HILDEBRAND GURLITT’S ART ACTIVITIES AS A REFLECTION OF THE NATIONAL SOCIALISM EPOCH

Title variants

UK

АРТ-ДІЯЛЬНІСТЬ ГІЛЬДЕБРАНДА ГУРЛІТТА ЯК ВІДДЗЕРКАЛЕННЯ ЕПОХИ НАЦІОНАЛ-СОЦІАЛІЗМУ

• Languages of publication: UK

Abstracts

EN

The article is centered on Hildebrand Gurlitt’s figure and his role in the Nazi’s trading in pieces of art. The documents of H. Gurlitt’s life history and his art activities have just recently been publicized and remain poorly researched. It was found that due to his purposefulness and strong friendly relations with artists, H. Gurlitt, who managed to collect one of the best art collections of the contemporary modernists and expressionists in Germany by the late 1920s, became a professional sought after by the Nazi authorities. Against the background of notorious German art historians, such as the special representatives of Hitler appointed to create the collection of the Fuehrer’s museum and planned museum in Linz Hans Posse and his successor from 1943 Hermann Voss, the chair of the Federal association of art and antiquities dealers in Germany Adolf Weinmueller, who actively participated in the persecution of Jewish art dealers, it was shown what was the personal contribution of H. Gurlitt and other “cultural officers” to the development of the Third Reich cultural component. Being the member of a special Ministry of propaganda working group of art dealers, H. Gurlitt established connections with branches of Western antique firms that worked in Germany and bought from them secretly the works of “degenerative art”. In his turn he bought the works from German collectors of Jewish descent; helped them, gave them money and a chance to emigrate from Germany. The Reich Treasury received millions of foreign exchange earnings from his activities. Revealing of Gurlitt and other art dealers activities complements the holistic picture that represents the National Socialism epoch. Gurlitt’s case was also analyzed as “the greatest discovery of the century”, when more than 1400 paintings were found in the ordinary rented apartment of Cornelius Gurlitt, who was the son of Hildebrand Gurlitt, in Munich in 2012. Emphasizing that the discovery stirred Germany and widely resonated around the globe, the author reveals the reasons for which the German Government held off disclosing the information about Gurlitt collection. It is stressed that allowing open access to the collection helped in finding owners and descendants, as well as identifying criminals and accomplices of the Nazi expansionist policy.

Keywords

EN

Germany; Hildebrand Gurlitt; art dealers; National Socialism; Munich trove; paintings; cultural values; collections; alienation

• Publisher: Institute of History of Ukraine of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine
• Journal: Міжнародні зв’язки України: наукові пошуки і знахідки
• Year: 2019
• Issue: 28
• Pages: 231-252

