{"id":2804,"date":"2025-01-28T07:13:34","date_gmt":"2025-01-28T06:13:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kunst-raub-rueckgabe.de\/?post_type=avada_portfolio&p=2804"},"modified":"2026-05-07T12:37:47","modified_gmt":"2026-05-07T10:37:47","slug":"marianne-schmidl","status":"publish","type":"avada_portfolio","link":"https:\/\/kunst-raub-rueckgabe.de\/en\/biografie\/marianne-schmidl\/","title":{"rendered":"A Fascination for Africa"},"content":{"rendered":"

It was a promising start to her career: in 1916 Marianne Schmidl became the first woman in Austria to be awarded a doctorate in ethnology. Her academic work focused primarily on African art and culture.<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>

The Schmidl family<\/h2><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>
\"Black<\/span>
The Schmidl family, around 1915. <\/div>

Family collection \/ photographer unknown<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>

However, Marianne Schmidl had actually started out studying mathematics. She did not inherit her passion for ethnology from her family either.<\/p>\n

Her father, Dr Joseph Schmidl, was a lawyer. He was Jewish but converted to Protestantism in 1889 before marrying Marianne\u2019s mother, Marie Friedmann. Marianne was born in 1890 and was baptized a Protestant, as was her younger sister, Franziska.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>

\"Drawing.<\/span>
Friedrich Olivier at the age of 25, drawing by Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld, 1816. <\/div>

bpk \/ Kupferstichkabinett, SMB \/ Volker-H. Schneider<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div>

\"Drawing.<\/span>
Ferdinand Olivier at the age of 32, drawing by Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld, 1817.<\/div>

bpk \/ Kupferstichkabinett, SMB \/ Volker-H. Schneider<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>

Friedrich and Ferdinand Olivier, sibling artists<\/h3>\n

Marie Schmidl, n\u00e9e Friedmann, came from of a well-known family of artists. Her grandfather, Marianne\u2019s great-grandfather, was Friedrich von Olivier (1791\u20131859). Her brothers Friedrich and Ferdinand Olivier were members of the Nazarene group of painters, and her brother Heinrich was also an artist.<\/p>\n

Marie Schmidl inherited many artworks from her family which formed the basis of an art collection.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>

\u2018Marie Schmidl, one of Friedrich Olivier\u2019s granddaughters, kept a large number of prints by her grandfather, his more talented brother Ferdinand, and her brother-in-law Julius von Schnorr, that had remained in the family\u2019s possession.\u2019 Hans Tietze, 1910<\/p><\/blockquote><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>

\"Black<\/span>
Colloredogasse 31, Vienna.<\/div>

Katja Geisenhainer<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>

The art collection<\/h3>\n

In 1908 the Schmidl collection made it into the \u00d6sterreichische Kunsttopographie (Austrian Art Topography), a kind of travel guide for art in two thick volumes that showcased the artistic monuments of Vienna. Among its entries was the address 31 Colloredogasse. This is where Marianne Schmidl grew up.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>

\"Black<\/span>
Marianne Schmidl\u2019s nieces Hildegard and Notburga Schiller, 1942.<\/div>

Family collection \/ photographer unknown<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>

Two nieces<\/h3>\n

After her husband\u2019s death, Marie Schmidl moved into a Protestant-run residence in Wels, Upper Austria. Marianne Schmidl looked after the family-owned artworks. Her sister Franziska died in 1925, leaving behind two daughters. Marianne never married or had children.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>

A woman in academia<\/h2><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>
\"Black<\/span>
The Museum f\u00fcr V\u00f6lkerkunde on the corner of K\u00f6niggr\u00e4tzer Stra\u00dfe and Prinz-Albrecht-Stra\u00dfe in Berlin, around 1905.<\/div>

bpk \/ New Photographic Society<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>

At the museum<\/h3>\n

After completing her studies Marianne Schmidl started work as a research assistant in the Africa Department at Berlin\u2019s Museum f\u00fcr V\u00f6lkerkunde (Ethnological Museum). However, she was there only briefly as her father died on 24 June 1916 in Vienna and she had to take care of his estate. From 1917 she worked at the Linden-Museum in Stuttgart. She lost her job there in May 1920 due to staff cuts.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>

