Gottlieb Kraus (Q98478755)
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German Jewish art collector persecuted by Nazis (1867-1952)
| Language | Label | Description | Also known as |
|---|---|---|---|
| English | Gottlieb Kraus |
German Jewish art collector persecuted by Nazis (1867-1952) |
Statements
1 reference
When the Nazi regime gains power in Germany, the American Consul takes care of ‘Father Kraus’ (as he refers to Gottlieb Kraus in his diaries). He sees no future for his own children, Gladys and Alexander, in the state that Adolf Hitler is creating.After the union of Austria with Germany in 1938, the Kraus family flee the country and travel to Prague. Nearly all their belongings are taken by the Nazis who are registering and calculating the value of all ‘Jewish assets’. Gottlieb and Matilde Kraus have to ask for approval from the Nazi Heritage Protection authorities to export any of their belongings. The extensive art collection has to be put into storage because the refugees have no address, no final destination. (English)
1 reference
The newspaper traces the story of how von Schirach came by one small painting, “Picture of a Dutch Square,” by Johannes van der Heydes that originally belonged to a Czech-Jewish couple, the consul general to Vienna, Gottlieb Kraus, and his wife, Mathilde. The Kraus family fled to the United States in April 1938, putting their possessions in storage. But the property was later confiscated by the Gestapo and artworks were sold to, among others, the planned “Führermuseum” in Linz, Austria, and to the father of von Schirach, Heinrich Hoffmann, Hitler’s official photographer and an art collector.After the war, the painting was among the thousands of works to be returned to rightful heirs. But the Bavarian State Galleries sold it back to von Schirach for 300 Deutschmark, and she promptly auctioned it off for 16,000 Deutschmarks to the Xanten Cathedral Association; it was on display in the cathedral until 2011.Meanwhile, the paper reported, the great-grandson of the Krauses, John Graykowski, has been seeking restitution of the family’s collection in vain. (English)
1 reference
A cathedral in Germany has agreed to return a Nazi-looted painting to the heirs of Gottlieb and Mathilde Kraus, an Austrian Jewish couple from whom it was stolen in 1941, according to the Commission for Looted Art in Europe, which has spent the last eight years negotiating the restitution.The painting, “View of a Dutch Square,” attributed to the Golden Age painter Jan van der Heyden, was one of about 160 looted from the Kraus family in 1941, retrieved by the Allies after the war and returned to the Bavarian State. But instead of ensuring its restitution to the family from which it was stolen, the Bavarian government sold it back to the heir of the Nazi official who bought it during the war. (English)
1 reference
The National Socialist regime remain unrelentingly technical and bureaucratic, even while they are plundering. Because they are Jewish, the Kraus family are forced to add ‘Sara’ and ‘Israel’ after their first names in official documents. Gottlieb Kraus, born in Bohemia in 1867, and his six years younger wife Mathilde are part of Vienna’s upper class. Gottlieb was the Czech Consul. Besides the apartment in Vienna, where they often held gallery weekends for friends, they owned a country estate with a private vineyard in Grinzing.The Kraus family are collectors of drawings by Rudolf von Alt and landscape paintings by the Austrian romantic Ferdinand Georg Waldmüller. They socialize with the composers, Emmerich Kalman and Franz Lehar. The oldest daughter, Lily, is tutored by the Austrian painter Hans Ranzoni who is practically part of the family. After marrying the American Consul Robert W. Heingartner in 1920, Lily moves to Frankfurt where she is less concerned about colour palettes and angles and more preoccupied by the organisation of elegant dinner parties. (English)