 |
 |
 |
|||
Description
‘Äpfel-Stilleben’ (‘Apple Still Life’)
Biography: Ludwig Platzöder
Displayed at the Great German Art Exhibition 1944 room 11.
Bought for 4,500 Reichsmark by August von Finck, owner of the private bank Merck, Finck & Co, also known as the ‘Führers Bank’, and co-founder/financier of the House of German Art.
Confiscated by The Monuments Men, and stored in the Central Collection Point Munich.
Oil on board, signed November 1943. With original frame.
Official GDK-sticker on the back. The text reads: ‘Address for return shipment – August von Finck – München – Pfandhausstrasse 4 – Value 4,500 Reichsmark’.
Official GDK-sticker on the back.
The red dot sticker means that the painting was not (or no longer) for sale at the exhibition. The number 29329 was written on it by the CCP-Munich; it corresponds with the number on the CCP-Property Card.
August von Finck
August von Finck Sr. (1898 – 1980) was a German banker and businessman. He was the son of banker Wilhelm von Finck (1848–1924), founder of insurance giant Allianz and private bank Merck, Finck & Co. Merck, Finck & Co. which served as Hitler’s personal bank.
August von Finck was one of the most influential bankers of the Weimar Republic and Nazi Germany. He financed Hitler in the 1930s. He was described as the ‘richest and stingiest’ man in Bavaria.
As per the wishes of his father, von Finck became principal partner at Merck, Finck after his father’s death in 1924. Von Finck also inherited his father’s other business holdings and a large amount of land.
On February 3, 1931, Wilhelm von Finck, along with other industrialists, met Adolf Hitler for their first time at the Hotel Kaiserhof in Berlin. At this meeting, von Finck and Schmitt committed 5 million Reichsmark from Allianz to fund the SA in the event of a leftist uprising. In May 1933, von Finck became a member of the NSDAP. He helped raise funds to build Haus der Deutschen Kunst, and used his hunting lodge in the Upper Bavarian Alps to entertain Nazi elite such as Gauleiter Adolf Wagner. Between 1933 and 1938, he actively supported and personally benefited from the Aryanization of Jewish property. He played a leading role in the forced acquisition of Jewish-owned companies across Germany and, after the Anschluss, in Austria. A notable example was the Viennese bank S. M. von Rothschild, which was transferred to Merck, Finck & Co. at a fraction of its value. This transaction significantly strengthened Merck, Finck & Co.’s position, helping it become one of the leading private banks in Europe. He also profited substantially during the war years. Allianz expanded and thrived under the Nazi regime, thanks in large part to the close ties cultivated between the company, the Finck family, and the NSDAP.
In a letter to the Chamber of Commerce in 1937, he wrote: ‘Today, the German private banking sector is still largely made up of non-Aryan firms. The gradual cleansing of this trade, which is strongly influenced by the Jewish element, must not be halted by the granting of applications for exemptions but must … be promoted by all means.’
After the end of World War II, von Finck withdrew temporarily and management was handed over to a trustee. He asserted that he was apolitical, even anti-Nazi, and submitted forty Persilschein to denazification court. Von Finck spent 500,000 deutsche marks to make sure that incriminating witnesses did not appear in court or alter what they had intended to say. He also threatened the prosecutor that he would reveal that he was a homosexual. In 1948, he was classified as a “fellow traveler” of the Nazis and the court ordered him to pay 2,000 marks to a restitution fund. Von Finck, dissatisfied, appealed and was granted amnesty. Von Finck was suspended from running a bank for five years. In 1951, he returned to his positions and took a conservative course in running the bank. He rebuilt Merck, Finck & Co. after the war despite tremendous handicaps.
August von Finck died 22 April 1980 in Möschenfeld, Bavaria (source: Wikipedia).
Left: August von Finck, standing behind the lectern, performing the Nazi salute during the “Richtfest” topping out ceremony of the Haus der Deutschen Kunst, 29 June 1935, in the presence of Adolf Hitler.
Right: August von Finck next to Hitler, during the topping out ceremony.
Left: 16 July 1939, August von Finck made a speech on the occasion of the opening of the Grosse Deutsche Kunstausstellung in Munich.
Right: Inauguration of the Haus der Deutschen Kunst, 18 July 1937. The photo shows August von Finck in conversation with Adolf Hitler.
Below: August von Finck (far left) touring Haus der Deutschen Kunst with Hitler and Goebbels.
Property Card of the CCP-Munich, documenting 13 confiscated paintings from the Haus der Deutschen Kunst, numbered 29318 – 29330, including number 29329 (see painting). Arrival date in de CCP-Munich: 5 June 1946.
Property Card of the CCP-Munich, describing ‘Äpfelstilleben’ by Platzöder. Notice the numbers 29329 and 495, corresponding with the numbers on the back of the painting.
Two confiscated Platzöder paintings were hung, after 1945, in the ‘General’s Bar’, located in the Haus der Deutschen Kunst (officially known as ‘Die Goldene Bar’, or ‘The Golden Bar’).
From 1945, the Haus der Deutschen Kunst served as a central headquarters and officers’ mess for the U.S. Army. During this time, the bar was a popular gathering spot for high-ranking military personnel, which likely contributed to its reputation as a ‘General’s Bar’ or ‘Officers’ Bar.
Part of the Memorandum Receipt, ‘OFFICE OF MILITARY GOVERNMENT FOR BAVARIA, Monuments, Fine Arts and Archives Section, Central Collecting Point Munich, 2 December 1946’.
| – condition | : II |
| – size | : 55 x 70 cm |
| – signed | : right, under (and on the back) |
| – type | : oil on board |
============================================ § ============================================