Bernhard Koehler (born 7 November 1849 in

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

; died 30 March 1927 in

) was a German industrialist and art collector.

Life

Koehler, who came from a family of merchants, grew up in Berlin. In 1876, Koehler founded the ''Mechanische Werkstätten'' (lit. 'Mechanical Workshops'). The company, located in Berlin-

Kreuzberg Kreuzberg () is a district of Berlin, Germany. It is part of the Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg borough located south of Berlin-Mitte, Mitte. During the Cold War era, it was one of the poorest areas of West Berlin, but since German reunification in ...

, was internationally successful and allowed Koehler to amass a substantial fortune. Beside his businesswork Koehler became an art collector. In the 1900s, Koehler came into contact with German painters in Munich such as

August Macke August Robert Ludwig Macke (3 January 1887 – 26 September 1914) was a German Expressionist painter. He was one of the leading members of the German Expressionist group Der Blaue Reiter (The Blue Rider). He lived during a particularly activ ...

Franz Marc Franz Moritz Wilhelm Marc (8 February 1880 – 4 March 1916) was a German painter and printmaking, printmaker, one of the key figures of German Expressionism. He was a founding member of ''Der Blaue Reiter'' (The Blue Rider), a journal whose ...

via his niece Elisabeth Gerhardt, who in 1909 eventually married Macke. He became a patron of Macke and gave him 300 Franc for a journey to Paris. Since 1910, Koehler also gave 200 Mark each month to Franz Marc, who was rather poor. In return for his financial aid he received several paintings from both Macke and Marc. In 1911, Koehler came into contact with artists of

Neue Künstlervereinigung München The Neue Künstlervereinigung München (N.K.V.M.), ("New Artists' Association Munich") was an Expressionism art group based in Munich. The registered association was formed in 1909 and prefigured ''Der Blaue Reiter'' (The Blue Rider), the first ...

. He was a financier of the almanach by

Der Blaue Reiter ''Der Blaue Reiter'' (''The Blue Rider'') was a group of artists and a designation by Wassily Kandinsky and Franz Marc for their exhibition and publication activities, in which both artists acted as sole editors in the almanac of the same name ...

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

and in 1913 of the Erster Deutscher Herbstsalon in Berlin, which was organized by

Herwarth Walden Herwarth Walden (actual name Georg Lewin; 16 September 1879 – 31 October 1941) was a German expressionist artist and art expert in many disciplines. He is broadly acknowledged as one of the most important discoverers and promoters of German av ...

, August Macke and Franz Marc. In 1914, he gave financial help to Franz Marc for his journey to

Tunis Tunis (, ') is the capital city, capital and largest city of Tunisia. The greater metropolitan area of Tunis, often referred to as "Grand Tunis", has about 2,700,000 inhabitants. , it is the third-largest city in the Maghreb region (after Casabl ...

. During his lifetime, Koehler's art collection was located in his family home in Berlin. In 1927, Koehler died and was buried in Berlin-

Neukölln Neukölln (), officially abbreviated Neuk, is one of the twelve boroughs of Berlin. It is located south-east of Berlin's center and stretches from the inner city southward to the border with Brandenburg, encompassing the eponymous quarter of Neu ...

. His son Bernhard Koehler (1882–1964) became owner of the art collection. He sold some paintings at the end of the 1920s and some paintings got lost during World War II, as the factory and the family home got destroyed. Some of the more important paintings, however, were given to the

Nationalgalerie The National Gallery () in Berlin, Germany, is a museum for art of the 19th, 20th and 21st centuries. It is part of the Berlin State Museums. From the Alte Nationalgalerie, which was built for it and opened in 1876, its exhibition space has expan ...

during the war and came to

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

at the end of the War due to

art theft Art theft, sometimes called art napping, is the stealing of paintings, sculptures, or other forms of visual art from galleries, museums or other public and private locations. Stolen art is often resold or used by criminals as collateral to ...

.''Fabrik, Wohnhaus und Sammlung Bernhard Koehler''
, berlinintensiv.de, retrieved 12 March 2013 Some other paintings of Koehlers art collections are located in the Städtischen Galerie im Lenbachhaus in Munich today.

Art collection from Bernhard Koehler

Gustave Courbet - Reclining Woman.jpg,

Gustave Courbet Jean Désiré Gustave Courbet ( ; ; ; 10 June 1819 – 31 December 1877) was a French painter who led the Realism movement in 19th-century French painting. Committed to painting only what he could see, he rejected academic convention and the ...

