Ernst Flersheim

Ernst Flersheim (born 1862; died in 1944 in Bergen-Belsen concentration camp) was a German Jewish art collector who was persecuted by the Nazis.

Early life

Flersheim was born on 13 July 1862 in Frankfurt am Main. His parents were Louis Flersheim and Johanna Gütha Flersheim.[1] He married Gertrud von Mayer (born 2 August 1872; died 13 September 1944 in Bergen Belsen).[2] Both were arrested, deported and murdered by the Nazis.

Art collection

The Flersheim's collection included Ferdinand Hodler's "Thunersee mit Niesen",[3] "A Prayer before Supper" by Jan Toorop[4] and "Procession in the Mountains" by Adolf Hölzel.[5]

Nazi-era

In May 1937, the Frankfurt auction house Hugo Helbing auctioned off the Flersheim collection and the couple fled to Amsterdam in the face of increasing anti-Semitic repression. In the Netherlands they were arrested and imprisoned. They were deported and died in the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp in 1944.[6]

Claims for restitution

After 1945, Edith Eberstadt (née Flersheim) made claims for restitution for artworks in the collection. A few paintings were located in private collections or public museums. Several restitutions or settlements took place. In May 2020, the Association for the Promotion of Fine Arts in Wiesbaden e. V. returned the painting "Procession in the Mountains" by Adolf Hölzel, which was on permanent loan to the Wiesbaden Museum, to the heirs of the Flersheim family.[6]

The efforts by the Flersheim's grandson, Walter Eberstadt, to recover art works by the Dutch painter Jan Toorop are documented at the Leo Baeck Institute.[7]

In 2008, the Dutch Restitutions Committee issued binding resolutions concerning several of the Flersheim claims for restitution.[8]

See also

References
  1. "Ernst Carl Flersheim". geni_family_tree. Retrieved 2022-01-19.
  2. "Gertrud Flersheim". geni_family_tree. Retrieved 2022-01-19.
  3. "Ferdinand Hodler (1853-1918)". www.christies.com. Retrieved 2022-01-19. Ernst Flersheim, Frankfurt am Main, Germany (by 1911). Spoliated as a result of Nazi Persecution 1937-1939. Private collection, Germany. Galerie Nathan, Zurich. Private collection, New York (acquired from the above, 1981). A Charitable Trust, USA (by descent from the above and sold in cooperation with the heirs of Ernst Flersheim).
  4. "Binding advice concerning the dispute over the restitution of: A Prayer before Supper by Jan Toorop from the estate of E. Flersheim". www.lootedart.com. Retrieved 2022-01-19.
  5. "Provenienzforschung zur Gemäeldesammlung von Ernst und Gertrud Flersheim, Online Lecture by Miriam Olivia Merz, Wiesbaden, 5 July 2021 18.00". www.lootedart.com. Retrieved 2022-01-19.
  6. "Previous: Provenienzforschung zur Gemäeldesammlung von Ernst und Gertrud Flersheim, Online Lecture by Miriam Olivia Merz, Wiesbaden, 5 July 2021 18.00". www.lootedart.com. Retrieved 2022-01-19.
  7. "Collection: Walter Eberstadt Collection | The Center for Jewish History ArchivesSpace". archives.cjh.org. Retrieved 2022-01-19.
  8. "ADVISORY COMMITTEE ON THE ASSESSMENT OF RESTITUTION APPLICATIONS FOR ITEMS OF CULTURAL VALUE AND THE SECOND WORLD WAR" (PDF). The Committee concluded from documentation provided by the parties during the procedure that the painting The Thames at London was owned by the Jewish businessman and art collector Ernst Flersheim of Frankfurt am Main in the 1930s. From 1933, Flersheim's family were increasingly affected by the anti-Jewish measures implemented in Nazi Germany, as a consequence of which the family fled abroad. During his flight in March 1937, Flersheim sold The Thames at London to a Dutch art dealer for NLG 3,500, after which it ended up in the collection of the municipal Museum Boymans in Rotterdam. Six years later, Flersheim and his wife were deported from the Netherlands, and died in Bergen-Belsen concentration camp in 1944.
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