Cornelius Gurlitt, 81 years old and his heart faltering, in early January called a notary to his hospital bed in southern Germany, determined to write a last will and testament inspired by love and hate.
Mr. Gurlittâ??stung by the local government's seizure of the cache of priceless art that he called his life's only love and by the world-wide furor over the fact that much of it was snatched from Jews by the Nazisâ??had two desires: to burnish his family name by giving the trove to a museum and to send it out of Germany.
Only two months earlier, after a German magazine had exposed his secret collection, Mr. Gurlitt had vowed never to return any of the paintings.
But the secret will he signed in the Ludwigsburg, Germany, hospital was his first step toward an agreement with German officials ensuring the looted works could go back to their rightful owners.
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