Bernhard Sprengel

Bernhard Sprengel (born April 17, 1899 in Hanover ; † January 22, 1985 there ) was a German chocolate manufacturer and patron of the arts . The Sprengel Museum in Hanover was created from his private collection of modern art .

Life

Family grave in the New St. Nikolai Cemetery in Hanover's Nordstadt

After Bernhard Sprengel had passed his secondary school diploma at the Goethe Gymnasium in Hanover in 1917 , he was drafted into the military during the First World War . After his return he began to study law and political science in Kiel , Munich and Würzburg . In Kiel he joined the Corps Holsatia in May 1919 as one of the first new members after the First World War . The Corps later awarded him honorary membership. In Würzburg he was awarded a Dr. iur. PhD .

After completing an additional commercial training in Hamburg , he took over the management of the Sprengel chocolate factory in Hanover.

Bernhard Sprengel and his musical wife Margrit developed a passion for 20th century art at an early age and began to build up a private collection of paintings, sculptures and graphics. His collection included u. a. Works by Picasso , Chagall , Macke , Beckmann , Marc , Klee , Feininger , Nolde and Schwitters . On the occasion of his 70th birthday, Bernhard Sprengel and his wife Margrit donated the entire collection to the city of Hanover in 1969 and at the same time made 2.5 million marks available for the construction of a museum. Due to inner-city quarrels, the museum could only be opened ten years later and was officially named Sprengel-Museum on the 85th birthday of the founder .

Hanover's Lord Mayor Herbert Schmalstieg said on January 30, 1985: “Only a few cities are allowed to have a connoisseur and patron like Dr. Sprengel was to be had within its walls. ”Bernhard Sprengel is buried in his grandfather's family grave in the New St. Nikolai Cemetery in the Hanover district of Nordstadt .

Honors

The city of Hanover made Bernhard Sprengel an honorary citizen .
He received several awards from the state of Lower Saxony.
The Federal President awarded him the Great Federal Cross of Merit in 1959 .

literature

Vanessa-Maria Voigt: Art dealer and collector of the modern age during the National Socialism. The Sprengel Collection 1934 to 1945. Reimer, Berlin 2007, ISBN 3-496-01369-9 .

Web links

Commons : Bernhard Sprengel - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Literature by and about Bernhard Sprengel in the catalog of the German National Library
Sprengel Museum
Company archive and estate in the Lower Saxony State Archive / Main State Archive Hanover
Portrait of Bernhard Sprengel on nordstadt-online.de

Individual evidence

↑ Kösener Corpslisten 1960, 75 , 427.
↑ Dissertation: The criminal liability of the bodies of the stock corporation , n.d.
↑ M. Heinzelmann, U. Krempel (ed.): Emil Nolde and the Sprengel Collection 1937 to 1956. History of a friendship. Hanover 1999, ISBN 978-3-89169141-0 .

personal data
SURNAME	Sprengel, Bernhard
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	German chocolate manufacturer and art patron
DATE OF BIRTH	April 17, 1899
PLACE OF BIRTH	Hanover
DATE OF DEATH	January 22, 1985
Place of death	Hanover

[1] Kösener Corpslisten 1960, 75 , 427.

[2] Dissertation: The criminal liability of the bodies of the stock corporation , n.d.

[3] M. Heinzelmann, U. Krempel (ed.): Emil Nolde and the Sprengel Collection 1937 to 1956. History of a friendship. Hanover 1999, ISBN 978-3-89169141-0 .