal of the materials on hand could be completed ‘due to lack of loading spaces’ and the fact that German artillery, located in the center of the city [Kiev], was firing continually over their heads. Still, they managed to send on both their paintings 9,279) and prehistoric materials, which had come from Kharkov , their own library and office furniture, and

2808-650: The Musée du Louvre in Paris. As the ERR staff looted and catalogued the French collections, they created photograph albums specifically intended for the Reich Chancellery and Hitler in an effort to keep them apprised of their work in France, and more importantly, to provide a catalogue of items from which Hitler and his curators could choose art treasures for EMoA. A group of these photograph albums were presented to Hitler on his birthday on 20 April 1943, by Alfred Rosenberg to "send

2912-720: The Reich Security Main Office ; the geographic service of the ministry of Foreign Affairs; the State Library; the Slavic Studies seminar; and the Hermann Göring economic library." Heinrich Himmler sent a secret message to the SS and Sicherheitsdienst (SD) units in order to ensure their cooperation with the main troops in the total destruction and devastation of the parts of Ukraine to be evacuated: "The aim to be achieved

3016-540: The Reichsleiter Rosenberg Taskforce with the help of the Gestapo combed through the libraries, archives, Masonic lodges and the offices of high church authorities of occupied Western Europe in search of relevant material for the university. On 1 March 1942, Hitler authorized Rosenberg to seize materials as well as cultural treasures for the school, as a "systematic spiritual battle" against "Jews, Freemasons, and affiliated opponents of National Socialism"

3120-709: The U.S.S.R. , the Shatilov selection station in the Orel district. Also submitted to the International Military Tribunal was the statement following: "There was no limit to the desecration of the Hitlerite vandals of the monuments and homes representing Ukrainian history, culture and art. Suffice to mention, as an example of the constant attempts to humiliate the national dignity of the Ukrainian people, that after plundering

3224-622: The University of Leuven , in 1425. Prestigious buildings like the Town Hall and the Saint Peter's Church (itself designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1999) were constructed. The art of painting flourished with painters such as Dirk Bouts , Albrecht Bouts and Jan Rombouts the Elder . The painter Quinten Metsys was born and trained in Leuven. By the turn of the 16th century, Leuven had become

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3328-419: The duchy between the 11th and 14th centuries. A token of its former importance as a centre of cloth manufacture is shown in that ordinary linen cloth was known, in late-14th-century and 15th-century texts, as lewyn (other spellings: Leuwyn , Levyne , Lewan(e) , Lovanium , Louvain ). In the 15th century, a new golden era began with the founding of the largest and oldest university in the Low Countries ,

3432-491: The ring road of the city. Buses 91 and 616 connect Leuven with Brussels Airport . Leuven railway station is located on the NMBS railway lines 35 (Leuven– Aarschot – Hasselt ), 36 ( Brussels – Liège ), 36N ( Schaerbeek –Leuven), 53 ( Schellebelle –Leuven), and 139 (Leuven– Ottignies ). In Bierbeek , south-east of Leuven, lies the beginning of HSL 2 , the high-speed railway towards Liège. The European route E40 passes Leuven in

3536-558: The yeshiva collections, in which the city abounded. However, members of the community were able to hide or disguise many of the collections from the Germans. A later visit in September 1942 by a scholar named Maertsch, likewise resulted in no new additions to the Frankfurt library. However, a 1943 report does show that 10,000 volumes had been received from Greece. Before the war, Greece was rich in libraries. The National Library, which included

3640-408: The 2022, 2023, and 2024 Collegiate Games. This GAA club is part of a wider European league, Gaelic Games Europe , which is in itself part of the global organisation, The Gaelic Athletic Association The Old University of Leuven used to have 40 constituent colleges and 4 pedagogies , some of which are still being used by KU Leuven. The most notable ones are: Leuven is twinned with: Aside from

3744-594: The AIU, and 243 crates of books from the SIF. A list by the ERR dated March 1941 indicated that 81 libraries had been looted in Paris alone, and a later supplemental list included another 30 libraries of Jewish, Masonic, socialist and émigré collections had been seized. "These albums were created by the staff of the Third Reich’s Einsatzstab Reichsleiter Rosenberg (ERR). This special unit was organized in

