Difficult legacy: Nazi victims, refugees and the Bührle collection
The largest art museum in Switzerland is in crisis mode: instead of celebrating its new extension, which only opened in October with fanfare, the Kunsthaus in Zurich is in the eye of an increasingly thundering storm of indignation. Has enough been done to prevent works from being presented; Jews die in dire straits after being driven out of Nazi Germany? Doubts about it grow. “That’s enough for me!”
It’s about the Bührle collection presented in the new extension. Emil Bührle, a naturalized German, had become rich as an arms manufacturer through doing business with the Nazis. As a patron of the arts, he donated millions to the city, and a bust in the entrance of the Kunsthaus honors him. His collection, however, hung around in a private museum on the outskirts for decades. Since October, a good 200 works from it have been on view in the new extension, including those by Auguste Renoir, Claude Monet and Paul Cézanne.
The outrage is sparked by the fact that the Kunsthaus has so far relied on the Bührle Foundation to clarify the origin of the works (provenance research). Their conclusion: The origin of 90 works has not been completely clarified, but they should nevertheless be viewed as works “without any indication of problematic connections”. Well-known historians doubt this, and the debate about the Bührle collection is turning into a scandal.
“Switzerland is in ruins,” writes the online magazine “Die Republik”. As a cultural milestone
The intended building had become a “domestic disaster”.
Neutral Switzerland was a hub of the art trade during World War II. Many fleeing Jews brought money, gold and works of art to safety there or often sold them in need. In the late 1990s, it came to light how difficult it was for descendants of victims of the Nazi regime to get back deposited assets.
Only then was the Bergier Historians’ Commission convened to examine Switzerland’s role in World War II. She came to the conclusion that. At the borders many escapes were turned away without necessity, that the government and some companies were too accommodating to the Nazi regime and that companies, banks, galleries and museums did too little to get those entitled to their property return.
In Germany there has been an »Advisory Commission in connection with the return, in particular, of cultural assets that were confiscated by Nazi persecution and from Jewish property« since 2003. They check corresponding claims. In March 2021, for example, she recommended the return of the painting »Foxes« by Franz Marc from the possession of the Düsseldorf City Art Collection to the community of heirs of a previous owner. In the course of the debate about the Bührle collection, a member of parliament now calls for a similar commission for Switzerland.
In addition to art – including works that the Nazis stole from Jewish owners – museums around the world have long recognized refugee goods as illegally acquired and returned them. Works that Jews were forced to sell in order to finance their escape or their lives afterwards are referred to as refugee goods.
The Kunstmuseum Bern has just returned two works by Otto Dix from the estate of Cornelius Gurlitt to the heirs of a previous Jewish owner. The prehistory could not be clearly clarified, but in case of doubt the museum decided in favor of the heirs.
The Bührle Foundation sees it differently. There are refugees in the collection, said the outgoing foundation director Lukas Gloor on Swiss television. But Bührle always bought through the art trade and nothing below value. Regarding Paul Cézanne’s “Paysage” from the collection, he said: “The picture was sold in the USA in 1947 by the owner, Martha Nothmann. There was no persecution of Jews in 1947. «In 1939, Martha Nothmann, a Jew, fled Nazi Germany with her husband Berthold.
The Kunsthaus presents the problematic story of the entrepreneur Bührle in an adjoining room. In showcases she shows documents that are supposed to prove that Bührle carried out research into the origin of works. That’s not enough for many.
The artist Cahn was the first to draw the nuns’ conclusions. “I no longer need to be represented in this Bührle-Kunsthaus Zurich conglomerate,” she told the Swiss broadcaster SRF. The day before Christmas, the Kunsthaus confirmed the receipt of an email from Ms. Cahn. “We will now seek a personal conversation with her,” said a spokeswoman for the German press agency.
“Zurich (…) does not shy away from revisionism, denial, belittling, manipulation, misunderstanding of history,” said editor-in-chief Yves Kugelmann of JM Jüdische Medien AG in the Jewish weekly newspaper “Tacheles”. He accuses the city of not taking action. “The Nazi understanders and their political cronies will eventually be washed away and the contaminated water will be clean. But the blemish will remain for a long time. “
After a lot of pressure, the city now wants to have the foundation’s provenance research examined independently. “The planning has started,” says spokesman Lukas Wigger. But there is no time frame, everything has to be planned very carefully.