Konrad Otto Bernheimer (born 30 August 1950) is a German Venezuelan art dealer and collector. He is the chairman and owner of Bernheimer Fine Old Masters in Munich, and was the owner of

Colnaghi Colnaghi is an art dealership in St James's, central London, England, which is the oldest commercial art gallery in the world, having been established in 1760. Foundation The business that became the Colnaghi gallery was established by Ita ...

in London. He sold Colnaghi to the Spanish dealers

Jorge Coll Jorge Coll (born 1977/1978) is a Spanish art dealer, and the CEO of Colnaghi, one of the world's oldest art galleries and dealerships. Early life The son of a Spanish art dealer, Coll grew up in Barcelona and after finishing his studies spent fo ...

and Nicolas Cortés in 2016.

Early life

Konrad Otto Bernheimer was born in Rubio, Venezuela, on 30 August 1950. Following

Kristallnacht () or the Night of Broken Glass, also called the November pogrom(s) (german: Novemberpogrome, ), was a pogrom against Jews carried out by the Nazi Party's Sturmabteilung, (SA) paramilitary and Schutzstaffel, (SS) paramilitary forces along ...

on 9–10 November 1938, which saw the huge plate glass windows of the Bernheimer-Haus smashed, the family was sent to

Dachau concentration camp Dachau () was the first concentration camp built by Nazi Germany, opening on 22 March 1933. The camp was initially intended to intern Hitler's political opponents which consisted of: communists, social democrats, and other dissidents. It is ...

. The Mexican government intervened, as his grandfather

Otto Bernheimer 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, was the son of a supplier to the royal Bavarian court Lehmann Bernheimer (1841–1918), who started ...

was the Mexican honorary consul in Munich.

Hermann Göring Hermann Wilhelm Göring (or Goering; ; 12 January 1893 – 15 October 1946) was a German politician, military leader and convicted war criminal. He was one of the most powerful figures in the Nazi Party, which ruled Germany from 1933 to 1 ...

, a Bernheimer client, did a deal whereby they bought his niece’s Venezuelan coffee plantation which was struggling, and were allowed to emigrate there, and also had to take Göring's aunt and her Jewish husband along, and support them until they died. His father Kurt Bernheimer (1911–1954) committed suicide (which Konrad only found out about when writing his memoirs) in Venezuela, and his Venezuelan mother, Mercedes Uzcátegui Ramírez, and his two sisters joined Otto in Germany, who had returned to Munich in 1945.

Career

Konrad O. Bernheimer is the fourth generation of a family dealing in art and antiques, founded by his great-grandfather Lehmann Bernheimer as ''Bernheimer'' in May 1864. Bernheimer took over the family business in 1977, aged 26, and has moved it from a more broadly based art and antiques business to one dealing in Old Masters. In 1987, he sold the Bernheimer-Haus in Munich, a "massive baroque-style, purpose-built palace ten bays wide and six storeys high". As well as being the chairman and owner of Bernheimer Fine Old Masters, Munich, he owned

in London, founded in 1760, and the world's oldest gallery, which he bought in 2002. He sold the company to the Spanish dealers

and Nicolas Cortés in 2016. He was a board member of The European Fine Art Foundation, and chairman of its fine art division, Pictura, from 2004 until 2019.

Publications

* ''Great Masters and Unicorns'' (2015)

Personal life

He owns the 11th century 40-bedroom castle,

Burg Marquartstein Burg Marquartstein is an 11th-century castle in Marquartstein, Bavaria, Germany. The 40-bedroom castle was bought by the German art dealer and collector Konrad Bernheimer in 1987, to house his family's collection of art and antiques, as he had ju ...

Marquartstein Marquartstein is a municipality in the southeastern part of Bavaria, Germany and is part of the Verwaltungsgemeinschaft Marquartstein and Staudach-Egerndach. It is situated in a region called Chiemgau, approximately 10 km south of Lake Chie ...

, Bavaria, which is listed for sale with

Sotheby's International Realty Sotheby’s International Realty is a luxury real estate brand founded in 1976 by Sotheby's fine art dealers. Sotheby's International Realty operates as a franchise focusing on brokering and marketing of residential real estate. As of 2018, th ...

as of November 2015, with "price upon request". The Bernheimer sale of works of art from Burg Marquarstein at

Sotheby's Sotheby's () is a British-founded American multinational corporation with headquarters in New York City. It is one of the world's largest brokers of fine and decorative art, jewellery, and collectibles. It has 80 locations in 40 countries, an ...

in London in November 2015 realised £2,371,000. His daughter Blanca Bernheimer has dealt in fine art photography since 2005.

Honours

Bernheimer has been awarded the

Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany The Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany (german: Verdienstorden der Bundesrepublik Deutschland, or , BVO) is the only federal decoration of Germany. It is awarded for special achievements in political, economic, cultural, intellect ...

. and he is Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres de la Republique Française.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bernheimer, Konrad 1950 births Living people People from Rubio, Venezuela

Konrad Konrad is a German (with variants ''Kunz'' and ''Kunze'') given name and surname that means "bold counselor" and may refer to: People Given name Surname * Alexander Konrad (1890–1940), Russian explorer *Antoine Konrad (born 1975), birth name ...

P. & D. Colnaghi & Co. people German art collectors German art dealers Recipients of the Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany