Cologne authorities return Menzel’s drawing purchased in 1939

KOLN. Cologne authorities said they would hand over a drawing of Adolph von Menzel, bought by art dealer Hildebrand Gurlitt in 1939, to the woman who sold it before escaping from Nazi Germany.

The drawing “View on the Roofs of Schandau” (Blick über die Dächer von Schandau) was acquired for the collection of the Wallraf-Richartz Museum in 1939. Gurlitt bought a drawing from Elisabeth Linda Martens, who was married to a Jew. Her husband, who had worked as a judge in Hamburg for many years, was fired from the job without the right to pension under the Nazis. Subsequently, the couple emigrated to the United States.

It can be assumed that the Martens couple had to sell the drawing in order to make money for the trip. “The city council decided to return the drawing to posterity,” said a spokesman for the city administration. The drawing was discovered in the personal collection of Cornelius Gurlitt, son of Hildenbrand Gurlitt, whose existence became known back in 2013. The collection also includes works of art stolen or acquired under duress from Jews living in the occupied part of Europe.

It is known that Hildebrand Gurlitt actively acquired works of art in France and Holland for the planned Hitler Museum in Linz. He bought many works from the Jews, taking advantage of their plight, including three sets of Menzel’s drawings. The German government, in the framework of the program to return stolen property to the descendants of the owners, last year already returned one drawing of Menzel’s adoptive mother, Elsa Helene Cohen.

The legal status of the Cornelius Gurlitt collection has not been determined since the day he died. He bequeathed it to the museum in Bern, but his cousin Uta Werner questioned Gurlitt’s mental abilities and challenged the will. The next hearing on the case took place on September 27. It is expected that a decision on the future fate of art will be announced in the coming weeks.

Anna Sidorova © Gallerix.ru