Kurt Vollmöller

Kurt Vollmöller (also: Kurt Vollmoeller; born November 24, 1890 in Stuttgart ; † May 19, 1936 in Basel ) was a German antiquarian , book and art collector and writer.

Kurt Vollmöller came from a family of Protestant theologians, scientists and entrepreneurs. His father, Kommerzienrat Robert Vollmöller , founded one of the largest German and European textile companies of his time and was one of the pioneers of a social market economy that placed the interests of employees on an equal footing with those of entrepreneurs. Kurt's mother, Emilie Vollmöller , née Behr, was a representative of Christian social ethics and stood for equal rights and women's emancipation. Together with her husband she founded some social institutions in today's Vahingen .

Kurt Vollmoeller had nine siblings, including the painter Mathilde Vollmoeller , who was married to the painter Hans Purrmann . His eldest brother Karl Gustav Vollmoeller (1878–1948) was a writer. Hans Robert Vollmöller (1889–1917), was an aircraft pioneer and test pilot who died in 1917 on a test flight near Berlin.

Through his brother Karl Gustav Vollmoeller , he became familiar with the circles of artists and writers in Stuttgart, Munich, Vienna, Paris and Basel. a. Contact with Christiane von Hofmannsthal, Lou Albert-Lasard , Carl Jacob Burckhardt , Heinrich Wölfflin , Hermann Hesse , Rainer Maria Rilke , Ninon Hesse as well as Lisa and Ruth Wenger.

Kurt Vollmöller first lived in Stuttgart, then for a few years in Munich before settling in Basel. He was involved in the Munich antiquarian bookshop Täuber und Weil and acted as one of the managing directors. As an antiquarian, he built one of the most important, precious and beautiful German-speaking private libraries between 1911 and 1936. He was also an important art connoisseur and collector.

From 1922 he also emerged as a writer. He published novels and short stories , but was never able to step out of the shadow of the overpowering, famous brother Karl Vollmoeller.

Due to a lung disease, he died in Basel at the age of 45. He was transferred to Stuttgart and buried there.

Publications

• Appearance. Roman, JG Cotta'sche Buchh. Nachf., Stuttgart 1922
• On the knee. Novelle, Amalthea-Verlag, Vienna 1930

literature

• Christiane von Hofmannsthal - A nice little world theater: Letters to Thankmar Freiherr von Münchhausen, S. Fischer, Frankfurt / M., 1995
• Christiane von Hofmannsthal, Hugo von Hofmannsthal - diaries 1918-1923 and letters from the father to the daughter 1903-1929, from S. Fischer, Frankfurt / M., 1991
• Correspondence between Hugo von Hofmannsthal and Carl Jacob Burckhardt, Fischer Taschenbuch Verlag, 1991
• Carl Jacob Burckhardt, Letters: 1926-1965, S. Fischer, Frankfurt / M., 1970
• Matthäus Gerster: The newer Swabian literature, JB Metzler, Tübingen, 1929

Web links

• Literature by and about Kurt Vollmöller in the catalog of the German National Library