3848-487: The Arenberg Science Park and Haasrode Research-Park . Quite a few international companies such as Siemens , Huawei , Nitto Denko , JSR Corporation or Commscope have important, often research oriented branches, in Leuven. The academic hospital UZ Leuven , first in Europe regarding the number of clinical tests per capita and approval rates for clinical trials, UZ Leuven is another advanced research institute. It

3952-442: The ERR's principal place of storage. Until 17 October 1944, as estimated by the ERR itself, 1,418,000 railway wagons containing books and works of art (as well as 427,000 tonnes by ship) were transitioned to Germany. "More than two hundred libraries of Belarus, especially the state (now national) library, suffered irreparable damage during the occupation. An associate of the national library, T. Roshchina, calculated that 83 percent of

4056-636: The ERR’s research institutes. Certain collections, including Seeligmann’s, were sent to other Nazi agencies, such as the Reich Security Main Office (RSHA) in Berlin. The RSHA was interested specifically in information about those they perceived to be the prime enemies of the state. Accordingly, the RSHA in Berlin received looted library and archival materials relating to "enemies" such as the Jews. The RSHA Office Seven (Amt VII), which specialized in ideological research, established

4160-681: The East ( Prague ), Institute of Celtic Studies ( Römhild ) and Institute for the Study of Germanism and Gallicanism ( Strasbourg ). In October 1942, the Central Library of the High School moved from Berlin to Carinthia, where parts of the library were housed in the Tanzenberg Castle in Sankt Veit an der Glan , a former Olivetan monastery. To achieve the goal set out by Hitler on 29 January 1940,

4264-544: The German effort included having the prisoners translate and catalog many Hebrew books, to be added to the ERR "Museum of the Extinct Race" envisioned by Alfred Rosenberg. Almost 30,000 Hebrew and Judaica volumes had catalog cards created by the ghetto inmates. In 1935, there were 17,148 public, school and university libraries in Czechoslovakia, having a book stock of 8,528,744 volumes. Many of these items were confiscated by

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4368-670: The German occupation of France in 1940, the German military, and subsequently the ERR, focused their art confiscations on the world-renowned Jewish-owned art collections from families such as the Rothschilds , and the Veil-Picards , Alphonse Kann , and Jewish dealers such as the Seligmanns . According to the German ERR documents from 1944, the art seizures in France totaled 21,903 objects from 203 collections. There were 5,009 items confiscated from

4472-507: The German-occupied territories, the ERR and Rosenberg now fell under Hermann Göring 's authority and control, with the Gestapo seeking out Jewish houses, apartments, and shops in the hopes of finding valuable pieces." " Alfred Rosenberg reported to Hitler that his Einsatzstab had commenced confiscations in Paris by October 1940, with the assistance of the Service de Sûreté (S.D.) and the " Police Secrète Militaire ( Geheime Feldpolizei )." The " Sonderstab Bildende Kunst " (Special Arts Staff),

4576-400: The Germans, especially any Czech books dealing with geography, biography or history. Works by any Czech writers were taken away, many burned, most others taken directly to the paper pulp mills. Special libraries were devastated, and suffered a loss of about 2,000,000 volumes. Georg Ebert , who was a member of Rosenberg’s NSDAP Office of Foreign Affairs , discovered that a Masonic grand lodge,

4680-608: The Institute served as the core research library for the planned Hohe Schule. Some of the other ERR research institutes that received looted books included the Institut für Biologie und Rassenlehre in Stuttgart, the Institut für Religionswissenschaft , and the Institut für Deutsche Volkskunde . In the Netherlands, where Seeligmann’s library was looted, the ERR enjoyed a monopoly on cultural property confiscation between 1940 and 1944. A particularly large number of books were seized, with an estimated value of thirty to forty million Reichsmarks. However, not all of those books were sent to

4784-416: The Jeu de Paume. Much of Paul Rosenberg's professional dealership and personal collection were so subsequently designated by the Nazis. Following Joseph Goebels earlier private decree to sell these degenerate works for foreign currency to fund the building of the Führermuseum and the wider war effort, Hermann Göring personally appointed a series of ERR approved dealers to liquidate these assets and then pass

4888-413: The Jewish workers were able to smuggle out and hide some of the most valuable books in the ghetto, which was stopped when the ghetto was liquidated in July 1943. The accumulated collection of over 100,000 volumes were separated into piles by century of publication, and about 20,000 were selected for shipment to Germany. The remaining materials were pulped to avoid storage and transportation costs, and to make

