Only after 1990 was looted art, defined as cultural goods seized illegally by German authorities during National Socialism, included in the center's documentation.
The stated aim of the Lost Art Database is: To record cultural property that went missing from public institutions or private individuals and institutions as a result of the Nazi rule and the Second World War by publicizing it on the Lost Art Internet Database for worldwide search availability.
[2]The Koordinierungsstelle has a comprehensive set of policy instruments for public relations, such as organizing professional and educational events, publishing a series of scholarly books, providing checklists for provenance research, and operating an advisory commission in connection with the return of Nazi-looted art.
"[5] The Berlin political scientist Sebastian Neubauer registered a painting by Gustave Doré on the Lost Art Database in 2009 that he is sure was stolen by his father in German-occupied France.
"[6] In October 2014 the German Federal Government announced the reformation of the Koordinierungsstelle's Lost Art Database into a new foundation called the Deutsches Zentrum Kulturgutverluste (English: "German Center for Lost Cultural Assets"), which will put the Lost Art Database, the Arbeitsstelle für Provenienzforschung (English: "Center for Provenance Research") in Berlin, the Taskforce of the Munich artworks discovery, and the Research Center for Degenerate Art of the Free University of Berlin under one roof.