Edgar Breitenbach
Edgar Breitenbach (born June 26, 1903 in Hamburg ; † October 12, 1977 there ) was a German-American librarian and art historian .
Career
After graduating from high school in 1921 on the Uhlenhorst , he began studying art history and Scandinavian philology in Munich and Hamburg. He studied with Friedrich Saxl and assisted Aby Warburg at his cultural studies library in Hamburg from 1926 to 1927.
Breitenbach did his doctorate in 1927 at the University of Hamburg under Erwin Panofsky on the " Heilsspiegel ", a work of late medieval illumination . From 1927 to 1929 he trained as a librarian at the Göttingen University Library and in 1933 passed his specialist examination at the Berlin State Library . He was dismissed from his position as library councilor at the Frankfurt City Library on June 30, 1933 due to the racist law to restore the civil service .
He fled the German Reich , helped the scholar Paul Ganz in Basel with his work on Hans Holbein the Younger and wrote articles for the Brockhaus encyclopedia in the library of the Archives for Swiss Art History . In 1934 he came to London , in 1937 as a lecturer in art history at Mills College in Oakland, California . At times he made his way as a migrant worker in Colorado and in changing positions as a language teacher and librarian.
After his naturalization he entered the service of the United States in 1943 to listen to and log German shortwave transmitters for the Federal Communications Commission. He later worked for the intelligence service of the " United States Office of War Information " and in 1944 was head of this agency.
As a cultural officer of the American military government , he took care of monuments, fine arts and archives in Berlin in 1945 and then at the Central Collecting Point in Munich until 1949 . As an "Art Intelligence Officer" he was responsible for the discovery of illegally appropriated and misappropriated art treasures . He was particularly interested in bringing works from the painting collection of Adolphe Schloss , which were first stored in the Führerbau and looted a second time from there at the end of the war.
In 1949, Breitenbach worked as a "cultural advisor" in Bad Nauheim and Frankfurt for reconstruction, especially in the library system. In 1953 he was appointed the High Commissioner’s representative for the America Memorial Library in the Berlin district of Kreuzberg, which was financed from American funds . He promoted the establishment of the theater, dance and film department at the Central and State Library in Berlin. The Berlin city government paid tribute to his work.
From 1956 to 1973 he headed the Department of Prints and Photographs at the Library of Congress in Washington . He found international support for the maintenance of the film stocks. He organized and expanded the poster collections and made purchases in all areas of reproduced art. After his retirement he continued to advise the department on graphics and cinematography. He died on a visiting trip in his hometown.
Honors
- Federal Cross of Merit, 1st Class (April 25, 1959)
- Grand Cross of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany (July 30, 1973)
Fonts (selection)
- Speculum humanae salvationis, a type-historical study , Hamburg 1927, Univ. Diss., Strasbourg 1930
- The Sternbacher Pietá, a contribution to the iconography of the Vespers and the Man of Sorrows , Munich 1937
- Santos, the religious folk art of New Mexico, The Taylor museum of the Colorado Springs fine arts center , Colorado Springs 1943 ( digitized version )
- The American Memorial Library in Berlin, Its Aims and Organization, Libri, International Journal of Libraries and Information Services , Vol. 4 4 (1953/54), pp. 281-292. ( Digitized version )
literature
- Ulrike Wendland: Biographical handbook of German-speaking art historians in exile. Life and work of the scientists persecuted and expelled under National Socialism. Part 1: A – K. Saur, Munich 1999, ISBN 3-598-11339-0 , p. 68 ff.
- Library of Congress, Information Bulletin, Vol. 32, No. 26, June 29, 1973, Washington 1973 ( online )
Web links
Individual evidence
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Breitenbach, Edgar |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | German librarian and art historian |
| DATE OF BIRTH | June 26, 1903 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Hamburg |
| DATE OF DEATH | October 12, 1977 |
| Place of death | Hamburg |