4992-475: The NSDAP The Advanced School of the NSDAP ( German : Hohe Schule der NSDAP , literally "High School of the NSDAP") was a project by the chief ideologist of the Nazi Party Alfred Rosenberg to create an elite Nazi university, a kind of academy for party officials. A monumental central university building was to be built on the shores of Lake Chiemsee , based on the architectural plans of Hermann Giesler . The university's establishment began in 1939 with

5096-413: The Nazis. At the end of the war, the two library collections were discovered in two Austrian salt mines packed away in 1,985 wooden cases. The German Library’s collection was unharmed, but some of the Hertziana collection and the card catalog were damaged by water when part of the mine flooded. They were returned to Rome, where they became part of the Gallery of Modern Art , where both collections will be in

5200-431: The Netherlands ), and had been presented by him to the order of Freemasons. It contained important incunabula and books on the occult , which were not available anywhere else in the Netherlands. Other parts of the library and the order’s archive were of importance as well. The library of the International Institute for Social History in Amsterdam was closed, and the ERR took over the building for its offices. In July 1940

5304-405: The Public and University libraries in Athens, contained more than 400,000 volumes. "Reports reaching American authorities in Cairo have told of the pillaging of libraries, laboratories and workshops of the Universities of Athens and Salonika ... A large part of the University of Athens library is reported to be lost. The libraries of three American colleges were reported to have been used as fuel in

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5408-496: The Rothschild family collections, 2,687 items from the David-Weill collection, and 1,202 from Alphonse Kann’s collection. French officials, at the end of the war, estimated that one third of all art in French private hands had been confiscated. All looted and confiscated art works were initially shipped by truck to the Galerie nationale du Jeu de Paume , where Nazi art historians, experts, photographers, maintenance and administrative personnel appraised, filed, photographed and packed

5512-426: The Science of Judaism in the Netherlands) and served as president of the Dutch Zionist Organization , was of interest to the RSHA. By August 1943, his library became part of the Amt VII library and archive center. In Norway, there were 150 school libraries and 50 public libraries that were destroyed by the Germans. Most of these libraries were in the province of Finnmark , where there was widespread destruction during

5616-416: The Tribunal a document as Document Number USSR-56, containing the report of the Extraordinary State Commission of the Soviet Union . I shall not quote this document; but I shall only refer to it and endeavor, in my own words, to emphasize the fundamental points of this document, dealing with the reported theme now. In Smolensk, the German fascist invaders plundered and destroyed the most valuable collections in

5720-551: The care of the new International Union for the study of Archaeology, Art and History in Rome ." After the war, many of the major collections looted from Italy were identified by the Monuments, Fine Arts and Archives service of the American military government and returned to their owners. The Collegio Rabbinico Italiano , the Kunsthistorisches Institut in Florenz , and the Deutsche Historische Bibliothek Rom were all returned, although not all were intact, to their owners in Italy. "These last two collections were seized by Hitler with

5824-417: The central heating system used by the Germans." "The ERR were also active in the west. After the German occupations of Rome in 1943, ERR officers inspected the contents of the Roman Synagogue ’s two great libraries, the Biblioteca della Comunità Israelitica and Collegio Rabbinico Italiano , which contained extraordinary collections gathered over the 2,000 year history of Jewish life in Rome. They demanded

5928-406: The city centre, road speed regulations prescribe 30 km/h (19 mph) as the maximum speed limit, making it a pedestrian and bicycle-friendly city. There are also a few car parking lots. There are numerous buses, primarily operated by the public transport company De Lijn , that connect the city with the region while providing travel options within the city centre. The so-called Ringbus follows

6032-464: The city, with a total of more than 50,000 students as of June 2024. It is the oldest Catholic university still in existence in the world, and the largest university in Belgium. There are also a number of hogescholen (universities of applied sciences), such as the UC Leuven-Limburg (UCLL). Within the city and its immediate surroundings, most distances can be covered on foot or with a bicycle. Several streets are off-limits to vehicle traffic and, within

6136-481: The communist bookshop OBLA, Brussels, were sent to Racibórz , Poland. The records of the International Federation for Housing and Town Planning were confiscated and brought to Germany. A similar fate overtook the archives and library of the international Jesuit college at Enghien , which was called a "Zentrale der anti-Deutschland speziell anti-National-Sozialistischen Information" ("Center for anti-German and anti-National Socialist Information"). "The 700,000 volumes of

