Hermann Jacob Eissler (20 July 1860

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

– 26 February 1953

Nice Nice ( , ; Niçard: , classical norm, or , nonstandard, ; it, Nizza ; lij, Nissa; grc, Νίκαια; la, Nicaea) is the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative c ...

) was an Austrian entrepreneur and art collector persecuted and plundered by Nazis because of his Jewish origins.

Early life

Eissler was born in Vienna in 1860. He was the son of the timber merchant, and stock broker, Jakob Eissler. He studied at the Vienna Academic Gymnasium . He studied geology with

Eduard Suess Eduard Suess (; 20 August 1831 - 26 April 1914) was an Austrian geologist and an expert on the geography of the Alps. He is responsible for hypothesising two major former geographical features, the supercontinent Gondwana (proposed in 1861) and t ...

at the

University of Vienna The University of Vienna (german: Universität Wien) is a public research university located in Vienna, Austria. It was founded by Duke Rudolph IV in 1365 and is the oldest university in the German-speaking world. With its long and rich h ...

. He married Barbara Havliscek, (died before 1917). In 1929, he married Hortense, née Kopp (1895-1983). He worked at "Josias Eissler & Söhne", which was located at Vienna I., Singerstraße 8; branch in Mistelbach, Lower Austria, Wienerstraße 15-17.

Art collection

Eissler collected paintings, works on paper and sculptures, with his brother Gottfried (1861-1924). The Eisslers were among the best known and most important collectors in Vienna. Their art collections included

Rodin François Auguste René Rodin (12 November 184017 November 1917) was a French sculptor, generally considered the founder of modern sculpture. He was schooled traditionally and took a craftsman-like approach to his work. Rodin possessed a uniqu ...

Goya Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes (; ; 30 March 174616 April 1828) was a Spanish romantic painter and printmaker. He is considered the most important Spanish artist of the late 18th and early 19th centuries. His paintings, drawings, and e ...

, Galasso-Galassi and Italian, French and Spanish artists as well as 19th century Austrian artists such as Ferdinand Georg Waldmüller and

Rudolf von Alt Rudolf Ritter von Alt (; 28 August 1812 – 12 March 1905) was an Austrian landscape and architectural painter. Born as Rudolf Alt, he could call himself von Alt and bear the title of a Ritter (knight) after he gained nobility in 1889. Biogra ...

Nazi persecution

When the Nazis integrated Austria into the Third Reich with the Anschluss in 1938, Eissler was persecuted because he was Jewish. In October 1938, the artworks in his collection were divided within the family between Eissler's wife, who was considered 'Aryan', and Eissler's daughter; nevertheless, the collection was seized shortly thereafter on the basis of the law prohibiting the export of monuments (see § 4a BGBl. Nr. 80/1923). In the spring of 1939, he fled to Hungary. He then emigrated to France, via Switzerland and lived in

. Some of his collection was appropriated by state museums, some works secreted to France, and some sold.

Postwar attempts to reclaim artworks

After

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

I, his widow and daughter tried to recover works of art from Austrian state ownership. Only some of the collection was restored to his heirs. Others are still being searched for. Works from his collection, are in the

National Gallery of Art The National Gallery of Art, and its attached Sculpture Garden, is a national art museum in Washington, D.C., United States, located on the National Mall, between 3rd and 9th Streets, at Constitution Avenue NW. Open to the public and free of ch ...

. Restitutions include: * ''View of Lake Altaussee and the Dachstein'' by Ferdinand George Waldmüller (1834) on loan by the German government to the

Staatliche Kunsthalle Karlsruhe The Staatliche Kunsthalle (State Art Gallery) is an art museum in Karlsruhe, Germany. The museum, created by architect Heinrich Hübsch, opened in 1846 after nine years of work in a neoclassical building next to the Karlsruhe Castle and the ...

, restituted to the heirs of Hermann Eissler in 2020. *Wildbach Strubb er Wildbach Strubb bei Ischlby Ferdinand George Waldmüller (1831) restituted to the heirs of Hermann Eissler in 2020 *''Flora, Hygieia, Hippokrates,'' and ''Galen,'' (four paintings) by Ferdinand George Waldmüller, restituted in 2012.

Gallery

Édouard Manet - Étude por Le bar aux Folies-Bergère.jpg, Le bar aux Folies-Bergère, Édouard Manet Village derrière des arbres, Île-de-France, par Paul Cézanne, Yorck.jpg, Village derrière des arbres, Île-de-France, Paul Cézanne Self-Portrait11.jpg, Self-Portrait, Vincent van Gogh View of Lake Altaussee and the Dachstein by Ferdinand Georg Waldmüller.jpg, View of Lake Altaussee and the Dachstein, Ferdinand Georg Waldmüller

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Eissler, Hermann 1860 births 1953 deaths Austrian businesspeople Austrian art collectors University of Vienna alumni Nazi-looted art Jewish emigrants from Austria after the Anschluss Jewish art collectors Businesspeople from Austria-Hungary