{"id":4050,"date":"2024-02-26T12:13:01","date_gmt":"2024-02-26T11:13:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kunst-raub-rueckgabe.de\/?post_type=avada_portfolio&p=4050"},"modified":"2024-12-02T17:34:53","modified_gmt":"2024-12-02T16:34:53","slug":"friedmann","status":"publish","type":"avada_portfolio","link":"https:\/\/kunst-raub-rueckgabe.de\/en\/biografie\/friedmann\/","title":{"rendered":"Driven to suicide"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Oil<\/span>
Ernst Immanuel M\u00fcller: Bauernstube (Farmhouse Parlor), pre-1915.<\/div>

Bayerische Staatsgem\u00e4ldesammlungen<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>

A whirlwind of emotions<\/h2><\/div>

\u201cWhen I received a letter from Director General Maaz, I was overwhelmed and in a whirlwind of emotions \u2013 at the same time, I couldn\u2019t believe it, and I felt overjoyed but also sad.\u201d This is how Miriam Friedmann describes her reaction to finding out that a painting that once belonged to her grandparents Selma and Ludwig Friedmann was to be returned to her.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>

\"Black<\/span>
The Friedmanns were a respected family from Augsburg. Selma and Ludwig Friedmann lived in the heart of the city with their four children: Friedrich Georg, Anna, Elisabeth, and Otto.<\/div>

Private archive Friedmann<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>

Selma and Ludwig Friedmann<\/h1><\/div>

The Friedmanns were a respected family from Augsburg. Selma and Ludwig Friedmann lived in the heart of the city with their four children: Friedrich Georg, Anna, Elisabeth, and Otto.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>

\"Visiting<\/span>
The company premises on Annaplatz, as it was then known, in Augsburg, around 1906. H\u00e4u\u00dfler collection, Augsburg.<\/div>

Sammlung H\u00e4u\u00dfler, Augsburg \ud83d\udd0d Move the mouse over the image to zoom in <\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>

Second-generation textile manufacturers<\/h3>\n

The Friedmanns were successful entrepreneurs. They ran a linen and wool products company that Ludwig had taken over from his parents.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>

\"Full-page<\/span>
Newspaper feature about the company, ca. 1932.<\/div>

Sammlung H\u00e4u\u00dfler, Augsburg \ud83d\udd0d Move the mouse over the image to zoom in <\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>

Founded in 1872, the company became one of the leading linen manufacturers in southern Germany and was a major employer for Augsburg and the surrounding region.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>

\"Black<\/span>
Ludwig Friedmann was a judge at the Chamber of Industry and Commerce. He was also an active member of the Israelite Religious Community and served as its deputy chairman. <\/div>

Augsburg City Archives, FS FA B 3853<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>

<\/h3>\n<\/div>

Ludwig Friedmann was a judge at the Chamber of Industry and Commerce. He was also an active member of the Israelite Religious Community and served as its deputy chairman.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>

A family torn apart<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>
\"Watercolour.<\/span>
Ernest Meyer: The Last Goodbye, 1939.<\/div>

Yad Vashem Art Museum, Jerusalem. Gift of artist in memory of his parents, Gustav and Johanna Meyer<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>

The children flee overseas<\/h2>\n

After the National Socialists assumed power, the Friedmanns were immediately subjected to repressive measures.<\/p>\n

His eldest son Friedrich Georg was imprisoned for a short time in 1933 and expelled from university. He fled to Italy in the same year. Following the enactment of the Nuremberg Race Laws, Anna Friedmann is not allowed to take her journeyman's examination as a seamstress. She flees to England in 1935. In 1938, the youngest son, Otto, is no longer allowed to attend school. To save him, his parents send the twelve-year-old on a Kindertransport to London. Their daughter Elisabeth is the last to flee to the USA. She is 19 years old. Children and parents never see each other again.<\/p>\n<\/div>

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

<\/div><\/div>
<\/i>The Nuremberg Laws<\/span><\/a><\/div>
<\/i>Kindertransport<\/span><\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>
\"Black<\/span>
The Friedmanns\u2019 former premises on 5 Martin-Luther-Platz after the \u2018Aryanization\u2019 of the company, 1940. <\/div>

H\u00e4u\u00dfler Collection, Augsburg<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>

Economic ruin<\/h2>\n

The National Socialists gradually destroyed the family's economic existence. Ludwig Friedmann was forced out of his positions and had to sell his company and private home. The money goes into a blocked account.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>

Forced relocation and death<\/p><\/h2><\/div>

In 1942 Selma and Ludwig Friedmann had to move into a so-called Jew house (Judenhaus), where they lived with other Jews in extremely cramped conditions. It was here that they received notification that they were to be deported on 8 March 1943.<\/p>\n

They knew what lay ahead. Selma\u2019s mother Flora Fromm had been murdered in Theresienstadt in June 1942 and acquaintances had also told them of the dreadful fate of those deported <\/span>\u201a<\/span>\u2018to the East\u2019.<\/span>\u2018<\/span> were deported.<\/span><\/p>\n

With no way out, Ludwig and Selma Friedmann and three other couples with whom they were friends took their own lives on the evening before the planned deportation.<\/p>\n

The painting Bauernstube was with them until the end of their lives.<\/p>\n<\/div>

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

<\/div><\/div>
<\/i>Jew house (Judenhaus)<\/span><\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>
<\/span>
<\/div><\/div><\/div>
\"Machine-typed<\/span>
Delivery note from Augsburg Tax Office<\/div>

Staatsarchiv Augsburg, Wiedergutmachungsbeh\u00f6rde V f\u00fcr Schwaben, JR-Akten 1356 f, p. 1 of 2<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>