\"Black<\/span>
Reading room at the \u00d6sterreichische Nationalbibiothek, Vienna, around 1935.<\/div>

Austrian National Library<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>

At the library<\/h3>\n

Back in Vienna, she found an internship at the \u00d6sterreichische Nationalbibliothek (Austrian National Library). Its director advocated her appointment as a member of staff. In 1924 she was awarded civil servant status. In January 1938, shortly before the Anschluss (annexation) of Austria to the German Reich, she was promoted to senior national librarian.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>

\"Colour<\/span>
Marianne Schmidl researched woven items such as this African basket made using the spiral coiling technique. <\/div>

Photo studio Daniel Hasse, Reinbek<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>

A research project<\/h3>\n

Alongside her work at the Nationalbibliothek, Marianne Schmidl continued the research project on African weaving techniques that she had started in Berlin. The S\u00e4chsische Forschungsinstitut f\u00fcr V\u00f6lkerkunde (Saxon Research Institute for Ethnology) financed the project from 1926.<\/p>\n

In mid-1927, the anthropologist and ethnologist Otto Reche took over the management of the Leipzig Institute and thus the patronage of Schmidl's project. In 1933, Reche openly professed his allegiance to Adolf Hitler.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>

\"Black<\/span>
Prof. Dr Otto Reche, Director of the Institut f\u00fcr Rassen- und V\u00f6lkerkunde Leipzig (Leipzig Institute for Race Research and Ethnology), 1939.<\/div>

Federal Archives, picture 183-2005-0308-500<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>

A racist financier<\/div><\/div>

Otto Reche (1879\u20131966) used his research to further the concept of \u2018racial hygiene\u2019. He devised the \u2018biological certificate of descent\u2019 (biologischer Abstammungsnachweis) which was later used in the National Socialist state for the purposes of Rassenpflege, or maintaining the \u2018purity\u2019 of the German race.<\/p>\n

During World War Two his racial theories served to legitimize the expulsion and murder of the native population of the East European and Soviet territories conquered by Germany.<\/p>\n

He was imprisoned for several months after World War Two but following his release he was able to continue with his work as a scientific expert. In 1965 he was awarded the Austrian Cross of Honor for Science and Art.<\/p>\n<\/div>

Context<\/p>\n<\/div>

<\/div><\/div>
<\/i>\u201aRacial hygiene\u2018 and \u201amaintaining the race\u2018 (\u201aRassenpflege\u2018)<\/span><\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>
\"Sketches<\/span>
Sketches drawn by Marianne Schmidl in the course of her research.<\/div>

Family collection \/ Katja Geisenhainer \ud83d\udd0d Move the mouse over the image to zoom in<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>

A half-finished manuscript<\/h3>\n

In 1934, Marianne Schmidl is only able to submit half of her manuscript on \u201eAfrican spiral bead baskets\u201c for assessment. She was overworked by her two parallel jobs and in poor health.<\/p>\n

Otto Reche considered that if complete, this could be a \u2018work of major significance\u2019. However, as he reminded a colleague, the other issue was that Schmidl was Jewish. Reche said he was glad to be able to reject someone on this basis.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>

It was the end of her academic career: Reche refused to allow Marianne Schmidl to complete her research project. In 1938 he demanded that she repay the funding, and the following year he forced her to surrender her research materials.<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>
\"Black<\/span>
On 12 March 1938 the Wehrmacht invaded Austria. Two days later Hitler received a rapturous welcome in Vienna. Pictured here is his motor cavalcade in Mariahilferstra\u00dfe on 14 March 1938.<\/div>

Austrian National Library \/ Dietrich & Co<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>

After the Anschluss of Austria<\/h2><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>
\"Black<\/span>
Hitler Youth march in Vienna, around 1938.<\/div>

Federal Archives, Image 137-049269 \/ Friedrich Franz Bauer<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>

After the Anschluss (annexation) of Austria, Marianne Schmidl came under mounting pressure.<\/p>\n

She was instructed to produce a \u2018certificate of Aryan descent\u2019 (Ariernachweis) but had difficulty obtaining the necessary paperwork.<\/p>\n