6240-488: The course of the war. More than one million of them were discovered by American forces at Hungen , Hesse , in May 1945. The books had been moved there from Frankfurt in early 1944, when the Allied bombing of the city threatened the collection. The books were moved back to the former Rothschild Library for cataloguing. ERR was a uniformed organization with the hierarchical position of the male officials indicated by rank insignia on collar patches. The patches were bright red for

6344-429: The evacuation of the German Army forces. The Norwegians did not burn the German propaganda works that had filled their shelves when the original Norwegian books were removed. They will be kept for the study by future generations who will want to study the period of the German occupation. " ... From the very beginning of the establishment of the Staatsbibliothek Krakau , special importance was given to materials related to

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6448-618: The foundation for modern triangulation methods and cartography. He further made important contributions to mathematics, geography and astronomy. Gerardus Mercator and John Dee were among his students. Leuven became a leading centre for the fabrication of precision astronomical instruments, such as the planetaria and the terrestrial and celestial globes built by Gaspard van der Heyden and Gualterus Arsenius . Andreas Vesalius completed his medicine studies in Leuven, before moving to Padova and Basel. Religious persecutions of Protestants, followed by greater religious and political turmoil starting in

6552-417: The funds to swell his personal art collection, including Hildebrand Gurlitt . With the looted degenerate art sold onwards via Switzerland , Rosenberg's collection was scattered across Europe. Today, some 70 of his paintings are missing, including: the large Picasso watercolor Naked Woman on the Beach , painted in Provence in 1923; seven works by Matisse; and the Portrait of Gabrielle Diot by Degas . After

6656-412: The history of ancient Russia, were removed from the Novgorod library for the German professor Engel. Publications on ethnology were removed for Professor Thiele ... The above-mentioned Sonderkommando Künsberg was active in removing the czars ’ libraries from the suburbs of Leningrad and the contents of museums and libraries from Rostov and Taganrog . In addition to the ERR, Künsberg’s clients were:

6760-451: The idea of re-establishing them in Germany." In Vilna (Vilnius, Vilno, Wilno, etc.) the ERR set up a collecting point for Lithuania. Dr. Gotthard of the Berlin headquarters arrived in August 1941, and began looting the Strashun library. He conscripted the labor of two Gestapo prisoners, including A.Y. Goldschmidt , librarian of the Historic-Ethnographic Society . The grandson of the Library's founder committed suicide rather than assist

6864-420: The institute was closed by the Sicherheitspolizei (Security Police) in June 1940. In August 1942, 499 crates containing books and archives taken from, among others, Jewish antiquarian book dealers and theosophical societies were transported to Berlin." Most of the looted Jewish property, especially books, was sent to Rosenberg’s Institut zur Erforschung der Judenfrage in Frankfurt. Established in March 1941,

6968-401: The institute’s very important collection of newspapers and the library of approximately 160,000 volumes were confiscated. German arguments over their final destination kept the materials in Amsterdam until the winter of 1944, when they were transported to Germany in eleven ships. The International Archives of the Women’s Movement , established in Amsterdam in 1935, lost its whole collection after

7072-578: The kremlin (fortress), including sixteenth- to eighteenth- century manuscripts and seventeenth century printed books. Nearly 35,000 volumes were removed from the Pskov pedagogical institute, including 25,000 works of Russian scholars. At Novgorod, the library of the historical museum which was "displaced", contained rare periodicals such as Russkaia rech’ of 1880 and Bibliograf of 1860. Books removed included editions of Voltaire of 1785 and Jean Jacques Rousseau of 1796. All in all, 35,000 volumes were removed. Unique editions of archaeology , including 51 books on

7176-482: The late 1560s, greatly affected intellectual life in Leuven. Many professors and alumni from Leuven moved abroad. The newly founded University of Leiden in Holland, amongst others, would profit greatly from this brain drain. Despite this the university continued to excel in disciplines like theology with Johannes Molanus and classical studies with Justus Lipsius . In the 18th century, the brewery Den Horn (meaning "the horn") flourished. In 1708, Sebastien Artois became

