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590 paintings from Nazi art trove to go online

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590 paintings from Nazi art trove to go online
One of the 25 paintings published online is Wilhelm Lachnit's 'Man and Woman in the Window' Photo: DPA

Officials investigating the discovery of hundreds of artworks found in a Munich flat are to publish the names of all 590 paintings thought to have been seized by the Nazis.

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Authorities have already put out the names of 25 pieces onto website www.lostart.de. But they confirmed yesterday that the names of all 590 paintings thought to have been taken by the Nazis will be published next week.

"The publication on lostart.de means that the origin … of the salvaged works of art can be ascertained as swiftly and transparently as possible," said Ingeborg Berggreen-Merkel, head of the the Schwabinger Kunstfund taskforce in charge of the investigation.

The move follows last week's publication of an initial list of 25 paintings. More than 1,400 works of art were discovered in the Munich apartment of Cornelius Gurlitt, the son of a Nazi art dealer.

CLICK HERE to view some of the paintings

Referring to 80-year-old Cornelius Gurlitt who had been storing the treasures in his apartment for decades, Bavaria's justice minister Winifried Bausback told the Süddeutsche Zeitung that it was in everyone's interest to come to an "an amicable solution."

He said anyone co-operating in the return of former Jewish property or that belonging to other persecuted groups deserved "respect and recognition."

Bausback stressed that the focus was on Germany taking responsibility for Nazi crimes and that it was important to investigate the origin of the paintings "on a wide scale and with unified powers."

Officials have received countless requests from the families of those persecuted under the Nazis and have vowed to follow them all up.

Gurlitt has not hired a lawyer nor has he made any attempt to keep the paintings.

Several cultural institutions, as well as the US government and Jewish groups have called on the German government to display more transparency in their investigation.

READ MORE: Who is the recluse behind Nazi art haul?

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