Art collectors
One of the many aspects that confirmed the prosperity period of Wroclaw Jews in the second half of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries was their interest in supporting culture. Collecting works of art was popular among the Jewish bourgeoisie – it was not only an expression of their financial position but also testified to their interest in Silesian and German art, which strengthened their cultural assimilation. Many inhabitants of Wroclaw sponsored cultural events, supported financially local artists and the art market, and also acted for the establishment and maintenance of the Jewish Museum in Wroclaw. Collectors also donated valuable works to the Silesian Museum of Fine Arts, an important institution on the map of Wroclaw. The historian and art collector Franz Landsberger also established the Association for Jewish Art, an organization actively supporting artists.
Assimilated Wroclaw Jews from the upper classes felt cosmopolitan and followed European cultural trends. They were often inspired by the art presented in galleries in Berlin, Vienna and Paris; hence their collections regularly included, for instance, French and German impressionists and expressionists. The art collections of the Jewish inhabitants of Wroclaw were known throughout Germany and considered one of the most important in the country. The most important art collectors and promoters include Maks Silberberg, Carl Sachs and Leo Lewin, who lived in Borek, a villa estate by the Południowy Park. Its inhabitants also included Franz Landsberger, David Friedmann, Leo Smoschewer and Georg Cohn, whose collections were smaller but equally impressive. This place was very popular among the community due to numerous Jewish institutions established in the southern part of the city (including schools and a hospital). There is also the Południowy Park and the Old Jewish Cemetery in the neighbourhood. The Jewish sports clubs Bar Kochba and Schild Breslau also trained nearby.
The end of glory came with the Nazis’ coming to power, and the scenario of persecuting Wroclaw Jews was repeated many times. Art collectors were first deprived of the possibility to work, forced to return their collections and then to leave their homes, or deported to ghettos and extermination camps. Only a few managed to survive and deposit their property in a safe place. One of the most important art collectors and patrons of culture, lawyer Ismar Littmann committed suicide a year after the Nazis came to power, and his extremely rich collection was confiscated and dispersed.
Inside of the pre-war villa of Leo Lewin (Poloniae Amici)
Collectors’ villas
Several villas of the most important collectors and patrons of art survived the times of Nazism and communism, owing to which we can admire both the architecture and stories associated with these places. The most important post-Jewish houses in Borek include three buildings:
The villa of Max Silberberg
In the 1920s, Max Silberberg lived in an impressive villa located within the South Park, at today’s Kutnowska 1-3. Its location, scale and beauty of architecture still make a great impression today. Max Silberberg was an entrepreneur, patron of culture and an art lover, and his collection of paintings was one of the most important in Germany. He chaired the Jewish Museum Society and was involved in the development of this institution. He also had a well-equipped library, which contained numerous albums on art and auction catalogues.
The resident of Wroclaw collected mainly German and French paintings from the 19th and 20th centuries, including works by Auguste Renoir, Edgar Degas, Paul Cézanne and Vincent van Gogh. In 1935, he had to leave the residence occupied by the Nazis, and his property was auctioned off in Berlin. Some of the paintings were found decades after the war and returned to the art market – today, they are in private collections and museums around the world, including in Germany, Israel, the United States and Russia.
The villa of Leo Lewin
It was, among others, in Leo Lewin’s villa that the artistic and intellectual elite of Wroclaw met before the war. The impressive house located at today’s Akacjowa 12 was designed by famous Jewish architects Richard and Paul Ehrlich. The interior of the villa was also richly styled and decorated with great panache. Leo Lewin was an entrepreneur, art collector and horse breeder; he also supported sports organizations. His collection mainly comprised of paintings by French Impressionists – Claude Monet, Édouard Manet, Paul Cézanne, but among the works there were also paintings by Edvard Munch, Pablo Picasso and Rembrandt. The collection was also supplemented with works by German artists such as Max Liebermann and Max Slevogt.
Leo Lewin was also passionate about literature and had an impressive library. Unfortunately, due to the escalating crisis, he sold most of his paintings in 1927 in Berlin; some of them were bought by the Wroclaw collector Max Silberberg. Today, the works that used to be in the collection of Leo Lewin can be admired in the largest European museums and art galleries.
The villa of Leo Lewin at present
The villa of Carl Sachs
The unusual villa of Carl Sachs, located at today’s Januszowicka 18, is currently adorned with a sentence by Virgil Omnia vincit amor. Carl Sachs was a merchant, entrepreneur, and art collector. His collection was also dominated by French and German paintings, including the works of Wroclaw artists. He had valuable paintings by Claude Monet, Alfred Sisley and Auguste Renoir, drawings by Pablo Picasso and Edvard Munch, as well as works by Max Slevogt and Max Liebermann. In addition, he was interested in graphics and drawings, which formed a separate, sophisticated collection. Carl Sachs supported the development of culture and art in the city, he was one of the co-founders of the Jewish Museum Society in Wroclaw, and he donated a large part of his collection to the Silesian Museum of Fine Arts, which earned him extraordinary recognition.
Before the war, Sachs emigrated to Switzerland, where he died in 1943. The art lover sold part of his collections at auctions and left a large part in Wroclaw institutions, taking care only to maintain the integrity of individual collections.
Południowy Park
Describing the villa Borek, where the Jewish elite of Wroclaw lived, it is impossible not to mention the entrepreneur Julius Schottländer, who founded the estate, offering the city a huge area – one part was built up, and in the other part Południowy Park was designed. Together with Professor Ferdinand Julius Cohn, an outstanding botanist and honorary citizen of Wroclaw, they are the main authors of the park, which is – in the past and today – a quiet oasis and a refuge from the city noise. This place has been on the list of Wroclaw monuments for a quarter of a century.
The design of the park was typical of the urban green area plans and reflected the geographical characteristics of Silesia – there is a swamp-lowland part with a pond, a forest part and a mountain part, i.e. a mound hill located in the southern part of the park. The place was also famous for the richness of tree species, beautiful avenues and impressive landscape architecture. The carefully planned panorama could be admired from the majestic Haase restaurant, which was located next to the pond and was the focal point of the park until 1945. In the northern part, there was the Schottländer pavilion commemorating the founder of many buildings located in the south of Wroclaw. A monument in honour of Ferdinand Julius Cohn was also erected in the park, but in 1938, on the wave of anti-Semitic intensification, it was destroyed by the Nazis.
Południowy Park postcard (Poloniae Amici)