Palais Rothschild
Encyclopedia
Palais Rothschild refers to a number of palace
s in Vienna
, Austria
, built and owned by the titled Austria
n branch of the Rothschild
banking family. Apart from their sheer size and elegance they were famous for the huge collections of painting
s, statue
s, furniture
, book
s, and armour
they housed, another reflection of the family's vast wealth and position.
The collections were confiscated by the Nazis in 1938, the palaces stripped and ruined during World War II
. After the war the heirs received little compensation and what remained of the buildings were sold off or destroyed, to be replaced by modern office buildings. The history of these palaces and the art collections they contained is symbolic of the rise and fall of Austria's Rothschild family.
are:
made a full restitution almost impossible. The heirs were forced by the State to sell off their belongings since they were, in effect, bankrupt.
Since Austria regarded itself as a victim of Nazism
, and not one of the perpetrators, Austrian Jewish victims could barely appeal to the courts on their status. Much of the former Rothschild art collection was either taken to the Kunsthistorisches Museum
(KHM) or the Austrian Gallery in the Belvedere palace
.
Only in the late 1990s, due to outside pressure from the United States
, a more thorough examination of its role and behaviour during the Second World War took place in Austria. After long and tedious negotiations the Austrian government agreed in 1999 to return or pay for the roughly 250 Rothschild art treasures that were looted by the Nazis and absorbed into Austrian State Museums. The images were restituted to the heirs in 1999. Works of the Rothschild collection that used to be kept at the Kunsthistorisches Museum included:
In the Österreichische Galerie Belvedere
:
Palace
A palace is a grand residence, especially a royal residence or the home of a head of state or some other high-ranking dignitary, such as a bishop or archbishop. The word itself is derived from the Latin name Palātium, for Palatine Hill, one of the seven hills in Rome. In many parts of Europe, the...
s in Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
, Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
, built and owned by the titled Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
n branch of the Rothschild
Rothschild banking family of Austria
The Rothschild banking family of Austria was founded by Salomon Mayer von Rothschild in 1820 in Vienna in what was then the Austrian Empire.-History:...
banking family. Apart from their sheer size and elegance they were famous for the huge collections of painting
Painting
Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a surface . The application of the medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush but other objects can be used. In art, the term painting describes both the act and the result of the action. However, painting is...
s, statue
Statue
A statue is a sculpture in the round representing a person or persons, an animal, an idea or an event, normally full-length, as opposed to a bust, and at least close to life-size, or larger...
s, furniture
Furniture
Furniture is the mass noun for the movable objects intended to support various human activities such as seating and sleeping in beds, to hold objects at a convenient height for work using horizontal surfaces above the ground, or to store things...
, book
Book
A book is a set or collection of written, printed, illustrated, or blank sheets, made of hot lava, paper, parchment, or other materials, usually fastened together to hinge at one side. A single sheet within a book is called a leaf or leaflet, and each side of a leaf is called a page...
s, and armour
Armour
Armour or armor is protective covering used to prevent damage from being inflicted to an object, individual or a vehicle through use of direct contact weapons or projectiles, usually during combat, or from damage caused by a potentially dangerous environment or action...
they housed, another reflection of the family's vast wealth and position.
The collections were confiscated by the Nazis in 1938, the palaces stripped and ruined during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. After the war the heirs received little compensation and what remained of the buildings were sold off or destroyed, to be replaced by modern office buildings. The history of these palaces and the art collections they contained is symbolic of the rise and fall of Austria's Rothschild family.
The Palaces
The five Palaces Rothschild (Palais Rothschild) in ViennaVienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
are:
- Palais Albert RothschildPalais Albert RothschildThe Palais Albert Rothschild was a palatial house in Vienna, one of five Palais Rothschild in the city owned by members of the Rothschild banking family of Austria....
- Palais Nathaniel RothschildPalais Nathaniel RothschildThe Palais Nathaniel Rothschild was a palatial house in Vienna, one of five Palais Rothschild in the city owned by members of the Rothschild banking family of Austria....
- Palais Rothschild (Metternichgasse)
- Palais Rothschild (Prinz-Eugen-Straße)Palais Rothschild (Prinz-Eugen-Straße)The Palais Rothschild is a former palatial house in Vienna, one of five Palais Rothschild in the city owned by members of the Rothschild banking family of Austria....
- Palais Rothschild (Renngasse)
The Rothschild Collections
The extensive art collections of Baron Louis and Alphonse de Rothschild had to in effect be given away by the heirs to the Republic of Austria. Complicated laws and bureaucratic red tapeRed tape
Red tape is excessive regulation or rigid conformity to formal rules that is considered redundant or bureaucratic and hinders or prevents action or decision-making...
made a full restitution almost impossible. The heirs were forced by the State to sell off their belongings since they were, in effect, bankrupt.
Since Austria regarded itself as a victim of Nazism
Nazism
Nazism, the common short form name of National Socialism was the ideology and practice of the Nazi Party and of Nazi Germany...
, and not one of the perpetrators, Austrian Jewish victims could barely appeal to the courts on their status. Much of the former Rothschild art collection was either taken to the Kunsthistorisches Museum
Kunsthistorisches Museum
The Kunsthistorisches Museum is an art museum in Vienna, Austria. Housed in its festive palatial building on Ringstraße, it is crowned with an octagonal dome...