7280-510: The latest word was that the Germans declined to hand over them over, saying the material would be sent to Germany for purposes of study. The library of the Alliance Israelite in Paris, worth several million francs, also was said to have been seized and sent to Germany. From the Bibliothèque Nationale - one of the world’s leading libraries - the Germans were reported to have received an inventory of manuscripts, rare books and similar material that had been stored elsewhere in France for security during

7384-427: The leadership and the special staff in Berlin ; burgundy for other staff and special staff members. On the lower left sleeve was a cuff title with the text "Einsatzstab RR." The actual physical removal of the cultural property was done by local manual workers employed in the occupied countries. They were not uniformed, but wore an armlet with the inscription "Im Dienst der Einsatzstabes RR." Advanced School of

7488-605: The libraries’ catalogs; just days before the first deportation of Roman Jews to Auschwitz, two specially ordered railcars destined for Alfred Rosenberg’s institute in Frankfurt were loaded with ten thousand books from these libraries." "Two archaeological libraries, the Hertziana Library of History and Art , and the German Archaeological Institute ’s library of the history, topography, art and customs of ancient Rome, were removed from Rome and taken to Germany by

7592-793: The library of the Alliance Israelite Universelle de Paris , the library of the Ecole Rabbinique de Paris , and the Bibliothèque de Chinon ." Greece was also visited by the ERR after the country’s fall in April 1941. A special unit headed by Dr. Johannes Pohl , chief of the Hebraica collection at the Frankfurt Institute ’s library, appeared in Salonica , where he had Rosenberg agents seal

7696-663: The library were used as a hospital for Germans. From the Frankfurter Zeitung , Wochen-Ausgabe, 28 March 1941: "For us it is a matter of special pride to destroy the Talmudic Academy which has been known as the greatest in Poland ... We threw out of the building the great Talmudic Library and carted it to market. There we set fire to the books. The fire lasted for twenty hours. The Jews of Lublin were assembled around and cried bitterly. The cries almost silenced us. Then we summoned

7800-519: The library’s collection was plundered and destroyed. After the war, some six hundred thousand volumes from the library were found in Germany, Poland and Czechoslovakia, and were subsequently returned. About one million books, however, including rare and old printed volumes, have still not been located." "Day by day for 26 months, the Hitlerites systematically destroyed one of the most ancient Russian cities, Smolensk . The Soviet Prosecution has presented to

7904-565: The looting of the libraries. Dr. Johannes Pohl appeared in January 1942, and ordered that the city be made a collecting point for the region, and concentrated at the Yidisher Visenshaftlikker Institut (Institute for Jewish Research). Materials were brought in from the private collections from Kaunas , Šiauliai , Mariampolė , Volozhin and other towns, and included books from over 300 synagogues and personal libraries. Some of

8008-570: The master brewer at Den Horn, and gave his name to the brewery in 1717, now part of AB InBev , whose flagship beer, Stella Artois , is brewed in Leuven and sold in many countries. Leuven developed considerably during the 19th century. Dozens of squares were created, including the Sint-Jacobsplein, the Volksplaats (today's Ladeuzeplein ) and the Statieplein (today's Martelarenplein). From 1835,

8112-492: The materials collected by the Department of Seizures , amounting to some ten thousand books and nearly a hundred cases of Bolshevist paintings, documents and archives ... " 1941–1944 Soviet Union: As a result of the German invasion, heavy damage was done to Russian libraries. It has been estimated that more than 100 million books have been destroyed, mainly from public libraries. "At Pskov , 1,026 church books were removed from

8216-584: The middle of 1941, most of the ERR work in Belgium concentrated on small collections in Jewish homes. Larger operations involved the Jesuit convent in Enghien involved removing 200 crates of books and archives, and looting the École des Hautes Études in Ghent , which involved transporting 56 crates of books. "Both institutions were considered outposts of French culture on Flemish soil and unfriendly to Nazism." The Jesuit collection

8320-462: The most valuable paintings from prominent national museums, galleries, and non-Jewish private collections. Rosenberg and his organization wanted to be involved in these art raids. He was able to get full authority from Adolf Hitler to be the only official art procurement organization acting in the occupied countries. For this reason, in a Führer Directive of 5 July 1940, Hitler authorized the ERR to confiscate: The "Einsatzstab Reichsleiter Rosenberg"

