Karl Ernst Henrici

Karl Ernst Henrici (born September 1, 1879 in Leipzig ; † November 9, 1944 in Berlin-Hermsdorf ) was a German art and bookseller and owner of the art auction house of the same name in Berlin.

Life

The son of a doctor attended the royal high school in his hometown from Easter 1890 to Easter 1894 and then switched to the Princely School in Grimma . He then settled in Leipzig in the range - and Antiquarian bookstore Bernhard Liebisch trained as a bookseller. Further stations of his apprenticeship years were Brussels , London , Oxford and Munich . He learned the autograph trade from Otto Haas , the owner of the Berlin antiquarian bookshop Leo Liepmannssohn at the time , which he finally mastered.

In 1908, Henrici set up his own business in Berlin by taking over the Spittasche portrait warehouse and autograph holdings from Otto August Schulz (1803–1860) and, in addition to the leading auction houses Liepmannssohn, Stargardt and Boerner, published a number of excellent auction catalogs. He achieved his greatest successes in the period of inflation after the First World War . Like no other, he knew how to get collectors and heirs to surrender their property and to interest wealthy buyers in them. Henrici had a network of friends and agents throughout Germany , so that his company developed into the leading auction house for art and autographs and was entrusted with the exploitation of almost all important collections.

From 1916 to 1929 the art and auction house Henrici carried out 130 auctions, including such famous auctions as the autograph estate of Achim and Bettina von Arnims and the music collection of the Cologne commercial councilor Wilhelm Heyer.

However, bad speculation and the global economic crisis meant that the world-famous company had to file for bankruptcy.

After the collapse of his company, Karl Ernst Henrici worked as an agent and buyer of art and autographs. Under the name of his wife he occasionally published smaller autograph catalogs and shortly before his death he was once again able to record successes in the trade in valuable paintings .

It was quiet around him, and his name, which had been heard and read so often for a long time, barely reached the public. He himself, however, remained unchanged in his exhilaration and humor, in his optimism, which cannot be broken by any domestic or business misfortune, and in his appearance as a grand seigneur .

Karl Ernst Henrici auction catalogs (selection)

