Otto Bernheimer (14 July 1877 – 5 July 1960) was a German collector of art, and an antique dealer.

Life

Otto Bernheimer, born 1877 in

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...

, was the son of a supplier to the royal

Bavaria Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total lan ...

n court

Lehmann Bernheimer Lehmann Bernheimer (27 December 1841 - 29 May 1918) was a German antique dealer, who built the Bernheimer-Haus in Munich. He was born on 27 December 1841 in Buttenhausen near Münsingen, Germany, Münsingen, Württemberg, the third child of Mei ...

(1841–1918), who started the trading business in Munich in 1864. With his two brothers, Max and Ernst (1875–1956), Otto traveled to many European countries in search of fine art. Bernheimer's customers were European aristocrats, financiers, diplomats, and artists. They included the

Krupp The Krupp family (see pronunciation), a prominent 400-year-old German dynasty from Essen, is notable for its production of steel, artillery, ammunition and other armaments. The family business, known as Friedrich Krupp AG (Friedrich Krup ...

family and

William Randolph Hearst William Randolph Hearst Sr. (; April 29, 1863 – August 14, 1951) was an American businessman, newspaper publisher, and politician known for developing the nation's largest newspaper chain and media company, Hearst Communications. His flamboya ...

. Bernheimer offered not only exclusive pieces, but also complete room amenities to its customers. After the death of his father in 1918 Otto took over the company in its second generation, due to the difficult economic situation the business was suffering. After the

Machtergreifung Adolf Hitler's rise to power began in the newly established Weimar Republic in September 1919 when Hitler joined the '' Deutsche Arbeiterpartei'' (DAP; German Workers' Party). He rose to a place of prominence in the early years of the party. Be ...

1933, the business volume increased because of the demand for prestige items. In the Kristallnacht in 1938, the shop windows were smashed and Otto Bernheimer was imprisoned in the

Dachau concentration camp , , commandant = List of commandants , known for = , location = Upper Bavaria, Southern Germany , built by = Germany , operated by = ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS) , original use = Political prison , construction ...

. Through the intervention of the

Mexican government The Federal government of Mexico (alternately known as the Government of the Republic or ' or ') is the national government of the United Mexican States, the central government established by its constitution to share sovereignty over the republi ...

– Bernheimer was Honorary Consul of

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

– he and his sons were released. The family emigrated across the whole world. Otto Bernheimer was forced to purchase a rundown coffee plantation in Venezuela from a relative of Hermann Göring. The Aryanization of "Art Dealer Otto Bernheimer" (later the "Munich art market society" and "camaraderie of artists") led to the confiscation of all property including a collection of German and French paintings from the 19th century.

After the war

In August 1945, Otto Bernheimer returned to Munich, rebuilt the war-damaged commercial building and his company again and fought for the restitution of the family property. In 1948, he was able to resume business with a focus on the fabric and furnishings department again. Through his initiative the " Deutsche Kunst und Antiquitätenmesse" was founded in Munich in 1956 at the beginning of the economic miracle years and Bernheimer was elected president of the German art trade association. In addition to the office building at Lenbachplatz in Munich, the

Bernheimer-Haus The Bernheimer-Haus, also known as the Bernheimer Palace, is a residential and commercial building located on Lenbachplatz 3 in Munich. The building was built in 1888/89 by architect Friedrich von Thiersch with a Baroque Revival architecture, neo-b ...

, Otto Bernheimer owned a villa in

Feldafing Feldafing () is a municipality in Starnberg district, Bavaria, Germany, and is located on the west shore of Lake Starnberg, southwest of Munich. History The history of Feldafing begins on the Roseninsel or Rose Island, the only island in Lake ...

at Lake Starnberg, which in 1912–13 was built by architect Max Littmann in the Höhenbergstraße. After restitution in the 1950s Otto Bernheimer gave the Villa to the community of Feldafing which since 1934 had used the building as a primary school. The school bears the name "Otto-Bernheimer-Grundschule".

Awards

* 1959 Bavarian Order of Merit

Literature

* * * *

References

External links

Manfred Hummel: ''Willkür und Enteignung. Das bittere Los der jüdischen Hoflieferanten in der NS-Zeit.'' In: Süddeutsche Zeitung, 9. January 2006, S. 50.
(PDF-Datei; 357 kB) {{DEFAULTSORT:Bernheimer, Otto 1877 births 1960 deaths

Otto Otto is a masculine German given name and a surname. It originates as an Old High German short form (variants ''Audo'', ''Odo'', ''Udo'') of Germanic names beginning in ''aud-'', an element meaning "wealth, prosperity". The name is recorded fro ...

German art collectors Jewish art collectors 20th-century art collectors German art dealers Dachau concentration camp survivors Officers Crosses of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany