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Bernhard Altmann (1888–1960) was an
Bernhard Altmann (1888–1960) was an Austria
Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...
n textile manufacturer whose business was Aryanized and whose family's art collection was looted by Nazis because of their Jewish origins. He introduced cashmere wool to North America on a mass scale in 1947.
Early life
Altmann was the son of Karoline Keile (Tischler) and Karl Chaskel Altmann. His family was Jewish. He entered the textile trade inVienna
en, Viennese
, iso_code = AT-9
, registration_plate = W
, postal_code_type = Postal code
, postal_code =
, timezone = CET
, utc_offset = +1
, timezone_DST ...
in 1915, and in 1919 founded his knitwear manufacturing business. His company grew to employ 1000 people by 1938 before the German Anschluss
The (, or , ), also known as the (, en, Annexation of Austria), was the annexation of the Federal State of Austria into the German Reich on 13 March 1938.
The idea of an (a united Austria and Germany that would form a " Greater Germany ...
forced him to flee to London.
Nazi persecution and exile
When Austria joined Hitler'sThird Reich
Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...
in 1938, Altman's textile plant and properties in Vienna were confiscated (Aryanized
Aryanization (german: Arisierung) was the Nazi term for the seizure of property from Jews and its transfer to non-Jews, and the forced expulsion of Jews from economic life in Nazi Germany, Axis-aligned states, and their occupied territories. I ...
) by the Nazis. His brother Fritz Altmann – husband of Jewish refugee Maria Altmann
Maria Altmann (née Maria Victoria Bloch, later Bloch-Bauer; February 18, 1916 – February 7, 2011) was an Austrian-American Jewish refugee from Austria, who fled her home country after it was annexed to the Third Reich. She is noted for her u ...
, who made her living in America after the war selling Bernhard's cashmere sweaters – was taken prisoner by the Nazis and Bernhard was forced to sign over the business in return for Fritz's release from Dachau Concentration Camp.
Altmann started a factory in Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a populat ...
in 1938, which he had to abandon in 1939 as a result of The Blitz
The Blitz was a German bombing campaign against the United Kingdom in 1940 and 1941, during the Second World War. The term was first used by the British press and originated from the term , the German word meaning 'lightning war'.
The Germa ...
and the UK Enemy alien
In customary international law, an enemy alien is any native, citizen, denizen or subject of any foreign nation or government with which a domestic nation or government is in conflict and who is liable to be apprehended, restrained, secured and ...
Act of 1939, in which all nationals of enemy countries had to withdraw from coastline cities in three days after the declaration of war. After Liverpool he immigrated to the United States, where he started a company in Fall River, Massachusetts
Fall River is a city in Bristol County, Massachusetts, United States. The City of Fall River's population was 94,000 at the 2020 United States Census, making it the tenth-largest city in the state.
Located along the eastern shore of Mount H ...
. After two years he lost control of his assets. In 1941 Altmann moved to New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...
, where he took a job at $50 a week.
Postwar Life in USA
The cashmere business started in North America in 1947 when Altmann added the cashmere fiber line; he subsequently opened a factory inTexas
Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...
. By 1951 it was reported that one in every three cashmere sweaters sold in America came from Altmann's Texas mill.
Altmann also produced clothes in Shetland wool, vicuna and a lambswool/fur fibre blend called "Bernamere". A 1960s advertising tagline for the company ran: "The Legend of a Great Knitter."
Nazi-looted art
Altmann is the brother-in-law ofMaria Altmann
Maria Altmann (née Maria Victoria Bloch, later Bloch-Bauer; February 18, 1916 – February 7, 2011) was an Austrian-American Jewish refugee from Austria, who fled her home country after it was annexed to the Third Reich. She is noted for her u ...
whose restitution claim for artworks looted by the Nazis went to the Supreme Court and was the subject of the film ''Woman in Gold'' starring Helen Mirren, and the father-in-law of painter and fashion designer Ruth Rogers-Altmann.
Artworks seized from Bernhard Altmann by the Gestapo
The (), abbreviated Gestapo (; ), was the official secret police of Nazi Germany and in German-occupied Europe.
The force was created by Hermann Göring in 1933 by combining the various political police agencies of Prussia into one orga ...
in 1938, were sold via the Dorotheum
The Dorotheum () is one of the world's oldest auction houses and is the largest auction house of art items in Continental Europe. Established by Emperor Joseph I in 1707, it has its headquarters in Vienna on the Dorotheergasse and branches in ...
auction house and ended up in Österreichische Galerie Belvedere
The Österreichische Galerie Belvedere is a museum housed in the Belvedere (palace), Belvedere palace, in Vienna, Austria.
The Belvedere palaces were the summer residence of Prince Eugene of Savoy (1663–1736). The ensemble was built in the ea ...
, Vienna. Some artworks, like Klimt's "Portrait of a Lady" were restituted in 2004.
See also
*Aryanization
Aryanization (german: Arisierung) was the Nazi term for the seizure of property from Jews and its transfer to non-Jews, and the forced expulsion of Jews from economic life in Nazi Germany, Axis-aligned states, and their occupied territories. I ...
* The Holocaust in Austria The Holocaust in Austria was the systematic persecution, plunder and extermination of Jews by German and Austrian Nazis from 1938 to 1945. An estimated 65,000 Jews were murdered and 125,000 forced to flee Austria as refugees.
Jews in Austria befor ...
* Vugesta
The Vugesta (also VUGESTAP) for “''Vermögens-Umzugsgut von der Gestapo''" ("Property Removed by the Gestapo") was a Nazi looting organization in Vienna that from 1940 to 1945 seized the possessions of 5,000-6,000 Viennese Jews. It was a key pl ...
* Maria Altman
* List of claims for restitution for Nazi-looted art
The list of restitution claims for art looted by the Nazis or as a result of Nazi persecution is organized by the country in which the paintings were located when the return was requested.
Australia and New Zealand
Austria
Belgium
Ge ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Altmann, Bernhard Textile industry of the United States 1888 births 1980 deaths Businesspeople from Vienna Textile mills in the United States Jewish emigrants from Austria after the Anschluss to the United States Nazi-looted art