Eduard Freiherr von der Heydt (September 26, 1882 – April 3, 1964) was a German and
Swiss
Swiss may refer to:
* the adjectival form of Switzerland
* Swiss people
Places
* Swiss, Missouri
* Swiss, North Carolina
*Swiss, West Virginia
* Swiss, Wisconsin
Other uses
*Swiss-system tournament, in various games and sports
*Swiss Internation ...
banker, art collector and
patron
Patronage is the support, encouragement, privilege, or financial aid that an organization or individual bestows on another. In the history of art, arts patronage refers to the support that kings, popes, and the wealthy have provided to artists su ...
.
Biography
He was born in
Elberfeld
Elberfeld is a municipal subdivision of the German city of Wuppertal; it was an independent town until 1929.
History
The first official mentioning of the geographic area on the banks of today's Wupper River as "''elverfelde''" was in a docu ...
, Germany and died in
Ascona
300px, Ascona
Ascona ( lmo, label= Ticinese, Scona ) is a municipality in the district of Locarno in the canton of Ticino in Switzerland.
It is located on the shore of Lake Maggiore.
The town is a popular tourist destination and holds the yea ...
Switzerland. His collections were the basis for the creation of the
Museum Rietberg
The Rietberg Museum is a museum in Zürich, Switzerland, displaying Asian, African, American and Oceanian art. It is the only art museum focusing on non-European art and design in Switzerland, the third-largest museum in Zürich, and the largest t ...
in Zürich, Switzerland. He was also the former owner of the
Monte Verità
Monte Verità (Italian; German 'Berg Wahrheit', meaning "Mount Truth" or "Mountain of Truth") is a 321 metres above sea level high hill and a cultural-historical ensemble in the Swiss canton of Ticino. The site is in the municipality of Ascona, a ...
, a well known site of many different
Utopian
A utopia ( ) typically describes an imaginary community or society that possesses highly desirable or nearly perfect qualities for its members. It was coined by Sir Thomas More for his 1516 book ''Utopia'', describing a fictional island society ...
and cultural events and communities, which upon his death became the property of the Swiss Canton of
Ticino
Ticino (), sometimes Tessin (), officially the Republic and Canton of Ticino or less formally the Canton of Ticino,, informally ''Canton Ticino'' ; lmo, Canton Tesin ; german: Kanton Tessin ; french: Canton du Tessin ; rm, Chantun dal Tessin . ...
. He was also a member of the
NSDAP
The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party (german: Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei or NSDAP), was a far-right politics, far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that crea ...
[Peter-Ferdinand Koch, Richard Chaim Schneider, ''Geheim-Depot Schweiz: wie Banken am Holocaust verdienen'', List, 1997, p. 75] until he became a Swiss citizen in 1937 and left the party in 1939. After the
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, he was accused of treason in 1946, but later in 1948 declared innocent. He described art using the term "ars una", an all encompassing art that appreciates diversity as it is found throughout the world.
Ancestry
Works
* Eduard von der Heydt/
Werner von Rheinbaben: ''Auf dem Monte Verità. Erinnerungen und Gedanken über Menschen, Kunst und Politik'', Atlantis, Zürich 1958.
Further reading
* Karl With: ''Bildwerke Ost-und Südasiens aus der Sammlung Yi Yuan''
.i. Eduard von der Heydt Mit begleitendem Text von K. With. Einband u. Vorsatzpapier nach Entwurf von Georg Baus. Schwabe, Basel 1924
* Robert Landmann (d.i. Werner Ackermann): ''Monte Verità. Die Geschichte eines Berges'', Berlin: Adalbert Schultz Verlag 1930.
* Stefan Balazs: ''Die Inschriften der Sammlung Baron Eduard von der Heydt,'' Sonderdruck aus der Ostasiatischen Zeitschrift. 20. Jahrgang. De Gruyter & Co Verlag, Berlin 1934.
* Curt Riess: ''Ascona. Geschichte des seltsamsten Dorfes der Welt.'' Zürich: Europa Verlag 1964 (1. Aufl.), 1977 (3. Aufl.) - In this book Eduard von der Heydt is referred to as "Mr. X" beginning on page 194
* Sabine Fehlemann und Stamm, Rainer (Hrsg.): ''Die Von der Heydts. Bankiers, Christen und Mäzene.'' Müller + Busmann, Wuppertal 2001, 184 S.,
* Francesco Welti: „Der Baron, die Kunst und das Nazigold“, Verlag Huber Frauenfeld, 2008,
* Eberhard Mros: Phänomen Monte Verità. Neun Bände, im Selbstverlag des Verfassers, Ascona 2008/2011
* Karl Schem
''Wuppertal untersuchte Nazi-Verquickungen seines Ehrenbürgers / NSDAP-Baron ein moderner Till Eulenspiegel?''auf der Seite
Neue Rheinische Zeitung
The ''Neue Rheinische Zeitung: Organ der Demokratie'' ("New Rhenish Newspaper: Organ of Democracy") was a German daily newspaper, published by Karl Marx in Cologne between 1 June 1848 and 19 May 1849. It is recognised by historians as one of the ...
, Online-Flyer Nr. 94 vom 9. Mai 2007
* Eberhard Illner (Hrsg.): ''Eduard von der Heydt. Kunstsammler – Bankier – Mäzen.'' Prestel, München/London/New York 2013, . (Accompanies the exhibit ''Von Buddha bis Picasso. Der Sammler Eduard von der Heydt'' at the
Museum Rietberg Zürich, April 20 – August 18, 2013 and also accompanies another exhibit at the
Von der Heydt-Museum
The Von der Heydt Museum is a museum in Wuppertal, Germany.
The Von der Heydt Museum includes works by artists from the 17th century to the present time.
History
The museum is housed in the former city hall of Elberfeld, which in 1902 became a ...
, Wuppertal, from October 13, 2015 - February 28, 2016.)
References
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External links
Searchable online database of the Museum Rietberg, including von der Heydt's collectionSection in German about provenance research happening at the Museum Rietberg regarding von der Heydt's collectionLink to von der Heydt exhibition at the Museum Rietberg
{{DEFAULTSORT:Heydt, Eduard von der
1882 births
1964 deaths
German bankers
Swiss bankers
People from Elberfeld
Nazi Party members
German art collectors
20th-century art collectors
Businesspeople from Wuppertal