(KHM) or the Austrian Gallery in the Belvedere palace
Belvedere (palace)
The Belvedere is a historical building complex in Vienna, Austria, consisting of two Baroque palaces the Upper and Lower Belvedere, the Orangery, and the Palace Stables. The buildings are set in a Baroque park landscape in the 3rd district of the city, south-east of its centre. It houses the...
.
Only in the late 1990s, due to outside pressure from the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, a more thorough examination of its role and behaviour during the Second World War took place in Austria. After long and tedious negotiations the Austrian government agreed in 1999 to return or pay for the roughly 250 Rothschild art treasures that were looted by the Nazis and absorbed into Austrian State Museums. The images were restituted to the heirs in 1999. Works of the Rothschild collection that used to be kept at the Kunsthistorisches Museum included:
- Aelbert CuypAelbert CuypAelbert Jacobsz Cuyp was one of the leading Dutch landscape painters of the Dutch Golden Age in the 17th century. The most famous of a family of painters, the pupil of his father Jacob Gerritsz...
, Landschaft mit Hirt und Herde - Frans HalsFrans HalsFrans Hals was a Dutch Golden Age painter. He is notable for his loose painterly brushwork, and helped introduce this lively style of painting into Dutch art. Hals was also instrumental in the evolution of 17th century group portraiture.-Biography:Hals was born in 1580 or 1581, in Antwerp...
, Tielemann Roostermann - Frans Hals, Bildnis eines Mannes
- Frans Hals, Bildnis einer Frau
- Hans de Jode, Maultiertreiber
- Gabriel MetsuGabriel MetsuGabriël Metsu was a Dutch painter of history paintings, genre works and portraits.- Life :Metsu was the son of the Flemish painter Jacques Metsu , who lived most of his days at Leiden, and Jacomijntje Garniers, his third wife, whom he married in 1625. Jacomijntje was the widow of a painter with...
, Mädchen und Offizier - Isack van Ostade, Halt vor dem Wirtshaus
- Hyacinthe RigaudHyacinthe RigaudHyacinthe Rigaud was a French baroque painter of Catalan origin whose career was based in Paris.He is renowned for his portrait paintings of Louis XIV, the royalty and nobility of Europe, and members of their courts and considered one of the most notable French portraitists of the classical period...
, Graf Philipp Ludwig Wenzel Sinzendorf - David Teniers the YoungerDavid Teniers the YoungerDavid Teniers the Younger was a Flemish artist born in Antwerp, the son of David Teniers the Elder. His son David Teniers III and his grandson David Teniers IV were also painters...
, Erzherzog Leopold Wilhelm in seiner Galerie Brüssel - Jan Wynants, Landschaft mit Jägern
In the Österreichische Galerie Belvedere
Österreichische Galerie Belvedere
The Österreichische Galerie Belvedere is a museum housed in the Belvedere palace, in Vienna, Austria.The art collection includes masterpieces from the Middle Ages and Baroque until the 21st century, though it focuses on Austrian painters from the Fin de Siècle and Art Nouveau period...
:
- Heinrich Angelt, Bildnis einer Dame
See also
- History of Jews in Austria
- National Fund of the Republic of Austria for Victims of National SocialismNational Fund of the Republic of Austria for Victims of National SocialismThe National Fund of the Republic of Austria for Victims of National Socialism, , is a fund created by the Republic of Austria to seek to apply restitution for property confiscated by the Nazis during World War II...
Further reading
- Gabriele Anderl, Alexandra Caruso (ed.). NS-Kunstraub in Österreich und die Folgen. Studienverlag, Innsbruck. 2005. ISBN 3-7065-1956-9
- Michaela Feurstein, Gerhard Milchram. Jüdisches Wien. Boehlau Verlag, Vienna. 2001. ISBN 3-205-99094-3
- Peter Harclerode, Brendan Pittaway. Lost Masters. Welcome Rain Publishers. 2000. ISBN 1-56649-165-7
- Gert Kerschbaumer. Meister des Verwirrens: Die Geschäfte des Kunsthändlers Friedrich Welz. Czernin Verlag, Vienna. 2000. ISBN 3-7076-0030-0
- Dieter Klein, Martin Kupf, Robert Schediwy (Ed.) Stadtbildverluste Wien - Ein Rückblick auf fünf Jahrzehnte. LIT Verlag, Vienna. 2005. ISBN 3-8258-7754-X
- Sophie Lillie. Was einmal war: A Handbook of Vienna's Plundered Art Collections. Czernin Verlag, Vienna. 2003. ISBN 3-7076-0049-1
- Verena Pawlowsky, Harald Wendelin (ed.). Die Republik und das NS-Erbe. Band 1 der Reihe Raub und Rückgabe – Österreich von 1938 bis heute. Mandelbaum Verlag, Vienna. 2005. ISBN 3-85476-154-6
- Thomas Trenkler. Der Fall Rothschild: Chronik einer Enteignung. Czernin Verlag, Vienna. 1999. ISBN 3-85485-026-3