Caroline Gotzens (born 20 August 1961, in Stein near

Nuremberg Nuremberg (, ; ; in the local East Franconian dialect: ''Nämberch'' ) is the Franconia#Towns and cities, largest city in Franconia, the List of cities in Bavaria by population, second-largest city in the States of Germany, German state of Bav ...

, ''née'' Caroline Elisabeth Renate Ottilie ''Gräfin'' ountessvon Faber-Castell) is a German-Swiss industrial heiress and art collector. She is a family member of the

Cologne Cologne ( ; ; ) is the largest city of the States of Germany, German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with nearly 1.1 million inhabitants in the city pr ...

-based banking dynasty

Oppenheim Oppenheim ( or ) is a town in the Mainz-Bingen district of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Geography Location The town lies on the Upper Rhine in Rhenish Hesse between Mainz and Worms. It is the seat of the Verbandsgemeinde (special ad ...

, as well as of the

Frankish Frankish may refer to: * Franks, a Germanic tribe and their culture ** Frankish language or its modern descendants, Franconian languages, a group of Low Germanic languages also commonly referred to as "Frankish" varieties * Francia, a post-Roman ...

pencil dynasty

Faber-Castell Faber-Castell AG is a German privately-held multinational corporation, multinational manufacturer of pens, pencils, other office supplies (e.g., staplers, slide rules, erasers, rulers)Faber-Castell InternationalOffice Products and art supplies,Fa ...

Family

Gotzens is an 8th generation family member of the Cologne-based banking dynasty von Oppenheim, as well as 9th generation member of the

founding family. She grew up in Klamm Castle in Tyrol and never lived in the family castle in Bavaria. She is widely related to the princely families

Castell-Castell Castell-Castell was a county in the Holy Roman Empire, ruled by a branch of the Counts of Castell. It was established as a partition of Castell-Remlingen in 1668, and it was partitioned between itself and Castell in 1709. It annexed the County ...

and

Castell-Rüdenhausen Castell-Rüdenhausen was a County in the region of Franconia in northern Bavaria of the Holy Roman Empire, ruled by a branch of the Counts of Castell. It was created as a partition of Castell and in 1806, it was mediatised to Bavaria. On 7 Ma ...

. She is married to

Düsseldorf Düsseldorf is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in the state after Cologne and the List of cities in Germany with more than 100,000 inhabitants, seventh-largest city ...

-based entrepreneur Dr Michael Gotzens. The couple has three grown children. Gotzens is the daughter of German billionaire Count Hubertus von Faber-Castell (died 2007) and Countess Liselotte Faber-Castell (''née'' Baecker, born 1939 in

Frankfurt Frankfurt am Main () is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Hesse. Its 773,068 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the List of cities in Germany by population, fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located in the forela ...

). Her mother was married for the second time to famous Rhenish industrialist and sole owner of Hünnebeck,

Hajo Hünnebeck Hajo is a historic town set in the hills northwest of Guwahati, Assam, India. It is a meeting point of Buddhism, Buddhists, Hinduism, Hindus and Islam, Muslims due to the various pilgrimage sites on the different hills of Hajo. To the Hindus, ...

. After the latter's death and the resulting sale of the company, a German law was named after Hünnebeck, as the case filled a loophole of legal tax avoidance for the beneficiaries. Hünnebeck is now part of the Harsco Corporation. Gotzens's father, Count Hubertus von Faber-Castell, brought commercial television to China and is the only European

honorary citizen Honorary citizenship is a status bestowed by a city or other government on a foreign or native individual whom it considers to be especially admirable or otherwise worthy of the distinction. The honor usually is symbolic and does not confer an ...

Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...

. Her younger sister Floria is married to Donatus Prince of Hesse, the head of the “''Hessische Hausstiftung''” (the Hesse family's foundation), one of the most important family foundations of Germany. Gotzens was raised between her paternal grandparents, Roland Count von Faber-Castell (1905-1978) and Alix-May (1907-1979). In 1935 Graf Roland and Alix-May divorced after the magazine

Der Stürmer ''Der Stürmer'' (; literally, "The Stormer / Stormtrooper / Attacker") was a weekly German tabloid-format newspaper published from 1923 to the end of World War II by Julius Streicher, the '' Gauleiter'' of Franconia, with brief suspension ...

criticized her luxurious lifestyle and the words 'Die Oppenheim, das Judenschwein, muss raus aus Stein' (Oppenheim, the Jew-pig, has to leave

Stein Stein may refer to: Places Austria * Stein, a neighbourhood of Krems an der Donau, Lower Austria * Stein, Styria, a municipality in the district of Fürstenfeld, Styria * Stein (Lassing), a village in the district of Liezen, Styria * Stein a ...

) were written on the family's castle, . Her grandmother, Alix-May, belonging to the German-Jewish banking dynasty

, was in the 1930s a victim of constant anti-Semitic attacks. In order to remain in control of the family’s bank, she and her cousins stayed in Germany. Later, the Oppenheim family had to hide to escape Nazi persecution. Gotzens lived with her grandmother in Switzerland until her death in 1979.

Art collection

Her ancestors were famous for collecting art. After the division of the estate, Gotzens obtained ownership of many important pieces. As heir to her grandmother Alix-May, Gotzens litigates in court to receive back the painting 'Die Malkunst' of

Jan Vermeer Johannes Vermeer ( , ; #Pronunciation of name, see below; also known as Jan Vermeer; October 1632 – 15 December 1675) was a Dutch people, Dutch painter who specialized in domestic interior scenes of middle-class life. He is considered one of ...

. The painting was allegedly sold under duress by her step-grandfather to

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (20 April 1889 – 30 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was the dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his suicide in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the lea ...

. The painting is estimated to be worth around €150 million to €400 million and is regarded as the most expensive art piece in Austria. Gotzens is the owner of one of the most important silver and jewellery collections in Germany. Most of the pieces are available to the public in various German museums. Public parts of the private collection have been recorded by the Kunstmuseum Köln under the name "Ein rheinischer Silberschatz-Schmuck und Gerät aus Privatbesitz" (A Rhenish Silver Treasure - Jewellery and Appliances from Private Ownership).

Family

Art collection

References

See also