2016 - News - Detail Page - Stiftung Preußischer Kulturbesitz

In the course of systematic research into the Kupferstichkabinett's holdings, two drawings were identified that the Nationalgalerie had acquired at one of the two auctions at which Prof. Glaser had his art collection auctioned off. During research in the art library, 26 photographs were also found that also came from Prof Glaser's old collection. They are part of a collection of around 10,000 photographs that he donated to the Art Library shortly before his emigration in 1933, but which must be considered largely lost.

In recognition of Prof. Glaser's persecution by the Nazi regime and in honour of his great services to the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, the SPK and the heirs of Prof. Curt Glaser agreed, as part of a fair and equitable solution in accordance with the Washington Principles, that the works would remain the property of the Stiftung Preußischer Kulturbesitz in return for a compensation payment.

Hermann Parzinger, President of the SPK, says: "I am pleased that the systematic research of our holdings is enabling us to actively approach potential beneficiaries more and more often in order to find fair and equitable solutions with them. It is also very important to us to honour the people concerned whose lives and work have been forgotten due to the Nazi purges, such as Prof. Dr Curt Glaser."

Lawyer David J. Rowland explains on behalf of the Glaser heirs: "Without National Socialist persecution, Prof Dr Curt Glaser would not have been forced to leave his homeland and part with a large part of his property. Against this background, the heirs of Prof Curt Glaser are extremely grateful to the decision-makers at the SPK for their independent research and their willingness to actively approach the community of heirs. Such an approach is an example of best museum practice."

About Prof Dr Curt Glaser

Prof Dr Curt Glaser, born in Leipzig in 1879, became one of the most prominent and well-known art historians of the Weimar Republic soon after completing his studies in medicine and art history. From 1909, he worked in the Berlin museums, initially at the Kupferstichkabinett, where he expanded the collection of modern and contemporary art with numerous new acquisitions. In 1924, he was appointed director of the State Art Library, which he transformed from a collection of decorative arts to an art history research library in the years that followed. He also built up an important private art collection together with his wife Elsa Kolker (1878 - 1932). Among other things, they owned the most extensive Munch collection in Berlin. Glaser was also one of the leading art critics and publicists of the 1920s. When the National Socialists came to power, Prof Glaser was persecuted because of his Jewish origins. As early as spring 1933, he was suspended from his position as director of the art library and had to vacate his flat. Even before he was forced to retire in September 1933, he went into exile with his second wife Maria Glaser in June 1933. Prior to this, he had large parts of his extensive art and graphics collection and his home furnishings as well as his art library auctioned off in two auctions at the Max Perl auction house in May 1933. He was able to take some of the remaining artworks abroad with him. Their emigration took the Glaser couple to France, Switzerland, Italy and Cuba before finally reaching the USA in 1941. Prof Glaser died in Lake Placid, New York, in 1943.

About the works

The two drawings are sketches for allegorical reliefs by Christian Bernhard Rode, both from 1796. Born in Berlin, Rode (1725-1797), a pupil of Antoine Pesne, was president of the Berlin Academy of Arts from 1783. By setting up a private drawing room in his house, he emphatically promoted the development of the drawing arts in Berlin. His artistic ideas were characterised by the Enlightenment didactic principle of "instructive history painting". Rode often took up off-beat themes or interpreted them in unusual ways. Often criticised by his contemporaries for this modern orientation, Christian Bernhard Rode is today regarded as the most important Berlin history painter of the second half of the 18th century. The two works from the Glaser Collection reflect the master's art and significance for Berlin. Drawn in the year before Rode's own death and that of Frederick William II, the pair of designs for reliefs span the thematic arc from the glory of contemporary rulers to the world of the ancient gods. The design with an urn with the portrait head of Frederick William, accompanied by mourning figures, creates a direct link to the Berlin ruler. The second design, with allegorical depictions of the classical virtues of rulers, draws a link back to ancient mythology.

The photographs are documentary images of works of art that Prof Glaser had donated to the "Deutsches Bildarchiv in der Staatlichen Kunstbibliothek". The "Bildarchiv" was founded in 1929 to create the most comprehensive documentation possible of art, applied arts and architecture with the help of photographs, reproductions and printed illustrations. Parts of it were destroyed during the Second World War. After the picture archive was dissolved, the surviving holdings were divided up among various museum collections. It cannot therefore be ruled out that further photos from Prof Glaser's collection will be identified in the future.

If you have any questions for the heirs' lawyers, please contact:

Attorney David J. Rowland
Rowland & Associates
Tel: 001(212)685-5509
Fax: 001(212)685-8862

Law firm Schink & Studzinski
Ostseestraße 109
10409 Berlin
Tel: 0049 30 42851177
Fax: 0049 3042851178

Further information

• Press release "The Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation Agrees to Second Just and Fair Solution with the Heirs of Prof. Dr Curt Glaser" (20.04.2016) (PDF, 37 KB, document not barrier-free)
• Press images
• Press release "Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation restitutes four works by Munch and Kirchner to the heirs of Prof. Dr Curt Glaser" (30.11.2012)