Whereabouts Known:

Looted books in the Nuremberg Municipal Library with names of rightful owners now being sought

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23 March 2018 Update:Looted Books in the Nuremberg City Library

Leibl Rosenberg, in charge of the project on looted books in the City Library, has, almost single-handedly, over the last few years, identified and effected the return of hundreds of books to their former owners in eleven countries. The most recent list of former owners of looted books still in the library and which come from all over Europe has been published on the Library website and on this website as a searchable list and he writes:

'We ask you once again today to give the victims a little bit of justice after all this time. This project was, is and remains pro bono, there are no costs for the applicants. Please read our latest search list on the homepage of the City Library and make this project known to your friends and partners by publishing this link on your pages. There are still many people waiting for these fragments of memory.'

For information in German on the history of the collection, which originates in the library of Julius Streicher, and details on how to make a claim, click here. For information in English, click here


2008: The Nuremberg Municipal Library has about 10,000 confiscated books, today subsumed under the heading "Collection Jewish Community Nuremberg" (Sammlung Israelitische Kultusgemeinde IKG).  The 10,000 volumes were part of the collection of Julius Streicher, the Nazis’ chief propagandist and creator of the notorious antisemitic newspaper Der Stürmer.

Most of these books were taken illegally by the Nazis from Jews and other victims of Nazi persecution – among them, Freemasons, clergymen and activists and institutions connected with the labour movement and left-wing political parties.  The collection was placed in the hands of the Nuremberg Jewish community (Israelitische Kultusgemeinde) at the end of the war, which then gave it to the Library on permanent loan,

About a third of the books carry marks of provenance (signatures, book plates, stamps etc.) of former owners from over 400 locations, mainly in Europe. The librarian Leibl Rosenberg researched the books and compiled a list of the names of the former owners found in the books. 

In January 2008 a first search list of 121 previous owners, predominantly from Nuremberg and Fürth, was published by the Nuremberg Municipal Library, and on the home page of this Central Registry which worked in partnership (together with the Registry's sister organisation, the Commission for Looted Art in Europe) to assist those responding and to trace others. The list can be found at the bottom of this page.

The response to the first search request was enormous. Two thirds of the cases were resolved and taken off the search list by 2010. In total, 150 volumes were returned to the previous owners or their heirs in the USA, Israel, Great Britain, Austria and Switzerland. 

In September 2010, a further list of 306 names of owners was published whose heirs are being sought, and a press release was issued by the Library. To read the list of names, click here.  To read the press release in German, click here. To read the press release in English, click here

In September 2013 a list of 1,390 names of owners and the locations where they lived was published. To see the list of names sorted by owners, click here. To see the list of names sorted by location, click here.

In the search for the previous owners of these books the Municipal Library of Nuremberg is "trying to fulfill our ethical and historical obligations".

To seek free advice, information and assistance on making claims, please contact either of the following:

Leibl Rosenberg
Municipal Library Nuremberg, IKG Collection
90403 Nürnberg, Egidienplatz 23
Telephone: 0049 (0)911 231-2721, Fax: 0049 (0)911 231-5476
E-mail:
leibl.rosenberg@stadt.nurenberg.de

CLAE/CRI (Commission for Looted Art in Europe/Central Registry on Looted Cultural Property 1933-1945)
76 Gloucester Place
London W1U 6HJ
Telephone: +44 (0)20 7487 3401 Fax: +44 (0)20 7487 4211
Email: info@lootedart.com
Websites: www.lootedart.com; www.lootedartcommission.com

For details of the IKG Collection, the search list and forms:
http://stadtbibliothek.nuernberg.de/spezialbibliothek/sammlung_ikg.html#adresse


Further background provided by the Library (2010
)

The Nuremberg Library has been carrying out provenance research in accordance with the Washington Principles and the Joint Declaration by the Federal Government, the Länder (Federal States) and the National Associations of Local Authorities of 14 December 1999 to identify looted cultural property and enable its return to its rightful owners.  The Nuremberg Municipal Library and the lender, the Nuremberg's Jewish Community, together decided to hand back the Nazi-confiscated books to their former owners or their legitimate successors wherever possible. 

Staff from the Municipal Library have painstakingly recorded all marks of provenance in detail, and made them available for research in the electronic library catalogue.  Nearly 2,000 books carrying marks of provenance and suspected of being illegally confiscated are also listed in the Lost Art Internet Database, constituting a substantial part of that database. 

Since the marks of provenance were transcribed as they were found in the books, a WebPAC search for specific persons or institutions may be of limited help. Often the annotations found in the books are quite personal, and they may give incomplete information about former owners: in some cases, first names are shortened, and the owner’s address and profession are mostly missing.

In 2008, in order to achieve the aim of handing back the books, Nuremberg Municipal Library published the first list of 115 former owners from Nuremberg and Franconia whose addresses and professions have been researched and verified as precisely as possible.  Gradually, this list is being expanded, until as many former owners as possible (persons and institutions) of books held in the Jewish Community's collection have been named with reasonable certainty. The search lists are intended to facilitate research by former owners or their legal successors.

