French violinist Emmanuel Coppey performed four rare violins in a tasting-style format. One of them was supposed to be a 1719 Stradivarius. An expert in the hall noticed that something about the instrument's provenance didn't add up, and contacted the Musique et Spoliations association in Paris, which specializes in tracing instruments stolen by the Nazis. Slippedisc ↗
The association's president, Pascale Bernheim, after comparing the details, stated: "C'est le Lauterbach." According to the expert, it is likely the famous Lauterbach Stradivarius — an instrument stolen by the Nazis from the National Museum in Warsaw in 1944 and missing ever since. Classic FM ↗
Nine violins from 1719
Bernheim proceeded by a process of elimination. Antonio Stradivari has only a few documented violins from 1719. The instrument that sounded in Colmar has a distinctive one-piece maple back — a identifying feature that narrowed down the case. Its value is estimated at 10 to 15 million euros, depending on which expert valuation is used. Cremona Sera ↗In Cremona, Italy, Stradivari's hometown, the media are presenting the discovery as more than just cultural news. Local newspapers speak of a "reopened wound" — the violin is among the most precious pieces of the region's heritage, scattered across Europe by Nazism. Cremona Sera ↗
From the city of Łódź to the Warsaw Museum
The last known pre-war owner was Henryk Grohman, a textile industrialist from the Polish city of Łódź. He purchased the instrument around 1900 and, after acquiring it, sent it to London for authentication by the renowned firm W.E. Hill and Sons — at the time the gold standard for verifying Stradivarius instruments. It is precisely their confirmation that gives the current identification a solid historical basis. Classic FM ↗Grohman died in 1939, just a few days before the outbreak of World War II. His will contains an important clause — he handed over his collection of art objects to the National Museum in Warsaw "for safekeeping, not for ownership." According to the will, ownership rights were to remain with the family. Wikipedia ↗
During the Nazi invasion in September 1939, the museum's chief restorer, Bohdan Marconi, hid the most valuable instruments behind a wall in the chapel of the first pavilion. Five years later, during the Warsaw Uprising in 1944, the Germans discovered the hiding place. Rzeczpospolita ↗
Officer Blank's theft and the sixty-year mystery
According to American military records, the Lauterbach was taken by German Major Theodor Blank (not the same person as the post-war politician of the same name who became the first defense minister of West Germany), who, according to Wikipedia, later was a member of the SS. He sent the violin to his wife in Germany. In September 1948 it was discovered at his house in the village of Heinrichsthal by American officer Stefan P. Munsing. The instrument, including its case and two bows, passed into the custody of the American military police. Classic FM ↗According to Italian media, the violin was supposed to be sent back to Poland for restitution. However, in 2008 an investigation by the Polish Ministry of Culture arrived at a finding that opens up today's case: the Lauterbach never returned to Warsaw. Cremona Sera ↗
Sixty years between 1948 and 2008 remain unexplained. How did the violin get from American hands into a private collection in France? Through auctions? Through the black market? Through an untraceable post-war art exchange? This is the moment missing for investigators — and it will likely be decisive in determining whether the current owner acquired the violin in good faith. Pizzicato ↗
The Austrian heir and the legal labyrinth
Henryk Grohman's great-grandson, Christophe Kindermann of Austria, learned of his great-grandfather's instrument's renewed life only a few weeks ago. According to the original will, the family has a strong ownership claim — if it is proven that the museum held the violin only for safekeeping. Slippedisc ↗The situation is complicated by a 2021 Polish law, under which returned stolen property passes to the state if the original owner has not claimed it within thirty years. If Warsaw were to insist on such an interpretation, the Polish side could assert a claim. Lawyers, however, argue that the museum owned the instrument for only 44 years and that the true heirs are the Grohman family. France Info ↗
The Parisian law firm Herhkovitch, together with the Musique et Spoliations association, are reconstructing the instrument's journey. French experts are in direct contact with the National Museum in Warsaw. The name of the current owner has not yet been made public. Pizzicato ↗
Three scenarios the lawyers are considering
First: restitution to the Kindermann family — if the court leans toward interpreting Grohman's will as a private safekeeping arrangement, the violin will go to the Austrian family.Second: return to Warsaw — if the 2021 Polish law overrides the individual claim, the instrument will return to the National Museum, from where it was stolen.
Third: remaining with the current owner — if they prove good-faith acquisition and legal time limits prevent a dispute.
Meanwhile, the violin remains with an unknown owner. In Colmar, it has fallen silent. In Cremona, it is being talked about again. In Warsaw and Vienna, legal documents are being prepared.
And the 60-year gap in its biography still has no name.
