Margarete Eisenmann (1868-1942 in Treblinka concentration camp) was a Jewish art collector who was murdered in the Holocaust

Life

Eisenmann(1868-1942) was born in Berlin. Her father was de Wilhelm (Wolf) von Ledermann-Wartberg and her mother was Elise von Ledermann-Wartberg. She married Felix Samuel Eisenmann (1855-1918).[1] The couple had one son, Günther Bernhard Eisenmann.[2] Her father-in-law was Raphael Eisenmann (1821-1893).[3][4] It was from him that she inherited the Lucas Cranach the Elder's painting, The Resurrection, (1530).[5]

Nazi persecution

When the Nazis come to power in German in 1933, Eisenmann and her family were persecuted because of their Jewish heritage. She was, in accordance with Hitler's anti-Jewish laws, robbed of her property and forced to pay a Jewish Wealth Tax, or Judenvermögensabgabe,[6] instated under the Nazi regime in 1938. The tax required German Jews with an annual income over RM 5,000 to pay 20 percent of their assets to the state.[5] Eisenmann was arrested and sent to the Theresienstadt Ghetto in September 1942 and killed at the Treblinka concentration camp. Her estate was seized and auctioned off.[5]

Eisenmann's son Günther and grandson Percy Henschel survived Nazi persecution.

Claims for restitution of looted artworks

After the war, in 1949, the looted Cranach painting resurfaced in a Sotheby's sale in London, where it had been consigned by dealer Hans W. Lange, whose auction house was known for forced sales of Jewish-owned property. It passed through the hands of New York dealers Hugo Perls and the Knoedler gallery before Eugene Thaw bought it around 1968.[5][7]

Eisenmann's son and grandson attempted to recover the Cranach. No other works from the family's estate are known to have been successfully recovered.[8][9] Henschel died in 2007.

“The last time it was seen, it was hanging on a wall in Hitler’s chancellery,” he said in an interview with the Guardian a year before he died. . “This painting represents all that I lost.”[5][10]

A settlement was reached concerning the Cranach in 2021.[11][12]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Sammlung Eisenmann | Proveana". www.proveana.de. Retrieved 2022-02-16.
  2. ↑ "Margarete Eisenmann". geni_family_tree. 19 February 1867. Retrieved 2022-02-14.
  3. ↑ "CRANACH DIGITAL ARCHIVE". lucascranach.org. Retrieved 2022-02-14. - with Rudolf Weigel, Leipzig. [Schuchardt 1871 C, no. 342] - (Possibly) Hofrath Keil, Leipzig. - Raphael Eisenmann (c. 1821-?), Berlin, and by descent to - Margarete Eisenmann (1868-1942), Berlin, by whom sold under duress to the Reichskanzlei, Berlin, as partial payment of discriminatory taxes, after November 1938. - H. W. Lange; Sotheby's, London, 23 March 1949, lot 102 (£700 to Drown). with Hugo Perls, New York. - with Knoedler, New York, acquired from the above, 5 May 1954 (inv. no. A5708) and jointly owned with Rudolf Heinemann, New York. - with Rudolf Heinemann, New York, acquired from the above, 28 November 1968, and from whom acquired by the present owner. - Christie's, New York, 22.04.2021, lot 12 [Christie's online database, accessed 20.04.2021] (www.christies.com/lot/lot-lucas-cranach-i-kronach-1472-1553-weimar-the-6313040)
  4. ↑ "Kunstsammlung und Wohnungseinrichtung Generalkonsul Eisenmann + Berlin". buchfreund.de. Mit 31 Tafelseiten. 50 S., 1 Bl. Gutes, sauberes Exemplar dieses 1072 Positionen umfassenden Auktionskataloges mit dem Nachlass des portugiesischen Generalkonsuls Raphael Eisenman
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 Villa, Angelica (2021-04-16). "Cranach Painting Sold Under Duress During World War II to Be Auctioned as Part of Legal Settlement". ARTnews.com. Retrieved 2022-02-14.
  6. ↑ Ahn, Cabelle (2021-05-18). "Old Masters Today #3". ars longa. Retrieved 2022-02-16. A Lucas Cranach the Elder painting was sold on April 22 at Christie's as part of a legal settlement between the estate of Eugene V. Thaw and the heirs of Margarete Eisenmann. The Cranach was sold by the Eisenmann family under duress as payment of an antisemitic WWII tax system known as Judenvermögensabgabe.
  7. ↑ "CRANACH DIGITAL ARCHIVE". lucascranach.org. Archived from the original on 2022-02-14. Retrieved 2022-02-20. Provenance. - with Rudolf Weigel, Leipzig. [Schuchardt 1871 C, no. 342] - (Possibly) Hofrath Keil, Leipzig. - Raphael Eisenmann (c. 1821-?), Berlin, and by descent to - Margarete Eisenmann (1868-1942), Berlin, by whom sold under duress to the Reichskanzlei, Berlin, as partial payment of discriminatory taxes, after November 1938. - H. W. Lange; Sotheby's, London, 23 March 1949, lot 102 (£700 to Drown). with Hugo Perls, New York. - with Knoedler, New York, acquired from the above, 5 May 1954 (inv. no. A5708) and jointly owned with Rudolf Heinemann, New York. - with Rudolf Heinemann, New York, acquired from the above, 28 November 1968, and from whom acquired by the present owner. - Christie's, New York, 22.04.2021, lot 12
  8. ↑ Rudolph Lepke's Kunst-Auctions-Haus (Berlin) (1935). Kunstsammlung und Wohnungseinrichtung Generalkonsul Eisenmann +, Berlin: Versteigerung 19.-20. Juni 1935 (in German). Berlin. OCLC 888585922.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  9. ↑ Rudolph Lepke's Kunst-Auctions-Haus (1935). Kunstsammlung und Wohnungseinrichtung Generalkonsul Eisenmann (in German). Berlin. OCLC 171386933.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  10. ↑ "Backlash over return of looted art". the Guardian. 2006-12-10. Archived from the original on 2013-08-30. Retrieved 2022-02-14.
  11. ↑ "LUCAS CRANACH I (KRONACH 1472-1553 WEIMAR)". www.christies.com. Archived from the original on 2022-02-14. Retrieved 2022-02-14. Please note that the present work is being offered for sale pursuant to a settlement agreement between the current owner and the heir of Margarete Eisenmann. The settlement agreement resolves the dispute over ownership of the work and title will pass to the successful bidder.
  12. ↑ Ahn, Cabelle (2021-05-18). "Old Masters Today #3". ars longa. Retrieved 2022-02-14.
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