Gustav Kirstein

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Gustav Kirstein (born February 24, 1870 in Berlin ; died February 14, 1934 in Leipzig ) was a German publisher , writer and art collector of Jewish descent.

Life

Kirstein was the son of a doctor. He first studied pharmacy, completed his studies with an exam, worked for a year as a pharmacy assistant and then turned to the publishing book trade. Later he worked for the publishing house EA Seemann , of which he became a partner on October 1, 1899. Later he was initially managing director of the publishing house. In 1923 the son of Ernst Arthur Elert Heinrich Seemann, Elert Seemann (1892–1989), was accepted as a partner in the management of the publishing house. This had joined the NSDAP early on . After the National Socialists had gained strength , Kirstein was urged by Seemann to leave the publishing house at the end of June 1933. On July 1st of that year he was assigned to the publishing house “Seemann & Co” in Leipzig, which published art papers. When he died in 1934, his wife took over the management of the publishing house until it closed in 1938. From May 1912 to early 1930, Kirstein was chairman of the “Leipziger Bibliophilen-Evenings”. Together with his wife Cläre "Clara" Therese (born Stein, May 18, 1885 to 1939), he was also an art collector. Her entire collection was confiscated by the Gestapo in 1939 and given to an art dealer. Both spouses are said to have committed suicide.

Kirstein was the founder and publisher of the magazine Der Kunstmarkt (1904–1926) and the "Dehmel-Gesellschaft", as well as owner of the Leipzig cliché establishment "Kirstein & Co." and "Wendler, Kirstein & Co.", whose offices are in Hospitalstr. 11a was located in Leipzig. He wrote writings on copyright law for the German Booksellers Association . Since May 1904 he was also a member of the German Book Trade Association . On the issue of copyright, Kirstein was an advocate who actively campaigned for the retention of the 30-year protection period for literature from 1927 onwards and even carried out a collection of signatures for this, which was signed by more than 800 well-known personalities. In 1933 he was forced to give up all public offices.

On June 26, 1922, Kirstein was accepted by the Technical University of Aachen “in recognition of his services to the dissemination and deepening of research on art history, which he has finally acquired as a publisher as well as editor and head of art historical journals, as the author of writings on art” for Honorary doctorate appointed.

Stumbling blocks in Leipzig

Family
The Kirstein marriage resulted in two daughters who emigrated from Germany at an early age.

  • Gabriele (* 1905)
  • Marianne (* 1907)

Thekla Kirstein, is a niece to whom the two pictures The Lute Player and Walchensee, St. John's Night were returned.

Fonts (selection)

  • Max Liebermann on the 60th birthday . In: Zeitschrift für bildende Kunst . New episode, 18th year. EA Seemann, Leipzig 1907, p. 237 ( Textarchiv - Internet Archive - With 15 illustrations).
  • More recent work by Georg Kolbe . In: Zeitschrift für bildende Kunst . EA Seemann, Leipzig 1908, p. 199 ( Textarchiv - Internet Archive ).
  • The life of Adolph Menzel . EA Seemann, Leipzig 1919 ( archive.org ).
  • For the question “30 or 50 years” call for retention of the 30-year protection period [regarding protection period for works of literature] . Leipzig 1930.
  • The negotiations on copyright protection between Germany and the USSR . Exchange Association of German Booksellers, Leipzig 1931, DNB  574323686 .

As editor

  • Hans Thoma: ten color reproductions of his paintings (=  EA Seemanns Künstlermappen . Volume 2 ). EA Seemann, Leipzig 1909.
  • The world of Max Klinger . Edited with the consent of Max Klinger and introduced by Gustav Kirstein. Walter Tiemann drew the envelope. Furche, Berlin 1917 ( archive.org ).
  • Max Klinger: six color reproductions of his works . With an introduction by Gustav Kirstein (=  EA Seemanns artist portfolios . Volume 18 ). EA Seemann, Leipzig 1921 ( archive.org ).
  • Richard Dehmel: Diary 1893-1894 . Ed .: with Walter Tiemann, ER Weiss (=  prints of the Dehmel Society . No. 1 ). State Academy for Graphic Arts and Book Industry , Leipzig 1921, OCLC 162756345 (both as handwriting and in the font: Walbaum-Antiqua ).
  • Richard Dehmel: My life . Ed .: with Alfred Mombert, Robert Petsch (=  prints of the Dehmel Society . No. 2 ). Dehmel Society, Leipzig 1922, OCLC 654273607 .

