Hans Buchheit

Hans Buchheit , actually Johann, (born July 20, 1878 in Zweibrücken , † September 30, 1961 in Hamburg ) was a German art historian .

Life

Hans Buchheit's parents were the brewery owner Johann Buchheit and his wife Therese geb. Offenbach. From July 1889 to Easter 1897 he attended the Royal High School in Leipzig . As a primary student , he switched to the Bipontinum grammar school in Zweibrücken. He first studied economics at the University of Würzburg with Lujo Brentano . In 1900 he became active in the Corps Rhenania Würzburg . When he was inactive , he went to the Ludwig Maximilians University in Munich to study art history . Due to his dissertation Landshut panel paintings of the 15th century and the Landshut painter Hans Wertinger , called Schwab painter he was in Munich in 1907 to Dr. phil. PhD.

For the next few years he worked as an assistant, curator and chief curator at the Bavarian National Museum in Munich. During the First World War he was a soldier in the German Alpine Corps .

In 1920 Buchheit was appointed director of the State Art Collections in Stuttgart by the Württemberg state government , where he was commissioned to organize and archive the state collection and the art possessions of the expropriated Princely House using modern museum methods. As a result, he became the creator of the Stuttgart Castle Museum , now the Württemberg State Museum .

On November 1, 1931, he returned to the Bavarian National Museum as director, which he headed for 15 more years. By expanding the museum, he made a major contribution to consolidating Munich's reputation as a city of art. As a museologist , he followed modern exhibition concepts: "Instead of grouping his museum halls according to decorative, architectural criteria and in a cultural-historical sequence, he alleviated or eliminated the overcrowding, and brought every exhibition object to the fore in the room."

In an obituary, Fridolin Solleder stated that Buchheit made no secret of his "aversion to the aspirations of the 3rd Reich ...". He had “resolutely” opposed the demolition of the Hubertus Fountain on the square in front of the National Museum in 1937. More recent publications, however, point out that in 1938, after the November pogroms, Buchheit took part in a meeting with the Munich Gauleiter Adolf Wagner , the result of which was the "Order to secure Jewish cultural property". Catrin Lorch quoted in the Süddeutsche Zeitung from a letter of thanks from the Gauleitung to Buchheit, which explicitly promised to (to) take into account the “wishes of the National Museum” when “dividing the objects ...”.

Due to the timely removal of most of the museum's treasures, which he ordered, the holdings were preserved, with the exception of part of Bassermann's watch collection , despite the massive effects of the war .

Buchheit was one of the most profound connoisseurs in the field of cultural history , traditional costumes , costumes, coats of arms and family history , knights and religious orders , jewelry and medals and a sought-after specialist in the South German arts and crafts and old German painting as well as miniature painting .

In collaboration with other scientists, he was the editor of numerous catalogs that fundamentally revised the art holdings of the National Museum and the southern German region. With the anniversary exhibition and the exhibition catalog Unknown Works of Art in Munich's private collection , he put private collections at the center of scientific attention for the first time and surprised even recognized experts with their rank and value.

Buchheit was a meticulous researcher with a detective flair when it came to deciphering monogrammists , assigning unknown paintings to artists or identifying persons depicted, and singling out false and falsifying additions. Eberhard Hanfstaengl remembered book's presentations at the famous forgery congresses , in which his special talent in tracking down art forgeries was shown.

In 1947 Buchheit retired. The honors that have been given to his work are numerous. He was a member of the Bavarian Academy of Sciences and the Board of Directors of the Germanic National Museum in Nuremberg . The Palatinate Society for the Promotion of Science and the Palatinate Historical Association appointed him an honorary member and the Württemberg State Art Collection their honorary curator.

Buchheit was closely associated with German sport throughout his life. As early as 1909 he became a member of the Kösener SC as a fencer . He was one of the founders of the Association of German Athletics and the German Football Association , for which he was a well-known and recognized arbitrator for years . From 1901 to 1904 Buchheit held the record in the long jump as the German champion with 6.51 meters .

