Karl Haberstock

Wilhelm Trübner , Karl Haberstock , 1914.

Karl Haberstock (born June 19, 1878 in Augsburg , † September 6, 1956 in Munich ) was a German art dealer who made a career during the National Socialist era . At the beginning he dealt with art of the 19th century, in the course of the 1920s he shifted more and more to the Old Masters . Haberstock was involved in the art policy of the National Socialists and was a member of the commission for the exploitation of " degenerate art ". He had direct contact with Adolf Hitler and sold him works for his collection and subsequently to the special order Linz , for which he worked as a buyer in occupied France. After the Second World War , Haberstock was classified first as a follower in two arbitration proceedings , then as exonerated in the appeal proceedings. He continued to work as an art dealer and appeared as a patron of the city of Augsburg.

Life

Origin and start of employment

Karl Haberstock came from an Augsburg banking family. After a bank apprenticeship at the Gutmann bank, he opened a porcelain shop with a picture trade in Würzburg in 1905 to sell his father's estate. In 1907 he then opened a gallery in Berlin. Business started rather slowly, but Haberstock was able to establish itself. During this time he mainly traded in 19th century art. So he sold large parts of Carl Schuch's estate . He also traded in paintings by Wilhelm Trübner , Wilhelm Leibl and Fritz von Uhde, among others .

Establishment

In the mid-1920s, Karl Haberstock shifted his focus to old masters. After the First World War and the inflation , several important collections came onto the market, such as those by Ernst Seeger and James Simon . Haberstock bought parts of these and invested his capital in safe real assets during the time of inflation. His customer base was considered conservative, right-wing and anti-Semitic . It is controversial to what extent he shared these positions. Besides German paintings and Old Masters, Haberstock also dealt with French realists such as Gustave Courbet and Édouard Manet . He hardly dealt with the new art movements because he saw no market potential for himself in this area. However, a hatred of impressionism , which he was often accused of, cannot be proven.

Karl Haberstock maintained close contact with important personalities in the art world such as Wilhelm von Bode in Berlin, Hans Posse in Dresden, Gustav Glück in Vienna and Gustav Pauli in Hamburg. He sold paintings to renowned museums such as the National Gallery in Berlin and the Dresden State Art Collections . On Wilhelm von Bode's 80th birthday in 1926, Haberstock gave him a painting by Esaias van de Velde .

time of the nationalsocialism

Contact with Hitler and participation in the commission for the exploitation of "degenerate art"

In March 1933 Karl Haberstock joined the NSDAP . According to his own statements, he wanted to gain influence and thus be able to take better action against projects such as the auction law. As a result, he took part in the National Socialist art policy.

In May 1936 Haberstock sold Paris Bordones Venus and Amor, his first work of art, to Hitler, who had been planning to build up an art collection since 1935. This purchase marked the beginning of his systematic collecting activity. Haberstock also examined Hitler's other acquisitions in the Führerbau in Munich and pointed out three forgeries. Hitler also visited Haberstock's gallery in person. In the course of the first sale to Hitler, Haberstock was also able to do business with other Nazi greats such as Joseph Goebbels , Hermann Göring and Albert Speer . Haberstock also used Hitler's influence to prevent a law from the Reich Ministry for Public Enlightenment and Propaganda . This would have authorized the Reich Chamber of Culture to set the prices for paintings, which, according to Haberstock, would have threatened the entire art trade. He also used his influence with Hitler to rehabilitate Hans Posse . As a result, he was appointed as a special representative for the Führermuseum Linz , probably surprising even for Haberstock . After 1939 Karl Haberstock was the main art dealer for the special order Linz . There were other dealers closely associated with this project, but he sold 169 high-profile works. Haberstock also used his influence with Hitler to intervene on behalf of the Jewish family of James Simon's granddaughter, with whose family he was in business contact in the 1920s. In addition, he campaigned for some other persecuted people.

In May 1938, Haberstock was appointed to the exploitation commission for “ degenerate art ” established by Goebbels . He personally campaigned for the Fischer Gallery in Lucerne , where the auction of confiscated works of art from German museums also took place on June 30, 1939. Haberstock did not realize any direct profit from the auction, but his participation strengthened his position in the European art trade. Haberstock himself did not deal in modern art and referred to Ferdinand Möller when he asked about the prices that would be possible for works by Emil Nolde . The initiative for the law on the confiscation of products of degenerate art , for example , as a legal basis for the confiscation and utilization of art objects, goes back to his specialist knowledge . At the meeting of the exploitation commission on February 20, 1939, Haberstock expressed concerns about the burning of “degenerate” works of art and on the same day asked Robert Scholz to be released from this commission. Together with Scholz, he unsuccessfully proposed to store the works in museum depots in order to later examine their value again and more precisely; Haberstock was therefore absent from the last inspection of the confiscated works. Together with Rolf Hetsch succeeded Haberstock but then, through sales to private individuals and abroad a large number of works such as The Red Horses by Franz Marc preserve before combustion. In addition, together with the other commission members, he succeeded in returning some objects, including works by Franz Marc and early works by Lovis Corinth and Paula Modersohn-Becker , to the museums, which they acted against Hitler's express request. A total of 88 paintings, 41 sculptures and 47 graphics were saved, in which Haberstock played a major role. In the case of the Bayerische Staatsgemäldesammlungen in Munich, Haberstock even disregarded other commission members.