She informed the National Socialist authorities that she considered herself to be a Mischling of the first degree (Mischling 1. Grades) as her father had once been Jewish.<\/p>\n<\/div>

Context<\/p>\n<\/div>

<\/div><\/div>
<\/i>Anschluss (annexation) of Austria<\/span><\/a><\/div>
<\/i>Certificate of Aryan Descent (Ariernachweis)<\/span><\/a><\/div>
<\/i>Mischling (\u2018half castes\u2019)<\/span><\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>
\"Illustration<\/span>
Enclosure sent with a letter from the deputy director of the Nationalbibliothek to the Austrian Ministry of the Interior and Culture, dated 30 June 1938.<\/div>

Austrian National Library, Archive NB 1209\/1938<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>

Forced into retirement<\/h3>\n

In June 1938 the Nationalbibliothek was instructed to produce a register of its Jewish staff. Schmidl\u2019s name appeared on the list sent by her employer to the ministry.<\/p>\n

A few days later the director of the Nationalbibliothek advised Marianne Schmidl to apply for retirement on the basis of the \u2018Regulation on the Restructuring of the Austrian Professional Civil Service\u2019. On 1 October 1938 she went into \u2018permanent retirement\u2019 at the age of 48.<\/p>\n<\/div>

Context<\/p>\n<\/div>

<\/div><\/div>
<\/i>NS Laws on the Restoration of the Professional Civil Service<\/span><\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>
\"Diagram<\/span>
Under National Socialism anyone with three Jewish grandparents was considered a \u2018full Jew\u2019.<\/div>

Public domain \ud83d\udd0d Hover over the image to enlarge<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>

Declared a \u2018full Jew\u2019<\/h3>\n

On 16 May 1939 Marianne Schmidle was notified that her application to be granted the same legal status as Jewish Mischlinge had been rejected. She was now classified definitively as a \u2018full Jew\u2019 (Vollj\u00fcdin).<\/p>\n

After lengthy investigations, in 1941 the National Socialist authorities found proof that Marianne Schmidl\u2019s maternal grandfather Eduard Adolf Friedmann had also been Jewish before getting baptized in 1855.<\/p>\n<\/div>

Context<\/p>\n<\/div>

<\/div><\/div>
<\/i>Mischling (\u2018half castes\u2019)<\/span><\/a><\/div>
<\/i>The Nuremberg Laws<\/span><\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>
\"Black<\/span>
Karl Wolf (1886\u20131950) who was Marianne Schmidl\u2019s brother-in-law and a friend from her student days.<\/div>

Family collection<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>

No way out<\/h3>\n

Even before this fateful decision, Marianne Schmidl had to submit a declaration of assets and pay the levy on Jewish assets (Judenverm\u00f6gensabgabe).<\/p>\n

She was reliant on financial support from her brother-in-law Karl Wolf, although in 1938 he too had lost his post as professor of physics at the University of Vienna for political reasons.<\/p>\n<\/div>

Context<\/p>\n<\/div>

<\/div><\/div>
<\/i>Levy on Jewish assets (Judenverm\u00f6gensabgabe)<\/span><\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>
https:\/\/kunst-raub-rueckgabe.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/Nebehay-ueber-Schmidl-Buchheim.mp3<\/a><\/audio><\/div>

Quotation from Nebehay (in German). In his memoir, published in 1995, the art dealer recalled meeting Marianne Schmidl (Christian M. Nebehay: Das Gl\u00fcck auf dieser Welt. Erinnerungen, Vienna 1995, pp. 72-73).<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>

The art dealer Christian Nebehay<\/h3>\n

Now in a grave financial position, Marianne Schmidl decided to sell her artworks from the family collection.<\/p>\n

With a tatty portfolio under her arm, she went to see the art dealer Christian M. Nebehay. He was impressed with the drawings and put her in touch with the C. G. Boerner auction house in Leipzig.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>

\"Title<\/span>
C. G. Boerner auction catalog, Leipzig, 28 April 1939.<\/div>

Heidelberg University Library, https:\/\/doi.org\/10.11588\/diglit.5177#0001<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div>