• No. 1: Autographs, views, portraits and original silhouettes. Special: Goethe - Schiller and their circle ; Musicians' autographs, including: Bach , Gluck , Haydn etc., Berlin 1910.
• No. 3: Artist portraits of famous painters, draftsmen, engravers, etchers, lithographers, sculptors, architects, art writers, art collectors, archaeologists, jewelers, stone cutters etc. , Berlin 1910.
• No. 4: Weimar's Musenhof. Autographs by important people of the Weimar Circle, as well as outstanding contemporaries who had personal or literary relationships with Goethe and Schiller , Berlin 1910.
• No. 6: Views / silhouettes, hand drawings, miniatures = manuscripts and books etc., Berlin 1911
• No. 21: Autographs and pamphlets from the time of the Thirty Years' War. Wallenstein . From the estate of the late Wallenstein researcher Hofrat Dr. Hallwich in Vienna , Berlin 1914.
• No. 27: City Views. historical scenes. Battle pictures. Folk and army costumes. Cups. Berlin. Old Weimar. (Goethe and his circle .). Berlin, 1915.
• No. 37: Goethe and his time. Portraits, views, manuscripts, relics, hand drawings and books from the time of Goethe . Berlin 1917.
• No. 52: Berlin views. Works by Berlin artists: Theodor Hosemann , Franz Krüger , Adolf Menzel , Gottfried Schadow and others; Berliner Eisen , Berlin 1919.
• No. 56: Auction of copper engravings from the 18th century, with appendix: Some original portraits by Anton Graff et al. , Berlin 1919.
• No. 61: The etched work of Daniel Chodowiecki . Completely and almost entirely in early conditions, etching or proofs. Around 100 original drawings, oil paintings, pastels etc. by the artist - handwritten letters , Berlin 1920.
• No. 68: Early French color prints, formerly in princely possession , Berlin 1921.
• No. 70: Autographs from the estate of Moritz Carriere 1895: Goethe and his Weimar Circle , Berlin 1921.
• No. 73: Kilian von Steiner autograph collection along with a portrait of Goethe. From the estate of Goethe's publisher Cotta , Berlin 1921.
• No. 78: Portraits from the past. Goethe and his time in pictures . Berlin 1922.
• No. 87: Goethe and his time in the picture: family records, Swiss views, copperplate engravings from the 18th century , Berlin 1924.
• No. 90: From Luther to Goethe. Autographs of German poets and scholars from the estate of Cornelius Meyer , Berlin 1924.
• No. 91: Autographs from literature, science and art: Nachlaß Cornelius Meyer, part 2; Collection J. von Reichel part 1 and others , Berlin 1924.
• No. 92: Goethe and his contemporaries. Portraits, original works by Goethe, medals, cups, memorabilia etc .; Original portraits, sports and hunting pictures in original paintings, pictures and memories of the Prussian royal house , Berlin 1924.
• No. 93: Historical autographs from the estate of Cornelius Meyer and other private collections in Berlin, including a collection of letters from and to Wilhelm von Humboldt from his estate , Berlin 1924.
• No. 95: Hohenzollern autographs from the estate of Cornelius Meyer , Berlin 1924.
• No. 98: Original portraits, portrait miniatures, copper engravings, hand drawings, silver, portraits of Frederick the Great and memorabilia , Berlin 1924.
• Georg Kinsky : Auction of autographs from musicians from the estate of Kommerzienrat Wilhelm Heyer in Cologne in the business premises of the Karl Ernst Henrici company, Berlin, Monday, December 6th and Tuesday, December 7th, 1926 ... by Karl Ernst Henrici & Leo Liepmannssohn, antiquarian bookshop, Berlin , Berlin 1926.
• Georg Kinsky: Auction of portraits of musicians and depictions of musical instruments from the estate of Kommerzienrat Wilhelm Heyer in Cologne by Karl Ernst Henrici & Leo Liepmannssohn, Antiquariat, Berlin , Berlin 1927.
• No. 105: books, family records, original portraits including a Lenbach collection; Portrait miniatures, decorative art sheets of the 18th century; a collection of valuable old porcelain , Berlin 1925.
• No. 116: Engravings and cityscapes. Hand drawings and paintings mostly from a ducal palace as well as from a Saxon private property , Berlin 1927.
• No. 122: Musicians' autographs: Josef Liebeskind Collection , Berlin 1927.
• Georg Kinsky: Auction of autographs from musicians from the estate of Kommerzienrat Wilhelm Heyer in Cologne. Part 2: Auction of music books, practical music and musicians' autographs from the 16th to 18th centuries from the estate of Kommerzienrat Wilhelm Heyer in Cologne by Karl Ernst Henrici & Leo Liepmannssohn, Antiquariat, Berlin , Berlin 1928.
• No. 128: Artistic legacy of the Henschel brothers: including the Ludwig Richter collection, Goethe collection , Berlin 1928.
• No. 134: Autographs from the fields of literature and science as well as music from the estate of Emil Landau , Berlin 1928.
• No. 140: Letters, poems and hand drawings by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, as well as letters by Duke Karl August , addressed to a distinguished lady , Berlin 1928.
• No. 142: Ludwig van Beethoven : manuscripts, letters, documents , Berlin 1928.
• No. 148: Bettine von Arnim: Literary and political things from her handwritten estate, including Goethe's correspondence with a child , Berlin 1929.
• No. 149: Arnim and Brentano : Des Knaben Wunderhorn; Handwritten items from the estate of Bettine v. Arnim , Berlin 1929.
• No. 154: Autographs from literature and science: Hugo Borst Collection, Stuttgart , Berlin 1929.
• No. 155: I .: Autographs from different areas from different possessions; II .: Handwritten estate of Bettine von Arnim, third and last part , Berlin 1929.
• No. 156: August Heinrich Hoffmann von Fallersleben : manuscripts, books, writings, occasional prints from his estate , Berlin 1929.
• No. 157: A Goethe Collection. Pictures and memorabilia, handwritten items by Goethe and from his circle, Goethe and Pauline Gotter , Berlin 1929.

literature

• Günther Mecklenburg: From collecting autographs. Attempt to present his character and history in the German-speaking area , Stargardt, Marburg 1963. Excerpts online on the homepage of the autograph dealer JA Stargardt

Individual evidence

1. ↑ König Albert-Gymnasium (Royal High School until 1900) in Leipzig (Ed.): Student album 1880-1904 / 05 , Friedrich Gröber, Leipzig 1905.
2. ^ Günther Mecklenburg, p. 89