A Stradivarius violin valued at around $10 million and believed to have been taken by Nazi soldiers during World War II may have reappeared in France, according to a specialist in looted musical instruments.
Pascale Bernheim, who works on tracing stolen cultural property, said she is convinced that a violin recently seen in the eastern French city of Colmar is the “Lauterbach,” one of two missing Stradivarius instruments made by Antonio Stradivari in 1719.
The instrument drew attention after being played at a “wine and music” evening in Colmar, where violinist Emmanuel Coppey performed on several historic violins. The event was organized by concert producer Emmanuel Jaeger.
Stradivari crafted only nine violins in 1719, and two of them remain unaccounted for: the “Lauterbach” and the “Lautenschlager.” Experts say distinguishing between the two depends on structural details, including the construction of the violin’s back.
According to Bernheim, historical records suggest the violin once belonged to Polish industrialist Henryk Grohman before being donated to a museum in Warsaw. It is believed to have been stolen from the museum in 1944 during the Nazi occupation of Poland.
She added that research indicates the instrument survived the postwar period in East Germany during the Cold War and was last seen in France in the early 1990s.
Bernheim said further analysis has been carried out over the years, including expert examinations and dendrochronological testing, which helps determine the age of wooden objects. However, she stressed that the violin’s provenance has not yet been definitively confirmed.
“To my knowledge, it is the Lauterbach,” Bernheim said, adding that the evidence strongly supports her conclusion.
Her claim has been disputed by event organizer Emmanuel Jaeger, who rejected the identification and said the instrument is not the stolen violin. He argued it is another Stradivarius made in 1719.
“The violin played at the event is not the stolen instrument,” Jaeger said, according to local reports.
In recent years, a Stradivarius known as the “Joachim-Ma” sold for $11.3 million in New York, while the record remains with the “Lady Blunt,” which fetched $15.9 million in 2011.