8424-568: The municipality is Oud-Heverlee Leuven , successor of prior clubs Daring Club Leuven and Stade Leuven . Both the men's team and OH Leuven women play at the highest level. The city's prime basketball team is the Leuven Bears , they play their home games at the SportOase. Other known top-tier teams include IHC Leuven (ice hockey), KHC Leuven (field hockey) , Leuven aquatics(waterpolo) and VC Haasrode-Leuven (volleyball). Daring Club Leuven Atletiek

8528-408: The museums. They desecrated and burned down ancient monuments; they destroyed schools and institutes, libraries, and sanatoriums. The report also mentions the fact that in April 1943, the Germans needed rubble to pave the roads. For this purpose, they blew up the intermediate school. The Germans burned down all the libraries of the city and 22 schools; 646,000 volumes perished in the library fires." By

8632-408: The natural sciences, mathematics, geography and medicine. In the fiscal year 1940–1941, the amount of money spent on book purchases was surprisingly high." The Germans recognized the value of the scientific collection, and from 1941 through 1944, 35,599 books were borrowed by 2,621 patrons, mostly German civil servants and military personnel. Polish civilians were not allowed access to the library during

8736-529: The now decreed "ownerless cultural goods" for transport to Germany. The first shipment art works sent to Germany from Paris required 30 rail cars and consisted primarily of Rothschild paintings intended for the Führermuseum/European Museum of Art (EMoA) in Linz , Austria. Among the first fifty-three paintings shipped to Hitler was Vermeer ’s Astronomer from the Édouard de Rothschild collection, today in

8840-475: The occupation. Gustav Abb , the German overseer of libraries, decided to send much of the reference collection to Germany in 1944. "Abb decided to send the major part of the reference collection, as well as most of the books bought by the Staatsbibliothek to Germany (altogether about 25,000 volumes). [Polish] Librarians, charged with the task of filling boxes with books, tried to sabotage Abb’s orders. They hid

8944-413: The opening of its central library. Alfred Baumler nominated philologist Walter Grothe as the library's head. On 29 January 1940, Rosenberg received an order from Hitler to continue the preparatory work for the university's opening: The Hohe Schule is some day to become the center for National Socialist doctrinal research and education. It will be established after the war. However, in order to expedite

9048-538: The preparatory work already initiated, I order that Reichsleiter Alfred Rosenberg continue this preparatory work, especially in the field of research and the establishment of a library. The offices of the Party and the State organizations are required to support his work in every way. The first faculty of the school, the Institute for Study of the Jewish Question , was opened on 26 March 1941 in Frankfurt am Main . Rosenberg's plan

9152-503: The south, the European route E314 connects Leuven with the city of Aachen . After the municipal election on 13 October 2024, the Vooruit party strengthen its position. The governing coalition of Leuven will continue working together which consists of Vooruit (23 out of 47 seats), Groen (5 seats) and CD&V (7 seats), with Vooruit providing the mayor with Mohamed Ridouani. The opposition

9256-665: The start of the German offensive , Leuven formed part of the British Expeditionary Force 's front line and was defended by units of the 3rd Division and Belgian troops. From 14 to 16 May 1940, the German Army Group B assaulted the city with heavy air and artillery support. The British withdrew their forces to the River Senne on the night of 16 May and the town was occupied the next day. The new university library building

9360-404: The streets of the city were lit with gas. The Voer stream was vaulted, the channels occupying the middle of the streets were removed, a number of narrow streets were widened or simply destroyed and a considerable number of sewers were installed. The municipal theatre and the main post office were built, respectively in 1866 and between 1893 and 1895. It was also at this time that the central prison

9464-583: The summer of 1940 under Reich Leader Alfred Rosenberg , initially to collect political material in occupied countries for exploitation in the "struggle against Jewry and Freemasonry ." The ERR established its base of operations in Paris in July 1940 and on November 5, Hermann Göring assigned the ERR the responsibility for the confiscation of "ownerless" Jewish art collections. On November 18 of that year, Adolf Hitler ordered that all confiscated works of art be brought to Germany and placed at his personal disposal. Before

9568-459: The university on the shores of Lake Chiemsee failed to materialize after the outbreak of World War II . Shortly after the occupation of France the staff of the ERR joined the SS in the search for books, archival material, and huge stocks of artifacts that were in the possession of people of Jewish descent. Soon after the German Embassy in Paris and SS - Einsatzgruppen also began to steal