Dates

published

20191205

Contributors

References

• 1. Aksonov, V. (2010). Sokrovyshcha Treteho Reikha. Sudba pokhyshchennykh shedevrov. Pyter [in Russian]. 2. Brandt, H. Der stille Hüter eines Nazischatzes. Die Bilder des Sammlers Cornelius Gurlitt werden in Bern gezeigt. Der Bund. 20. Oktober 2017. Retrieved from https://www.derbund.ch/panorama/leute/der-stille-hueter-eines-nazischatzes/story/29796276 [in German]. 3. Datenbank Kunst- und Kulturgutauktionen 1933-1945. Adolf Weinmüller Münchner Kunstversteigerungshaus. Adolf Weinmüller Wiener Kunstversteigerungshaus. Retrieved from http://www.lostart.de/Webs/DE/Provenienz/Weinmueller/AuktionNav.html?cms_param=AHA US_ID%3D616100381%26node%3Dexpand [in German]. 4. Deheneratyvnoe yskusstvo. Retrieved from http://artwwworld.org.ua/ArtProm/ Degenerativnoe_iskusstvo/ [in Russian]. 5. Dehnel, R. (2006). Die Täter, die Opfer und die Kunst: Rückblick auf den nationalsozialistischen Raubzug. Kunst im Konflikt, 1-2, 15–17 [in German]. 6. Fedotova, E. Skandalnuiu kollektsyiu Hurlytta vistavyly v Berlyne. Retrieved from http: / art-and-houses.ru/2018/09/22 skandalnuyu-kollektsiyu-gurlitta-vystavili-v-berline1 22.09.2018 [in Russian]. 7. Hausmann, A., & Alder, B. (2014). Handbuch Kunstmarkt: Akteure, Management und Vermittlung. Bielefeld: Transcript-Verl [in German]. 8. Heuss, Anja. (2000). Kunst- und Kulturgutraub: Eine vergleichende Studie zu Besatzungspolitik der Nationalsozialisten in Frankreich und der Sowjetunion. Heidelberg: Universitätsverlag C. Winter [in German]. 9. Historiker Eichwede: Aus Beutekunst Botschafter machen. Beitrag vom 04.03.2009. Retrieved from https://www.deutschlandfunkkultur.de/historiker-eichwede-aus-beutekunstbotschafter- machen.954.de.html?dram:article_id=144083 [in German]. 10. Hoffmann, M., & Kuhn, N. (2016). Hitlers Kunsthändler: Hildebrand Gurlitt 1895–1956. C.H. Beck [in German]. 11. Holdentsvaih, K. Nasledye Hurlytta: kak sotny poteriannykh shedevrov pryshly yznatsystskoho podpolia v halerey. Retrieved from https://rtvi.com/stories/nasledie-gurlitta/ [in German]. 12. Hopp, M. (2012). Kunsthandel im Nationalsozialismus: Adolf Weinmüller in München und Wien. Köln: Verlag Böhlau [in German]. 13. Hopp, M. (2019). Wir sind mehr als Kunstdetektive. Ein Appell zur Stärkung der Provenienzforschung. KMN Magazin, 140, 13–20 [in German]. 14. Hurlytt raskryl vtoruiu chast kollektsyy y zapustyl ofytsyalnyi sait. Retrieved from https://artchive.ru/news/155~Gurlitt_raskryl_vtoruju_chast%27_kollektsii_i_zapustil_ofitsial% 27nyj_sajt [in Russian]. 15. Iselt, K. (2010). Sonderbeauftragter des Führers. Der Kunsthistoriker und Museumsmann Hermann Voss (1884–1969). Studien zur Kunst. Band 20. Köln: Verlag Böhlau [in German]. 16. Kennedy, P. (2013). Grimsted Art and Icons Lost in East Prussia The Fate of German Seizures from Kyiv Museums. Jahrbücher für Geschichte Osteuropas, 1, 47–91 [in German]. 17. Koldehoff, S. (2014). Die Bilder sind unter uns: das Geschäft mit der NS-Raubkunst und der Fall Gurlitt. Galiani-Berlin [in German]. 18. Kukhar, O. Shcho khovav Hurlitt: u Bonni vpershe pokazaly tvory z kolektsii artdylera natsystiv. 30 chervnia 2017. Retrieved from https: /tyzhden.ua/Culture/195679You receive a media information from the Bundeskunsthalle, Bonn... URL: https://www. bundeskunsthalle.de/.../gurlitt/Bestandsaufnahme_Gurlitt [in Ukrainian]. 19. Löhr, H.Ch. (2016). Das Braune Haus der Kunst: Hitler und der Sonderauftrag Linz. Visionen, Verbrechen, Verluste. Oldenbourg: Akademieverlag [in German]. 20. Lupfer, G., & Rudert, Th. (Eds.). (2015). Kennerschaft zwischen Macht und Moral: Annäherungen an Hans Posse (1879–1942). Köln: Verlag Böhlau [in German]. 21. Meier, O., Feller, M., & Christ, S. (2017). Der Gurlitt - Komplex. Bern und die Raubkunst. Chronos Verlag, Zürich [in German]. 22. Mosiakyn, A. (2014). Ohrablenaia Evropa. Vselenskyi kruhovorot sokrovyshch. Sankt-Peterburh: Amfora [in Russian]. 23. Özlem Gezer Die Liebe seines Lebens. (2013). Spiegel, 47, 127–135 [in German]. 24. Pluzhnykov, S. Tainy kollektsyy art-dylera Hebbelsa. Retrieved from https://www. sovsekretno.ru/articles/tayny-kollektsii-art-dilera-gebbelsa/ [in Russian]. 25. Ruppert, W., & Fuhrmeister, Сh. (2007). Zwischen Deutscher Kunst und internationaler Modernität. Formen der Künstlerausbildung 1918–1968. Bonn 2007: Druckhaus Thomas Müntzer [in German]. 26. Rydell, A. (2014). Hitlers Bilder. Kunstraub der Nazis - Raubkunst in der Gegenwart. Campus Verlag [in German]. 27. Soloshenko, V. (2016). Dosvid podolannia naslidkiv polityky natsional-sotsializmu. Zovnishni spravy, 8, 31 [in Ukrainian]. 28. Soloshenko, V.V. (2017). Rozsekrecheni arkhivy auktsionnoho budynku Adolf Veinmiuller. Problemy vsesvitnoi istorii: naukovyi zhurnal, 1(3), 199–211 [in Ukrainian]. 29. Uwe Hartmann Immer noch Nazi-Raubkunst in Thüringer Sammlungen MDR Thüringen. Retrieved from http: //www.lootedartcommission. com/PVLSVK53591prototo: Das Magazin der Kulturstiftung der Länder 4 (2014), 25–29 [in German].