Research Projects and Resources:

This research project investigates the history of the "Münchener Kunstversteigerungshaus Adolf Weinmüller“ (Munich Art Auction House Adolf Weinmüller), the predecessor of today's Neumeister auction house in Munich.

The project focuses on the role Adolf Weinmüller played as an art dealer in Nazi Germany.  Weinmüller had been dealing with art since 1921; in 1931, he joined the NSDAP; in 1936, he took over the auction house of the Jewish art dealer Hugo Helbing in Munich, and in 1938 the firm of the Jewish art dealer Herbert Kende in Vienna.  Classified a mere "Mitläufer“ in the denazification process after the war, Weinmüller continued working as an art dealer from 1948 until his death in 1958.  In June 1958, Rudolf Neumeister took over the auction house in Munich.

Apart from investigating the company's history, the project collects and digitizes Weinmüller's Munich and Vienna auction catalogues and is making them available online for researchers.

The project thus significantly contributes to the ZI's research engagements with the Munich art world of the 1930s and 1940s.

Institutions involved:
Zentralinstitut für Kunstgeschichte (project management)
in cooperation with Neumeister Münchener Kunstauktionshaus GmbH & Co. KG, Munich

Funding:
Office for Provenance Research and Investigation at the Institute for Museum Research at the National Museums in Berlin – Foundation of Prussian Cultural Heritage (Arbeitsstelle für Provenienzrecherche/-forschung am Institut für Museumsforschung der Staatlichen Museen zu Berlin – Stiftung Preußischer Kulturbesitz, Berlin) (Funding source: German Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media (Beauftragter für Kultur und Medien, BKM))

Duration:
15 November 2009 to 14 February 2011

Contact and information:
Dr. Christian Fuhrmeister, Meike Hopp M.A., Dr. Stephan Klingen
E-Mail: info@weinmueller-provenienzforschung.de