9672-538: The war, Paris was the world's largest and most important art market. This was where well-off French, European and American collectors bought and sold their best pieces. From the beginning of the century, Jewish marchands d'art had established themselves as the best art dealers and experts, resultantly shaping and influencing global taste. Dealers included: the Wildensteins, where Georges Wildenstein dealt in Old Masters;

9776-643: The war, many of the books hidden by the Germans were collected by the Monuments, Fine Arts and Archives section of the American military government, and collected at the Offenbach Depot . There, many of the larger collections were identified and eventually returned to their owners. By the end of 1948, " ... the French regained the archives of the Paris bank of Rothschild Freres , the Libschutz Librairie de Paris ,

9880-558: The war. German officials, according to the information received here, have been exercising close supervision over the French publishing industry. They have also taken over the Maison du Livre de Français , the most important French book exporting agency." So called degenerate art was legally banned by the Nazis from entering Germany, and so once designated was held in what was called the Martyr's Room at

9984-405: Was destroyed on 25 August 1914, using petrol and incendiary pastilles. Approximately 230,000 volumes were lost in the destruction, including Gothic and Renaissance manuscripts, a collection of 750 medieval manuscripts, and more than 1,000 incunabula (books printed before 1501). The German atrocities and the cultural destruction caused worldwide outrage. The burning of the city was done as

10088-422: Was 104,009. The arrondissement of Leuven counted 527,443 in January 2024. The city itself is made up out of the centre of Leuven (30,313), Kessel-Lo (29,147), Heverlee (22,521), Wilsele (9,786) and Wijgmaal (3,592). Leuven has a large international student population, mainly concentrated around the city centre. The Katholieke Universiteit Leuven ( KU Leuven ; University of Leuven) has three campuses in

10192-513: Was built. Leuven has several times been besieged or occupied by foreign armies; these include the Battle of Leuven (891) , the Siege of Leuven (1635) and the Battle of Leuven (1831) . In the 20th century, both world wars inflicted major damage upon the city. Upon Germany's entry into World War I , the town was heavily damaged by rampaging soldiers. In all, about 300 civilians died. The university library

10296-518: Was considered a treasure trove of information on the politics of Catholicism in Belgium, and of Catholic procedures to thwart the Germans. The Jesuit College in Leuven and the regional office in Brussels, for example, acted as a refuge for library materials. "Libraries and archives sees as enemy and international were confiscated outright by the ERR, as indicated by the following three examples. The contents of

10400-417: Was necessary. More than 500.000 volumes were seized and sent to the Central Library to wait for the war's end and a transfer to Chiemsee. Leuven Leuven ( UK : / ˈ l ɜː v ən / , US : / ˈ l ʌ v ən / , Flemish: [ˈløːvə(n)] ), also called Louvain ( / l uː ˈ v æ̃ / , US also / l uː ˈ v eɪ n / , French: [luvɛ̃] ),

10504-490: Was officially established in "Office West" in Paris and was divided into different functional departments. The ERR central administration was transferred to Berlin on 1 March 1941 where it became formal subdivision of the German Foreign Office. The Nazis were so eager to acquire valuable masterpieces that art theft became the most important field of work of the ERR. In addition to art, many libraries were looted for

10608-664: Was set on fire by shelling, on 16 May, and nearly a million books were lost. Given the presence of the KU Leuven , Europe's most innovative university according to Reuters, much of the local economy is concentrated on spin-offs from academic research. In addition, the Leuven-based research centre, IMEC , is a research centre in the field of nano-electronics and digital technologies. As a result, dozens of companies in high technological fields such as biotech, robotics, additive manufacturing and IT, are located near these research institutes on

10712-435: Was to establish at least a total of eleven units of the school in different locations. Among these were Institute for Indo-Germanic Intellectual History ( Munich ), Institute of Biology and Race Studies ( Stuttgart ), Institute of Religious Studies ( Halle ), Institute of Germanic Studies ( Kiel ), Institute of Ideological Colonial Studies ( Hamburg ), Institute of German Folklore ( Münster and Graz ), Institute for Research on

10816-650: Was voted European City of Sport for 2021, highlighted by hosting the UCI Road World Championships , which will follow several routes of the Grote Prijs Jef Scherens , a yearly cycling race in and around Leuven. The city also hosts the start of the Brabantse Pijl , a semi-classic race and the Cyclocross Leuven is a cyclo-cross race held each year in January. The main football club of

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