First list of 115 previous owners from Nuremberg and Franconia:
Ascher, Joachim, 1923-1943, Schüler, Hochstr. 33 
Blüth, Emmanuel, ?-1917, Lehrer, Fürth
Cohen, Meier, Buchbinder, Fürth, Rosenstr. 21
Feilchenfeld, Ernst, 1894-?, Rechtsanwalt, Fürther Str. 10
Feuchtwanger, Hanna, Schülerin, Petzoldstr. 14
Feuchtwanger, Sally, 1885-?, Kaufmann, Petzoldstr. 14
Flaschner, Sigmund
Frankenburger, Martin, 1908-1943, Rechtsanwalt, Bucher Str. 42

Goldschmidt, Emilie, 1861-?, Hausfrau, Würzburg, Friedenstr. 26
Goldschmidt, Sophie, 1888-1918, Lehrerin, Würzburg
Gütermann, Karl, 1869-1940, Kaufmann, Gleißbühlstr. 12
Hahn, Selma, 1906-?, Schülerin, Petzoldstr. 4
Heimann, Albert, 1881-?, Kaufmann, Laufertorgraben 6
Joel, Leon, 1888-1942, Kaufmann, Ansbach, Nürnberger Str. 22
Kahn, Gustaf, 1887-?, Rechtsanwalt, Emilienstr. 10
Kahn, Lilly geb. Neumark, 1897-?, Hausfrau, Emilienstr. 10
Kellermann, Leopold, Schüler, Gunzenhausen, Marktplatz 40
Klugmann, Raphael, 1925-?, Schüler, Hirtengasse 9
Levigard, Otto Albert, 1899-1972, Rechtsanwalt, Meuschelstr. 32
Mannheimer, Else, 1919-?, Schülerin, Sulzbacher Str. 46
Mannheimer, Hans, Schüler, Sulzbacher Str. 46
Morgenroth, Martin, 1880-1939, Rechtsanwalt, Bamberg, Promenade 6
Müller, Hermann, Bankier, Kaiserstr.
Neuburger, Fritz, 1905-?, Ingenieur, Solgerstr. 5a
Offenbacher, Lola, 1894-?, Schülerin, Prinzregentenufer 5
Offenstadt, Adolf, 1865-?, Buchhändler, Rankestr. 52
Oppenheimer, Lilli, 1899-?, Kindergärtnerin, Mauthalle 1
Plessner, Leo, 1903-?, Buchhalter, Glockendonstr. 6
Rosenberg, Georg, Buchhändler, Fürth, Schwabacherstr. 30
Rülf, Moses, 1855-1934, Lehrer, Lammsgasse 14
Saemann, Gerhard, 1924-1942, Schüler, Fürther Str. 26 a
Sahlmann, Ernst, 1886-?, Fabrikant, Adlerstr. 9
Sänger, Simon, ?-1938, Buchhändler, Fürth, Blumenstr. 19
Schmal, Hans, Fabrikant, Fürth, Sommerstr. 8
Schönfärber, Lilli, 1895-?, Celtisstr. 13
Schreiber, Kurt, 1913-?, Schüler, Zeltnerstr. 15
Schwarz, Jakob M. A., 1850-?, Kaufmann, Inn. Laufer Gasse 3
Spear, Gebhard & Eva
Spear, Otto Isidor, 1906-?, Philosoph, Kaulbachplatz 9 
Stern, Bernhard, 1889-1942, Rechtsanwalt, Breite Gasse 35a
Stern, Max, 1861-1929, Kaufmann, Emilienstr. 10
Tessler, Jacob, 1884-?, Kaufmann, Fürther Str. 94
Wassermann, Emil, 1882-1911, Bankier, Bamberg, Am Zwinger 2
Wertheim, Karl, 1853-1930, Lehrer, Albrecht-Dürer-Str. 3
Wissmann, Selig, 1905-?, Lehrer, Hirtengasse 3
Wolff, Recha, Schülerin, Hirtenstr. 7
Ziemlich, Bernhard, 1849-1907, Rabbiner, Neue Gasse 12
Zirngibl, Marie, 1884-?, Kauffrau, Denisstr. 29

Those from the first list of 115 previous owners  from Nuremberg and Franconia now contacted:

Adler, Nathan, 1879-1942, Lehrer, Josephsplatz 20
Bacharach, Emil, 1887-?, Richter, Bucher Str. 17
Barczinski, Else, 1893-1941, Hausfrau, Landgrabenstr. 19
Bing, Wilhelm, 1877-?, Prokurist, Schweiggerstr. 31
Bulka, Isaak, 1881-1941, Buchhändler, Leonhardstr. 7
Bulka, Raphael, 1919-?, Schüler, Leonhardstr. 7
Cohn, Leo, 1893-?, Schüler, Frauentormauer 42
Dormitzer, Else geb. Forchheimer, 1877-1957, Schriftstellerin, Blumenstr. 9
Dormitzer, Sigmund, 1869-1943, Rechtsanwalt, Blumenstr. 9
Ehrenberger, Hugo, 1877-1942, Richter, Bucher Str. 20
Ehrenberger, Lotte geb. Steinheimer, 1896-1942, Hausfrau, Bucher Str. 20
Ehrenreich, Bertha, Zeller, 1887-?, Hausfrau, Solgerstr. 16
Ertheiler, August, 1863-1955, Fabrikant, Virchowstr. 17
Farntrog, Martin, 1887-?, Kaufmann, Merkelsgasse 5
Fraenkel, Theodor, 1873-1930, Kantor, Neue Gasse 12
Frankfurt, Herz, 1874-?, Synagogenbeamter, Essenweinstr. 7
Goldberger, Arthur, 1912-?, Schüler, Josephsplatz 20
Goldberger, Etta, Schülerin, Josephsplatz 20
Goldberger, Heinrich, 1914-?, Schüler, Josephsplatz 20
Gorski, Max Mordechai, 1877-1941, Kaufmann, Hochstr. 33
Guldmann, Salomon, 1832-1892, Kaufmann, Adlerstr. 77
Hessberg, Alfred, 1884-?, Bamberg
Hessberg, Heinrich, Bamberg
Hessberg, Paula, Bamberg
Hirsch, Edmund, 1887-?, Lehrer, Hochstr. 33
Isner, Josef Max, 1904-1941, Kaufmann, Bahnhofstr. 35
Katzenberger, Lutz, 1913-1963, Student, Frommannstr. 19
Kaufmann, Julius, 1893-?, Kantor, Lehrer, Wetzendorfer Str. 1
Kohn, Adolf, 1904-?, Lehrer, Albrecht-Dürer-Str. 19
Kohn, B. H., 1898-?, Schülerin, Albrecht-Dürer-Str. 19
Kohn, Simon, 1861-?, Kaufmann, Albrecht-Dürer-Str. 19
Kolb, Bernhard, 1882-1971, Kultusbeamter, Knauerstr. 15
Kolb, Ernst, Schüler, 1924-1942, Landgrabenstr. 119
Kolb, Herbert, *1922, Schüler, Knauerstr. 15
Ledermann, Ludwig, 1892-1945, Rechtsanwalt, Dennerstr. 5
Landmann, Anna, 1892-1980, Schülerin, Fürth, Bahnhofsplatz 8
Lorch, Fritz, 1891-1938, Juwelier, Emilienstr. 3
Lorch, Max E., 1895-1972, Rechtsanwalt, Ob. Pirckheimerstr. 4
Müller, Sebald, 1892-1941, Lehrer, Camerariusstr. 12
Neuberger , Julius, 1905-1944, Lehrer, Schlüsselfelderstr. 10
Neufeld, Seraphine, 1908-?, Camerariusstr. 5
Nussbaum, Fritz, 1902-?, Moltkestr. 16
Plaut, Benno, 1881-?, Gastronom, Zufuhrstr. 6
Reizenstein, Ernst, 1866-1942, Kaufmann, Behringersdorf
Ries, Albert, 1899-?, Kaufmann, Breite Gasse 47
Spear, Elly, 1903-1942, Hausfrau, Schillerstr. 10
Spear, Fritz, 1901-1942, Kaufmann, Schillerstr. 10
Süssheim, Max, 1876-1933, Rechtsanwalt, Adlerstr. 35
Vorhaus, Fritz, 1884-1924, Kaufmann, Rankestr. 46
Wertheimer, Hans, 1926-1945, Schüler, Sulzbacherstr. 50
Wertheimer, Ilse, *1921, Schülerin, Sulzbacherstr. 50
Wilhermsdörfer, Liesel, 1910-?, Lehrerin, Landgrabenstr. 146
Wilmersdörfer, Ida, Schülerin, Camerariusstr. 3
Lese- und Redehalle jüdischer Hochschüler in Wien, Wien IX., Grüne Thorgasse 34

Further information is available here

The Library asks anyone concerned to contact it so that further steps may be taken.  Contact details are below.  The Commission for Looted Art in Europe and its sister organisation, the Central Registry, will provide free assistance and guidance to any heirs and descendants to enable restitution.

Commission for Looted Art in Europe/Central Registry contact details
Anne Webber
76 Gloucester Place
London W1U 6HJ
T: +44 (0)20 7487 3401
F: +44 (0)20 7487 4211
E: info@lootedartcommission.com
www.lootedartcommission.com


Library Contact Details
Leibl Rosenberg
Stadtbibliothek Nürnberg / Nuremberg Municipal Library
Egidienplatz 23
90403 Nuernberg
Germany
Tel: +49-(0)911-231-2721
Fax: +49-(0)911-231-5476
Email: leibl.rosenberg@stadt.nuernberg.de
http://www.stadtbibliothek.nuernberg.de/ 

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