literature

  • Walter Tiemann: The publisher of tomorrow, as we want it . Verlag der Freunde Kirsteins, Leipzig 1930 (On the 60th birthday of Gustav Kirstein).
  • Rudolf Vierhaus: Kirstein, Gustav, publisher . tape 5 : Hitz– Kozub . Walter de Gruyter, Berlin 2006, ISBN 3-11-094653-X , p. 651 .
  • Looted Art: Embarrassing Delays . In: Der Spiegel . No. 40 , 2000 ( online ).
  • Michael Anton: Illegal cultural goods traffic . Walter de Gruyter, Berlin 2010, ISBN 978-3-89949-723-6 , p. 726 ( books.google.de - excerpt).
  • Christoph Left: EA Seemann Book and Art Publishing, Leipzig . In: The fate of the GDR publishers. Privatization and its consequences . Ch. Links Verlag, Berlin 2013, ISBN 978-3-86284-256-8 , pp. 160 ( books.google.de - reading sample).
  • Kirstein, Gustav. In: Joseph Walk (ed.): Short biographies on the history of the Jews 1918–1945. Saur, Munich 1988, ISBN 3-598-10477-4 , p. 194.

Web links

  • Business and articles of association between EA Seemann and Gustav Kirstein (“On July 1, 1933, the articles of association between Elert Seemann and Gustav Kirstein were dissolved for the company EA Seemann. The latter had to leave the company and became with the publishing house Seemann & Co., which on specialized in the printing of art sheets. "- archiv.sachsen.de )
  • Stumbling blocks Leipzig: Cläre and Gustav Kirstein (Trufanowstraße 8)
  • Writings by Kirstein, Gustav in the Dresden State and University Library
  • Literature by and about Gustav Kirstein in the Saxon Bibliography

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Georg Urdang : The pharmacist as a subject and object of literature. Springer, Berlin 1926, DNB 578680904 , pp. 15-16 ( limited preview in the Google book search).
  2. ^ Peter Neumann: Leipzig Bibliophile Evening . In: Lexicon of the entire book industry . Stuttgart 2017 ( brillonline.com ).
  3. ↑ 70 years of injustice: collection back . In: Die Welt Online . September 26, 2000 ( welt.de ).
  4. ↑ In the German Book Trade Association in Leipzig were accepted in May 1904 . In: Archives for the book trade . tape 41 , part 1, booklet 5. Verlag des Deutschen Buchgewerbevereins, Leipzig May 1904, p. 169 ( Textarchiv - Internet Archive ).
  5. ↑ Ernst Fischer, Stephan Füssel: Thirty or Fifty Years? The term of protection debate . In: History of the German book trade in the 19th and 20th centuries . tape 2 , Part 1: The Weimar Republic 1918–1933 . KG Saur, Munich 2007, ISBN 978-3-598-24808-5 , p. 88–90 ( books.google.de - reading sample).
  6. ↑ Honorary doctorates January 1921 - November 1922 (cont. 340). RWTH Aachen University Archives, accessed on February 25, 2020 .
  7. ^ Imprimatur: A yearbook for book lovers. Volume 18. Verlag der Gesellschaft der Bibliophilen, 2003, p. 295
  8. ↑ Robbed by Nazis. After 61 years, this image returns home . In: Berliner Zeitung . September 24, 2000 ( bz-berlin.de ).
personal data
SURNAME Kirstein, Gustav
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Cirstein, Gustav
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German publisher and art collector
DATE OF BIRTH February 24, 1870
PLACE OF BIRTH Berlin
DATE OF DEATH February 14, 1934
Place of death Leipzig