\"Title<\/span>
C. G. Boerner auction catalog, Leipzig, 18 May 1941.<\/div>

Heidelberg University Library, https:\/\/doi.org\/10.11588\/diglit.5175#0004<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>

Two auctions in Leipzig<\/h3>\n

C. G. Boerner took 19 of the drawings and put them up for auction in April 1939. In May 1941 C. G. Boerner auctioned additional artworks from the Schmidl family\u2019s collection.<\/p>\n

Marianne Schmidl did not, however, deliver the drawings in person. Her brother-in-law Karl Wolf and her friend Etta Becker-Donner, a colleague from the Museum f\u00fcr V\u00f6lkerkunde, did so on her behalf. In this way the drawings were not labeled as being from Jewish ownership \u2013 it was hoped that they would therefore sell for a higher price.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>

Murdered in the Holocaust<\/h2><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>
\"Black<\/span>
Jewish passport applicants in line outside Vienna-Margraten police station, May 1938. <\/div>

Austrian National Library \/ Albert Hilscher<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>

No funds to emigrate<\/h3>\n

Friends advised Marianne Schmidl to emigrate like so many other Jews at this dreadful time. Schmidl attempted to emigrate to the USA but lacked the funds. She had to hope that she would be able to survive somehow in Austria.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>

\"Historical<\/span>
A street in the Izbica ghetto, 1941.<\/div>

bpk \/ German Historical Museum \/ Max Kirnberger<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>

Deportation<\/h3>\n

On 9 April 1942 Marianne Schmidl was deported to the Izbica ghetto in Poland. The circumstances and precise date of her death are unknown, but Izbica was a transit ghetto where Jews were held prior to their onward deportation to the extermination camps in Sobib\u00f3r and Be\u0142\u017cec. None of the approximately 4,000 Austrian Jews deported to Izbica survived.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>

Restitution<\/h2><\/div><\/div><\/div>
\"Drawing.<\/span>
Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld: Friedrich Olivier im Alter von 25 Jahren (Friedrich Olivier at the Age of 25), pencil drawing, 1816. Restituted in 2014.<\/div>

bpk \/ Kupferstichkabinett, SMB \/ Volker-H. Schneider \ud83d\udd0d Move the mouse over the image to zoom in<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>

Acquired for the Nationalgalerie<\/h4>\n

Important museums including the Nationalgalerie (National Gallery) in Berlin acquired artworks from Marianne Schmidl at the two auctions in Leipzig. The Nationalgalerie paid 4,600 and 3,700 Reichsmarks respectively for the artworks and added them to its \u2018Sammlung der Zeichnungen\u2019 (Inventory of Drawings).<\/p>\n<\/div>

Restituted from the Kupferstichkabinett collection<\/h4>\n

In 1992 the \u2018Sammlung der Zeichnungen\u2019 was transferred to the Kupferstichkabinett (Museum of Prints and Drawings) in Berlin. A project was launched in 2013 to investigate the provenance of the drawings.<\/p>\n

Marianne Schmidl\u2019s drawings were identified as cultural property looted as a result of Nazi persecution and they were returned to the rightful heirs in 2014.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>

\"Drawing.<\/span>
Friedrich Olivier: Zwei welke Bl\u00e4tter (Two Withered Leaves), pen and ink, 1817. Restituted in 2014. <\/div>

bpk \/ Kupferstichkabinett, SMB \/ Volker-H. Schneider \ud83d\udd0d Move the mouse over the image to zoom in<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>

\"Drawing.<\/span>
Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld: Esau vers\u00f6hnt sich mit Jakob (The Reconciliation of Esau with Jacob), preliminary study for the Bilderbibel (Illustrated Bible), 1828. Restituted in 2018 and repurchased.<\/div>

Hamburger Kunsthalle \/ bpk \/ Christoph Irrgang \ud83d\udd0d Move the mouse over the image to zoom in<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>

The following museums also returned artworks originally belonging to the Schmidl collection: the Albertina in Vienna (2013), the Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden (Dresden State Art Collections) (2015), the National Gallery of Art in Washington (2016), the Hamburger Kunsthalle art museum (2018), and the Lenbachhaus museum in Munich (2019).<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>

Film by rbb on Marianne Schmidl<\/h2><\/div><\/div><\/div>