:
''Femme couchée''
today Eremitage,
St. Petersburg Pierre Auguste Renoir - La Promenade.jpg,

Pierre-Auguste Renoir Pierre-Auguste Renoir (; ; 25 February 1841 – 3 December 1919) was a French people, French artist who was a leading painter in the development of the Impressionism, Impressionist style. As a celebrator of beauty and especially femininity, fe ...

:
''La Promenade''
today Getty Museum,
Los Angeles Paul Gauguin 143.jpg,

Paul Gauguin Eugène Henri Paul Gauguin (; ; 7 June 1848 – 8 May 1903) was a French painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramist, and writer, whose work has been primarily associated with the Post-Impressionist and Symbolist movements. He was also an influ ...

:
''Wohin gehst Du?''
today Staatsgalerie,
Stuttgart Image:Vincent van Gogh - Boats at Saintes-Marie watercolour.jpg,

Vincent van Gogh Vincent Willem van Gogh (; 30 March 185329 July 1890) was a Dutch Post-Impressionist painter who is among the most famous and influential figures in the history of Western art. In just over a decade, he created approximately 2,100 artworks ...

: ''Fischerboote in Saintes-Marie''
today Eremitage,
St. Petersburg Paul Cezanne - Mont Sainte-Victoire 1897.jpg,

Paul Cézanne Paul Cézanne ( , , ; ; ; 19 January 1839 – 22 October 1906) was a French Post-Impressionism, Post-Impressionist painter whose work introduced new modes of representation, influenced avant-garde artistic movements of the early 20th century a ...

:
''

Mont Sainte-Victoire Montagne Sainte-Victoire (Provençal dialect, Provençal according to Occitan language#Writing system, classical orthography and according to Occitan language#Writing system, Mistralian orthography) is a limestone mountain ridge in the south ...

''
today Eremitage,
St. Petersburg Georges Seurat - View of Fort Samson.jpg,

Georges Seurat Georges Pierre Seurat ( , ; ; 2 December 1859 – 29 March 1891) was a French post-Impressionist artist. He devised the painting techniques known as chromoluminarism and pointillism and used conté crayon for drawings on paper with a rough ...

:
''Blick auf Fort Samson''
today Eremitage,
St. Petersburg August Macke - Indianer auf Pferden.jpg,

:
''Indianer auf Pferden''
today Lenbachhaus, Munich Marc-cats on a red cloth.jpg,

:
''Katzen auf rotem Tuch'', 1909/10, private collection Marc-deer in a monastery garden.jpg,

:
Franz Marc: ''Reh im Klostergarten'', 1912,
today Lenbachhaus, Munich August Macke 051.jpg,

: ''Türkisches Café'', 1914, today

Städtische Galerie im Lenbachhaus The Lenbachhaus () is a building housing the Städtische Galerie (English: Municipal Gallery) art museum in Munich's ''Kunstareal''. The building The Lenbachhaus was built as a Florentine-style villa for the painter Franz von Lenbach between ...

, München Marc-monkey frieze.jpg,

: ''Affenfries'', 1911, today

Kunsthalle Hamburg The Hamburger Kunsthalle is the art museum of the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg, Germany. It is one of the largest art museums in the country. It consists of three connected buildings, dating from 1869 (main building), 1921 (Kuppelsaal) and ...

Franz Marc, Der tote Spatz, 1905.jpg,

: ''Der tote Spatz'', 1905

Literature

Berlinische Galerie The Berlinische Galerie is a museum of modern art, photography and architecture in Berlin. It is located in Kreuzberg, on Alte Jakobstraße, not far from the Jewish Museum. The Berlinische Galerie collects art created in Berlin since 1870 with a ...

: ''Stationen der Moderne'' Berlin 1988 * Albert Kostenewitsch: ''Aus der Eremitage, verschollene Meisterwerke deutscher Privatsammlungen'' Munich 1995 * Andrea Pophanken, Felix Billeter: ''Die Moderne und ihre Sammler'' Berlin 2001

External links

Lenbachhaus.de: Portrait of Bernhard Koehler

Stadtgeschichten Munich: Bernhard-Koehler-Weg

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Koehler, Bernhard 20th-century German businesspeople German company founders Businesspeople from Berlin 20th-century German art collectors 1849 births 1927 deaths Art crime Businesspeople from the Kingdom of Prussia