64 Maria Eichhorn. Politics of Restitution, 2003. Detail: Wall Texts
Maria Eichhorn. Politics of Restitution, 2003. Detail: wall texts, table with handbook, displays Franz von Defregger, Portrait of the Painter Franz von Lenbach; Eduard Grützner, Peasant Theater in Buch near Schwaz, Tirol; Eduard Grützner, Still Life with Roses, Fruits, Pewter Tureen, and Goblets; Friedrich August von Kaulbach, Getting Ready for the Festival; Franz von Lenbach, Bismarck with Hat; Hans Makart, Lady with Plumed Hat Seen from Behind; Hans Makart, Portrait of a Lady in Old Dutch Costume. Photo: Lenbachhaus München. All images courtesy of © VG Bild-Kunst, Maria Eichhorn 64 Downloaded from http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/pdf/10.1162/1526381043320769 by guest on 25 September 2021 Specters of Provenance: National Loans, the Königsplatz, and Maria Eichhorn’s “Politics of Restitution” ALEXANDER ALBERRO “The Zecks [a family name] are all ‘heimlich.’” “‘Heimlich’? . What do you understand by ‘heimlich’?” “Well, . they are like a buried spring or a dried-up pond. One cannot walk over it without always having the feeling that water might come up there again.” “Oh, we call it ‘unheimlich’; you call it ‘heimlich.’ Well, what makes you think that there is something secret and untrustworthy about this family.’” —Karl Gutzkow, as cited by Sigmund Freud in “The ‘Uncanny’” (1919)1 Eighty-five years have passed since Freud formally articulated his theory of the uncanny, a theory that has transcended its initial grounding in the individual psyche to be applied to a number of inci- dences of historical recurrence. Indeed, Freud’s meditations on the “uncanny” are particularly prescient today as the dreaded specter of National Socialism continues to haunt Germany, making periodic appearances with an unsettling consistency.
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