Books and Publications :

Fritz Koller, Das Inventarbuch der Landesgalerie Salzburg 1942-1944 (The Inventory Book of the Landesgalerie Salzburg 1942-1944)

Title
Das Inventarbuch der Landesgalerie Salzburg 1942-1944
(The Inventory Book of the Landesgalerie Salzburg 1942-1944)

Author
Fritz Koller

Date
2000

Description
This publication was researched and published by the Salzburg Provincial Archive and includes an edition of the inventory book of the Landesgalerie Salzburg, an art gallery created under the Nazi regime. The Salzburg art dealer Friedrich Welz (1903-1980) was instrumental in the gallery's creation and was its unofficial director between 1942 and 1944. Most of the gallery's collection consisted of works Welz had purchased within the German Reich and on several trips to Paris after 1940. After 1945, part of the collection was restituted. The remaining objects became part of the collections of the Residenzgalerie Salzburg (created in 1923, closed in 1939, re-opened in 1952), the Salzburg Rupertinum (created in 1977) and the Salzburger Museum Carolino Augusteum.

The substantial volume begins with an essay detailing the Salzburg art world between 1938 and 1945, the activities of Friedrich Welz and the creation of the Landesgalerie. Two summarising translations into French and English are included, as are reproductions of several historical documents. This is followed by a complete edition of the inventory (created between 1942 and 1944) of the works in the gallery's collection. The inventory is preceded by a statistical evaluation and a table indicating the fate of the works of art; and is followed by six indices: an artists index, an index of works of art, a provenance index (including Parisian art dealers and collections), an index of contemporary exhibitions and literature, an index of businesses and individuals and an index of places and institutions. The book further includes reproductions of Welz's purchases, where available, and photographs of 46 of the 55 works never inventoried (none of which remain in Salzburg today, according to the publication). It closes with further indices, including a listing of records relating to the Landesgalerie in the Salzburg Provincial Archive (collection SLA HS 926).

Regarding Welz's purchases in Paris, the text emphasises that he purchased 308 of the 312 documented works from named art dealers and against receipt. Although acknowledging that Welz knew that it was likely that the works were looted, the text extricates Welz somewhat from the web of responsibilities by emphasising the legality of Welz's purchases and locating the fault with the sellers, i.e. the French dealers. For an alternative perspective on the activities of Friedrich Welz, refer to Gert Kerschbaumer's book Meister des Verwirrens: Die Geschäfte des Kunsthändlers Friedrich Welz.

The entire text of the Inventarbuch can be consulted online or is available here as a download. It is part of an online database on the Landesgalerie which includes a history of the Landesgalerie and allows a search of 174 works from the former Landesgalerie, acquired by Friedrich Welz, which remain in Salzburg and whose origins are sought (to display all of them, write nothing in the box and press 'Suche').

The contents page of the book

Die Landesgalerie Salzburg
Friedrich Welz und sein Plan 11
Die Fahrten nach Paris 14
Die Ankäufe in Frankreich 16
Freunde und Gegner in Salzburg 20
Gundung und Finanzierung 22
Inventarisierung, Räume, Ausstellungen, Verwaltung 24
Erwerbungen im Inland 27
Landesgalerie und Residenzgalerie 32
Die Landesgalerie als Gemäldegalerie im Zweckverband "Salzburger Museum" 33
Rückführung und Verbleib 35
Résumé (traduit par Barbara Brettenthaler) 44
Summary (translated by Ulrike Engelsberger)
Dokumentenanhang 49

Das Inventarbuch
Geschichte, Beschreibung und Schreiber des Inventarbuches 102
Statistik
Anzahl der Objekte 110
Anzahl und Techniken der Bilder und Plastiken 110
Provenienz der Objekte 110
Eingangswert, Schätzwert-Verkaufswert 112
Tausch 117
Entlehnungen 120
Verbleib 120

Edition 181

Indices zur Edition
Index 1: Künstlerverzeichnis 283
Index 2: Werkverzeichnis 287
Index 2a: Index der Bilder 287
Index 2b: Index der Plastiken
Index 3: Provenienzverzeichnis 292
Index 3a: Verzeichnis der Pariser Kunsthändler 292
Index 3b: Provenienzverzeichnis für Teil 2 292
Index 4: Ausstellungs- und Literaturverzeichnis 293
Index 5: Firmen- und Personenverzeichnis 293
Index 6: Verzeichnis der Orte sowie der staatlichen und kirchlichen Institutionen 295

Bildteil
Abbildungen der Objekte der Landesgalerie 297
Bildanhang
Objekte 499
Indices 502
Abbildungen 504

Verzeichnisse
Inhaltsverzeichnis des Bestands SLA HS 926 541
Verzeichnis der in der Literatur erwähnten Landesgalerie-Objekte (zusammengestellt von Ulrike Klingenschmid) 542
Konkordanzliste der Signaturen 551
Abkürzungsverzeichnis 553

Contact Information (till 2010 when Dr Koller retired)
Dr. Fritz Koller (Landesarchivar)
Land Salzburg,
Postfach 527
A-5010 Salzburg
Tel.:+43 (0)662 8042 4527
Fax:+43 (0)662 8042 4661
Email: fritz.koller@salzburg.gv.at
http://www.salzburg.gv.at/themen/ks/kultur/galerie/themen/ks/kultur/galerie/galerie-geschichte.htm

Sources
http://www.salzburg.gv.at/themen/ks/kultur/galerie.htm, accessed 8 July 2003, link updated February 2022.

Fritz Koller, Das Inventarbuch der Landesgalerie Salzburg 1942-1944 (Salzburg, 2000) https://www.salzburg.gv.at/kultur_/Seiten/galerie-geschichte_.aspx, accessed 30 June 2003, link updated February 2022.

Fritz Koller, Das Inventarbuch der Landesgalerie Salzburg 1942-1944, Schriftenreihe des Salzburger Landesarchivs 12, Salzburger Landesregierung, Salzburg 2000.