Less than a year after the death of his wife, Hans Buchheit died at the age of 84. He was quietly buried in Zweibrücken, in the grave of his parents, whom he had lost at the age of eleven.

Fonts (selection)

• Landshut panel painting of the XV. Century and the Landshut painter Hans Wertinger called Schwabmaler , dissertation Leipzig 1907.
• with Karl Voll, Heinz Braune: Catalog of the paintings in the Bavarian National Museum , Munich 1908.
• Enamel work by Peter Boy, portrait miniatures by JF Douven. A contribution to the conography of the House of Wittelsbach , in: Contributions to the history of the Lower Rhine vol. 23 (1911), p. 186ff.
• Catalog of miniatures in the Bavarian National Museum , Munich 1911.
• with Carlo Jeannerat : Catalog of the miniature exhibition, organized by the Munich Art Association in conjunction with the Bavarian Art Friends Association , Munich 1912.
• Antiques, furniture and paneling (16th to 18th centuries), tapestries, carpets, old master paintings, color prints, etc. Other from the Georg Hirth collection , part 3, vol. 1, Munich 1918.
• with Rudolf Oldenbourg : The Miniature Cabinet of the Munich Residence , catalog, Munich 1921.
• Miniatures from the Gustav von Klemperer collection , catalog, Dresden 1928.
• with Georg Lill : Hans Leinberger, Hans Stethaimer: Exhibition in Landshut in the ducal city residence for the 500th anniversary of St. Martin's Church from June 25 to July 25, 1932 , exhibition catalog, Landshut 1932.
• with Hubert Wilm, Max Goering : Georg Schuster Collection, Munich auction catalog, Munich 1938.
• Handicrafts of the Middle Ages , Munich 1949 (= picture booklets of the Bavarian National Museum Munich No. 3).
• Unknown works of art in private ownership in Munich. Festschrift for the 90th anniversary of the Münchener Altertumsverein eV , Munich 1954.

literature

• Contributions to Swabian and Bavarian art history. Hans Buchheit on his 60th birthday (= Münchner Jahrbuch der Bildenden Kunst , Vol. 13, H. 1/3 = NF 1938/39). Munich 1939.
• Eberhard Hanfstaengl : Hans Buchheit . In Pantheon 19, 1961, p. 312.
• Fridolin Solleder : Hans Buchheit . In: Zeitschrift für Bayerische Landesgeschichte 25, 1962, pp. 840–843.
• Victor Carl: Lexicon of the Palatinate Personalities . Edenkoben 1995, pp. 114-115.
• Michael Koch: The Bavarian National Museum under Hans Buchheit 1932–1947 . In: The Bavarian National Museum 1855–2005 . Munich 2006, pp. 132–147.

Web links

• Literature by and about Hans Buchheit in the catalog of the German National Library

Individual evidence

1. ↑ König Albert-Gymnasium (Royal High School until 1900) in Leipzig: Student album 1880-1904 / 05 , Friedrich Gröber, Leipzig 1905, p.
2. ↑ Kösener Corpslisten 1930, 143/421.
3. ↑ Fridolin Solleder, p. 840.
4. ↑ Fridolin Solleder, p. 842.
5. ↑ Fridolin Solleder, p. 841.
6. ↑ Alfred Grimm : The dethroned Triton and Schiller's "bell" in relief. Nazi-looted art par excellence: two case studies from the Bavarian National Museum . In: aviso. Journal for Science and Art in Bavaria 3/2015, pp. 18–23, here: p. 22 ( online ).
7. ↑ Catrin Lorch: Experts on looting. During the Nazi era, art historians helped the Gestapo to find valuable items in the homes of Jewish families . Süddeutsche Zeitung , July 1, 2016 (print); June 30, 2016 ( online ).
8. ↑ Eberhard Hanfstaengl: Hans Buchheit . In Pantheon 19, 1961, p. 312.