Connection of Austria and Second World War

On the recommendation of a ministerial director, Karl Haberstock was sent to Vienna after the annexation of Austria to assist in the viewing and cataloging of the confiscated art collections. He arrived in May 1939 and agreed to make recommendations as to where the works should be. However, Karl Haberstock refused to sell modern art from these collections. He came into conflict with the rulers of Vienna, which is why he withdrew from this assignment. Hans Posse followed him.

After the outbreak of World War II , Karl Haberstock operated in the areas occupied by the National Socialists. For the work in occupied France he needed some documents such as the special appointment as advisor to the director for the special order Linz, a letter from the adjutant of the armed forces, a letter signed by Göring and a letter from the commander in chief of the art protection division of the armed forces in France. This secured his deliveries and trips. Haberstock's first visit to Paris took place with Posse in October 1940. Among other things, he participated in the Aryanization of the Wildenstein Gallery , which became the property of Roger Dequoy . In the course of this process, Haberstock met Georges Wildenstein in the unoccupied part of France. This meeting was probably not very friendly, but Wildenstein was also interested in an arrangement that was advantageous for him. Dequoy entered into a business relationship with Haberstock and was the most active French dealer. Karl Haberstock maintained contact with a total of around 75 dealers and agents who tracked down and procured works of art that were of interest to him. Dequoy and his business partner Georges Destem looked for Haberstock to find the Schloss collection hidden by the Vichy government . In this search for hidden collections, Haberstock and his business partners competed with the task force Reichsleiter Rosenberg . He also came into contact with refugees in the unoccupied part of France. He acquired two works of art from his former Berlin colleague Arthur Goldschmidt . After Posse's death in December 1942, Haberstock's success fell significantly, as he and his successor, Hermann Voss, had been in conflict with each other since the early 1920s. During Voss's tenure, there were only nine sales to the Reich Chancellery . As a result of this conflict, Haberstock also resigned from the NSDAP in December 1943, which put him out of favor with those in power. In total, Karl Haberstock made 188 sales to the Reich Chancellery for the planned museum in Linz, Hitler and other agencies. There were also 74 donations to important personalities and institutions.

post war period

Towards the end of the Second World War, Haberstock fled with his wife to the castle of Gerhard Freiherr von Pöllnitz in Aschbach , where he was arrested by the Americans. Also Hildebrand Gurlitt had fled here. Haberstock was brought to Bad Aussee , where he was interrogated from August 20 to September 17, 1945. In the course of denazification , there were two proceedings against Karl Haberstock. The first arbitration chamber proceedings in Ansbach classified Haberstock on July 12, 1949 as a fellow traveler, whose relationships with the leading figures of National Socialism would have been purely business. In the course of this procedure, Eberhard Hanfstaengl was also questioned, who stated that Haberstock was probably the most important German art dealer and had personally judged. He hated French art and had a great influence on Hitler. Hanfstaengl also assessed Karl Haberstock as an unscrupulous person. In the appeal procedure, however, Haberstock was classified as exonerated.

After the war, Haberstock continued to work as an art dealer. He and his wife appeared as patrons in Augsburg and therefore enjoyed a high reputation. After his death in 1956, the widow continued this commitment. Haberstock's collection is open to the public as the Karl and Magdalene Haberstock Foundation in the Schaezlerpalais in Augsburg.

reception

Karl Haberstock was and is received controversially mainly because of his role during the time of National Socialism and its aftermath in Augsburg after the Second World War. Above all, depictions from the 1990s paint a very negative image of Haberstock. Lynn H. Nicholas described Karl Haberstock in her influential book The Robbery of Europe - The Fate of European Works of Art in the Third Reich as a greedy art dealer working with criminal energy in occupied France, and the historian Jonathan Petropoulos also characterized him in this way and as a leading figure that influenced the National Socialist art and cultural policy. Petropoulos also criticized the fact that he was denied access to the Haberstock archive in Augsburg. In the 2000s, the discussion about Karl Haberstock became more objective when the historian Horst Keßler was commissioned to sift through the archives and published his results, among other things, in the monograph Karl Haberstock - Controversial Art Dealer and Patron .

