Bruno Grimschitz

Bruno Grimschitz (23 April 1892 – 13 June 1964) was an Austrian art historian and museum director who belonged to the Nazi Party.

Education

Grimschitz was born in Moosburg in Carinthia. He studied art history from 1910 at the University of Vienna[1] under Max Dvořák and attended the Institute for Austrian Historical Research. During his studies he became a member of the student association Landsmannschaft Kärnten Wien in 1912. From 1914 to 1918 he took part in the First World War as a frontline officer. In 1918 he completed his studies with a dissertation on the subject of the artistic development of the architect Johann Lukas von Hildebrandt.[2] He began his professional activity in 1919 as a research assistant at the Österreichische Galerie Belvedere (Belvedere Gallery) in Vienna, where he became curator in 1928. In 1932 he completed his habilitation at the Technical University of Vienna and in 1937 at the University of Vienna.

Nazi curator

Grimschitz joined the Nazi Party officially on 1 May 1938, but "was given a low membership number indicating 'special services' to the Nazi Party during the Verbotzeit."[3] From 1939 to 1945 he was director of the Belvedere Gallery.[4] In addition, from 1940 to 1941 he headed the picture gallery in the Kunsthistorisches Museum.

During the Nazi era he was able to retain pieces of entartete Kunst in the museums he directed. He was however involved in acquiring looted art from Jews[5] and concealing its origins.[6][7] The journalist Hubertus Czernin described his role in the Nazi regime as one of the main actors in the aryanization of Vienna's private art collections. Accordingly, the museums he directed were able to expand their collections considerably. In 1944 he was appointed associate professor at the University of Vienna.

Postwar

After the end of the Second World War, the State Office for Public Enlightenment, Education and Cultural Affairs removed Grimschitz from his post as director of the Belvedere Gallery by decree of 6 October 1945, due to his former NSDAP membership and put him into permanent retirement on 31 October 1947, as a "minor burden".[8] He received his teaching licence back in 1956 and held it until 1963. He published numerous works, especially on the Viennese Baroque and 19th-century art in Austria. He died in Vienna in 1964.

Publications (selection)
  • Das Wiener Belvedere. Hölzel, Wien 1920
  • Joh. Lucas von Hildebrandts künstlerische Entwicklung bis zum Jahre 1725. Hölzel, Wien 1922
  • (with Moritz Dreger): Johann Lucas von Hildebrandts Kirchenbauten. Filser, Augsburg 1929
  • Das Belvedere in Wien. Wolfrum, Wien 1946
  • (with Eva Kraft): Wiener Barockpaläste. Wiener Verlag, Wien 1947
  • Ferdinand Georg Waldmüller. Welz, Salzburg 1957
  • Die Altwiener Maler. Wolfrum, Wien 1961
  • Österreichische Maler vom Biedermeier zur Moderne. Wolfrum, Wien 1963

