Overview of general open licences that have been issued
Section 25 of the German Act on the Protection of Cultural Property (Kulturgutschutzgesetz, KGSG) states that institutions responsible for preserving cultural property pursuant to Section 2 (1) (11) KGSG (in particular museums, libraries and archives) can obtain temporary licences that allow them to export cultural objects in their holdings temporarily out of Germany for the duration of the licence (up to a maximum of five years).
Further information on general open licences can be found in the section on “Export regulations”.
General open licences are applied for by German institutions. Different application forms are available for institutions wishing to export objects to EU or non-EU countries. The scope of general open licences subsumes the scope of all other mandatory licences for the export of cultural property under national and EU law.
This website contains details of the institutions that hold a licence of this kind, the scope of application of the licences and their period of validity. The aim of publishing these details is to facilitate customs clearance procedures.