Numerous works sold by Haberstock to museums during the National Socialist era are in the database “Lost Art” of the coordination office for the loss of cultural property , as it was not possible to rule out or unambiguously ascertain deprivation of property due to persecution. The database contains eight works of art from the collection of the Karl and Magdalene Haberstock Foundation .

literature

• Hannelore Holtz : We lived in Berlin . Dietz Verlag, Berlin 1947
• Hundreds of pictures from the Haberstock Gallery in Berlin. With a foreword by Magdalene Haberstock. Munich book trade house, Munich 1967
• Horst Keßler: Karl Haberstock - Controversial art dealer and patron. Deutscher Kunstverlag, Munich 2008, ISBN 978-3-422-06779-0 .
• Horst Keßler: The art dealer as an opportunist - Karl Haberstock in the “Third Reich”. In: Maike Steinkamp, ​​Ute Haug (ed.): Works and values. About trading and collecting art under National Socialism (= writings of the research center "Degenerate Art" . Volume 5). Akademie Verlag, Berlin 2010, ISBN 978-3-05-004497-2 , pp. 23-40.
• Lynn H. Nicholas: The Robbery of Europe - The Fate of European Works of Art in the Third Reich. Droemer Knaur, Munich 1995. ISBN 978-3-426-77260-7 .
• Jonathan Petropoulos: Karl Haberstock as an art dealer for the Nazi leaders. In: Eugen Blume, Dieter Scholz (Ed.): Bridged. Aesthetic Modernism and National Socialism. Art historian and artist 1925–1937 . König, Cologne 1999. ISBN 978-3-88375-348-5 , pp. 256-264.
• Birgit Schwarz: Mania for genius. Hitler and art. Böhlau, Vienna, Cologne, Weimar 2009, ISBN 978-3-205-78307-7 .

Web links

• Literature by and about Karl Haberstock in the catalog of the German National Library
• Karl Haberstock in the Augsburg city dictionary

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Horst Keßler: The art dealer as an opportunist - Karl Haberstock in the “Third Reich” . In Maike Steinkamp, ​​Ute Haug (Hrsg.): Works and Values ​​- About trading and collecting art under National Socialism. Berlin 2010, p. 23. In Horst Keßler: Karl Haberstock - Controversial art dealer and patron . Munich 2008 the representation is different. There he shows Karl Haberstock on page 17 as the “son of the farmer Gabriel Haberstock” and writes “Karl Haberstock came from a farming family from Ingenried […]”.
2. ^ ^{A b} Horst Keßler: The art dealer as an opportunist - Karl Haberstock in the "Third Reich" . In: Maike Steinkamp, ​​Ute Haug (Hrsg.): Works and Values ​​- About trading and collecting art during National Socialism . Berlin 2010, p. 24.
3. ↑ Horst Keßler: Karl Haberstock - Controversial art dealer and patron . Munich 2008, p. 17.
4. ↑ Jonathan Petropoulos: Jonathan, Karl Haberstock as an art dealer for the Nazi leaders. in: Eugen Blume, Dieter Scholz (Ed.): Bridged. Aesthetic Modernism and National Socialism. Art historian and artist 1925–1937 . Cologne 1999, p. 257.
5. ↑ Keßler 2010, pp. 32–33.
6. ↑ Lynn H. Nicholas: The robbery of Europe - The fate of European works of art in the Third Reich. Munich 1995, p. 49.
7. ↑ Petropoulos, p. 258.
8. ↑ Petropoulos, p. 259.
9. ↑ Keßler 2008, p. 20.
10. ↑ Stefan Koldehoff : The pictures are among us - The business with Nazi looted art . Frankfurt am Main 2009, p. 123.
11. ↑ Keßler 2008, pp. 22 and 23.
12. ↑ Gesa Jeuthe: Modernism under the hammer - “Utilization” of “degenerate” art by the Lucerne Gallery Fischer 1939. in: Uwe Fleckner (Ed.): Attack on the Avantgarde. Art and Art Politics in National Socialism . Berlin 2007, p. 205.
13. ↑ ^{a b} Petropoulos, p. 260.
14. ↑ Keßler 2010, p. 28.
15. ↑ Keßler 2010, p. 29.
16. ↑ Keßler 2008, p. 26.
17. ↑ Lynn H. Nicholas: The robbery of Europe - The fate of European works of art in the Third Reich . Munich 1995. p. 214.
18. ^ Nicholas, p. 216.
19. ↑ ^{a b} Keßler 2008, p. 32.
20. ↑ Keßler 2008, p. 33.
21. ↑ Keßler 2008, p. 31.
22. ↑ Stefan Koldehoff: The pictures are among us - The business with Nazi looted art . Frankfurt am Main 2009, pp. 125–126.
23. ↑ Internet site www.lostart.de: Augsburg Collection
24. ↑ Internet site www.lostart.de: Complete list ( Memento of the original from March 4, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.