See also

References
  1. "Ferdinand Georg Waldmueller". TheFreeDictionary.com. Retrieved 2021-04-29.
  2. "Grimschitz, Bruno | Lexikon der österreichischen Provenienzforschung". www.lexikon-provenienzforschung.org. Archived from the original on 2020-10-12. Retrieved 2021-04-30. Nach dem Besuch des k. k. Staatsobergymnasiums in Klagenfurt studierte Bruno Grimschitz ab 1910 Kunstgeschichte an der Universität Wien bei Max Dvořák und absolvierte die Ausbildung am Institut für Österreichische Geschichtsforschung. Deutschnational eingestellt wurde er 1912 Mitglied der Akademischen Landsmannschaft Kärnten in Wien und war als Offizier an der italienischen und russischen Front des Ersten Weltkriegs eingesetzt. 1918 promovierte er mit der Dissertation Die künstlerische Entwicklung Johann Lucas von Hildebrandts und begann im Folgejahr seine berufliche Tätigkeit an der Österreichischen Galerie (ÖG) in Wien als wissenschaftliche Hilfskraft bzw. Assistent; es folgte 1928 seine Beförderung zum Kustos II. Klasse, sechs Jahre später zum Kustos I. Klasse. Ab 1932 lehrte Grimschitz als Privatdozent für Neuere Kunstgeschichte und Museumskunde an der Technischen Hochschule Wien. 1937 erteilte ihm die Universität Wien die Lehrbefugnis im Fach Kunstgeschichte und berief ihn 1941 zum außerplanmäßigen Professor.
  3. "Bridges from the Reich: The Importance of Émigré Art Dealers as Reflected in the Case Studies of Curt Valentin and Otto Kallir–Nirenstein" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 2021-04-23. Grimschitz formally joined the Nazi Party on 1 May 1938, but he was given an especially low membership number that signified his "special services" to the Nazi Party during the »Verbotzeit.«74
  4. "Dealer With the Devil". Observer. 2007-09-11. Archived from the original on 2015-10-18. Retrieved 2021-04-29. Previously undisclosed correspondence, buried for nearly three-quarters of a century in Viennese archives, show Kallir in the middle of an art deal that included some of the most baneful characters of the era, including Hitler, Nazi propaganda chief Joseph Goebbels, and Bruno Grimschitz, a Nazi curator at the Austrian Gallery. Hitler wanted Portrait of a Young Lady by Ferdinand Georg Waldmüller, one of his favorite painters. And Kallir, willing or not, was the dealer who got it for him.
  5. "Bridges from the Reich: The Importance of Émigré Art Dealers as Reflected in the Case Studies of Curt Valentin and Otto Kallir–Nirenstein" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 2021-04-23. Perhaps more significantly, Kallir remained on good terms with Dr. Bruno Grimschitz, even as the director of the Österreichische Galerie helped implement the Nazis' plundering program from 1938 to 1945.
  6. "Munich's Looted Art Bazaar". www.lootedartcommission.com. Archived from the original on 2016-09-18. Retrieved 2021-04-29. When the National Socialist regime deprives all Jews living abroad of their German citizenship, the property of the Kraus family is classified as 'property of the enemy'. As a result, it is administered by the 'Verwertungsstelle für jüdisches Umzugsgut der Gestapo' (Gestapo Agency for Jewish Property, or Vugesta), which auctions the looted objects in the Dorotheum auction house or sells them by exhibiting them in Vienna. The Kraus collection makes a profit of 68,000 Reichsmark , making it one of the Vugesta's biggest wins of all time. In comparison, the Kraus country estate in Grinzing is valued at 46,670 Reichsmark. The money flows into Hitler's coffers. While Gottlieb, Mathilde and their younger daughter Mitzi board an ocean liner in London that will bring them to Canada, their new, imposed homeland, their art collection is receiving the greatest attention. Hans Posse, Special Representative of the planned 'Führermuseum' in Linz reserves four paintings from the collection. Next in line are Bruno Grimschitz, director of the Austrian National Gallery, and representatives of Austria's Joanneum museum.
  7. "Woman in Gold Movie vs True Story of Maria Altmann, Randy Schoenberg". HistoryvsHollywood.com. Archived from the original on 2015-05-12. Retrieved 2021-04-29. Was the painting's title really changed to "The Woman in Gold"? Not exactly. Bruno Grimschitz, the Nazi curator at the Austrian Gallery, first changed the name of the painting to "Golden Portrait" and later to "The Lady in Gold." As emphasized in the movie, this was done to hide the fact that the woman in the painting was Jewish. -Variety.com
  8. "Grimschitz, Bruno | Lexikon der österreichischen Provenienzforschung". www.lexikon-provenienzforschung.org. Archived from the original on 2020-09-22. Retrieved 2021-04-30. Dennoch enthob ihn das Staatsamt für Volksaufklärung, Unterricht und Erziehung und für Kultusangelegenheiten per Erlass vom 6.10.1945 aufgrund seiner ehemaligen NSDAP-Mitgliedschaft von seinem Dienstposten als Direktor der Österreichischen Galerie und versetzte ihn mit 31.10.1947 als "Minderbelasteten" in den dauernden Ruhestand.

Further reading
  • Karl Ginhart, Gotbert Moro (eds.): Gedenkbuch Bruno Grimschitz (Kärntner Museumsschriften Bd. 44). Verlag des Geschichtsvereines für Kärnten, Klagenfurt 1967
  • Claus Pack: Herbert Boeckls „Porträt Bruno Grimschitz“. In: Mitteilungen der Österreichischen Galerie 16, 1972, 60, pp. 131–144.
  • Monika Mayer: Bruno Grimschitz und die Österreichische Galerie 1938–1945. Eine biografische Annäherung im Kontext der aktuellen Provenienzforschung. In: Gabriele Anderl, Alexandra Caruso (eds.): NS-Kunstraub in Österreich und Folgen. Studien-Verlag, Innsbruck 2005, ISBN 3-7065-1956-9, pp. 59–79.
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