\u2018Utilization\u2019 of the Friedmanns\u2019 property<\/h2>\n

After her death, the city authorities clear the room in the \u201aJews\u2018 house\u201a. A representative of the city inspects the possessions left behind and marks all items that can be \u2018utilised' with a four-digit number. They are handed over to the municipal welfare office. The delivery note meticulously lists everything that Ludwig and Selma had left from their formerly large household, right down to the oilcloth tablecloth and the 16 kitchen towels.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>

<\/span>
<\/div><\/div><\/div>
\"Letter<\/span>
Ernst Buchner, the former director general of the Bayerischen Staatsgem\u00e4ldesammlungen (Bavarian State Painting Collections), received an offer to purchase the painting Bauernstube. The subject line of the letter read: \u2018Utilization of cultural property from Jewish ownership\u2019. Buchner acquired the painting in May 1943.<\/div>

Bavarian State Painting Collections, Registry, picture file 10859<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>

The painting Bauernst\u00fcbe is sold to a Munich buyer<\/h2>\n

Ernst Buchner, the former director general of the Bayerischen Staatsgem\u00e4ldesammlungen (Bavarian State Painting Collections), received an offer to purchase the painting Bauernstube. The subject line of the letter read: \u2018Utilization of cultural property from Jewish ownership\u2019. Buchner acquired the painting in May 1943.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>

Search for clues<\/h2><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>
\"Colour<\/span>
Label on the back of the frame.<\/div>

Bayerische Staatsgem\u00e4ldesammlungen<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div>

<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>

\u2018From Jewish ownership\u2019<\/h3>\n

More than seventy years later, provenance researcher Anja Zechel investigated the origins of the painting. From the sales documentation it was clear that it was \u2018formerly Jewish-owned\u2019. <\/span><\/p>\n

More than seventy years later, provenance researcher Anja Zechel investigated the origins of the painting. From the sales documentation it was clear that it was \u2018formerly Jewish-owned\u2019.
\n<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>

\"Colour<\/span>
Label from Galerie Heinemann.<\/div>

Bayerische Staatsgem\u00e4ldesammlungen<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>

This label from Galerie Heinemann in Munich was an important clue.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>

\"Black<\/span>
Galerie Heinemann at Lenbachplatz in Munich.<\/div>

Central Institute for Art History, Photothek, Inv. No. Th219564<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>

Until it was \u2018Aryanized\u2019 in 1938, Galerie Heinemann was one of the most important art dealerships in Germany. It was located on Lenbachplatz in Munich.<\/p>\n<\/div>

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

<\/div><\/div>
<\/i>Aryanization (Arisierung)<\/span><\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>
\"Index<\/span>
The index card recording the sale. <\/div>

Nuremberg, GNM, German Art Archive, NL Heinemann, KV-M-696<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>

The gallery\u2019s customer records have survived and can now be viewed online. Here the provenance researcher found the date of sale and the buyer\u2019s name: Ludwig Friedmann from Augsburg. He bought Bauernstube in June 1919. His daughter Elisabeth had recently been born; perhaps this was the motivation for the purchase.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>

\"Back<\/span>
Back of the painting.<\/div>

Bayerische Staatsgem\u00e4ldesammlungen \ud83d\udd0dHover over the image to enlarge <\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>

Another important clue was to be found on the back of the painting: the number 1157 on the canvas . This is the missing item number from the list of property for \u2018utilization\u2019 which Anja Zechel had discovered when consulting the reparations files in the archive. Presumably the painting was initially meant to be transferred to the Welfare Office with the household goods and was given the number 1157, between the oil painting with the number 1156 and the small suitcase numbered 1158.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>

\"Excerpt<\/span>
Delivery note from Augsburg Tax Office (excerpt).<\/div>

Staatsarchiv Augsburg, Wiedergutmachungsbeh\u00f6rde V f\u00fcr Schwaben, JR-Akten 1356 f, p. 1 of 2<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>

The painting was then subsequently classed as cultural property, which is presumably why it was removed (\u2018gestrichen\u2019) from the list in a subsequent copy.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>

\"Historical<\/span>
Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich in the 1960s.<\/div>

Central Institute for Art History, Photothek, Inv. No. 125312<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>

Return of the painting<\/h3>\n

The painting had obviously been acquired unlawfully and had to be restituted. But to whom? It was not difficult to locate the heirs. Ludwig and Selma Friedmann\u2019s eldest son, Friedrich Georg, had in fact returned to Germany in 1960. He established the Department for American Studies at the University of Munich. His daughter Miriam Friedmann also moved to Germany in 2001, to her grandparents\u2019 home town of Augsburg. She was the first point of contact in the restitution process. <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>

\"Colour<\/span>
Miriam Friedmann, Selma und Ludwig Friedmann\u2019s granddaughter, receives the painting from director general Bernhard Maaz.<\/div>

Bayerische Staatsgem\u00e4ldesammlungen<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>

In July 2018 the painting Bauernstube was restituted in Augsburg to Miriam Friedmann as representative of the joint heirs.<\/p>\n

\u2018Through the return of this painting we have got back an item that once gave joy to my grandparents\u2019, observes Miriam Friedmann. \u2018As Anja Zechel\u2019s painstaking research has revealed, my grandparents kept hold of this painting even after they had been dispossessed and forced to live cooped up in a so-called Jew house. It was indeed the only item they had left to remind them of their former life. It was hanging on the wall when they took their lives the night before their deportation together with 3 other couples with whom they were friends. The painting bore witness to what happened.\u2019<\/p>\n

For Miriam the return of the painting fills in a gap: \u2018For my parents, as for so many others, talking about the past was painful. And therefore a chapter was missing from all our lives. The return of this painting also gives us back a little piece of this history.\u2019<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>

Report by Bayerischer Rundfunk about Selma and Ludwig Friedmann<\/h2><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>