Research conducted as part of a project at the Institute of Art History and Musicology (IKM) at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU) under the direction of Prof. Dr. Elisabeth Oy-Marra brought the book to light. Felix Ganz was murdered in Auschwitz in 1944 together with his wife Erna because of his Jewish origins.
The find, which had previously stood unnoticed in the University Library, is the Insel publishing house "William Cohn: Chinese Painting" from 1922. Nathalie Neumann, a research associate at the Institute of Art History and Musicology (IKM) at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, discovered the inconspicuous book by chance. Prof. Adam Ganz, a great-grandson of Felix Ganz from London, received it in person at the official return in Mainz. Adam Ganz is a professor at the Royal Holloway University of London, associate at the renowned Holocaust Research Institute there, and an associate researcher in the project "Reconstruction of the Felix Ganz Art Collection" funded by the German Lost Art Foundation (DZK) at the chair of Prof. Dr. Elisabeth Oy-Marra.
Nathalie Neumann became aware of the book from Ganz's library, which was discovered in the University Library, through the hitherto unknown ex-libris or ownership stamp of the married couple Gertrud and Felix Ganz. As an art historian at JGU's IKM, Neumann specializes in researching the origins of works of art and other cultural assets. As a collaborator in the research project "The Reconstruction of the Art Collection of Felix Ganz" under the direction of Elisabeth Oy-Marra, she is involved in systematically investigating the whereabouts of Ganz's collection.
The Ganz family played an important role in the cultural life of the city of Mainz, including Felix Ganz, who was active in the 1920s of the last century as secretary of the Gutenberg Society, a member of various cultural institutions in Mainz and a patron of the Romano-Germanic Museum. On his numerous international business trips, including to Paris, London, Istanbul, Tbilisi and Tabriz, he amassed an important collection of art objects from the Near and Far East. The whereabouts of most of his private library and art collection after the expropriation by the National Socialists remained unclear for a long time, until in 2019 some pieces of furniture belonging to Felix Ganz were identified in the Landesmuseum Mainz and exhibited as part of the exhibition "Subject: Acquisition of Jewish property" in Mainz.
The book, which has now been discovered in the University Library, has once again shed a little more light on the matter. "It's an important find that has put us on a new track. We will now find out whether there are any other books from Felix Ganz's library," explains project manager Elisabeth Oy-Marra from the Institute of Art History and Musicology at JGU.
After the re-establishment of the university in 1946, the holdings of the University Library, as well as those of numerous institute and seminar libraries that were later integrated, had to be completely rebuilt, initially with the support of the French occupation authorities. "We are grateful for the interest of provenance research in our holdings and the support of art history. It is only through such cross-state and cross-institutional research efforts that it is possible to clarify the provenance of books entrusted to us from this period and, if necessary, to be able to successfully restitute them," emphasizes Dr. Michael Hansen, Director of the University Library.
The German Lost Art Foundation in Magdeburg, which promotes provenance research at JGU, sees itself as a central point of contact for national and international issues relating to unlawfully confiscated cultural property. The main focus is on the search for so-called Nazi loot, i.e. cultural property confiscated under National Socialism as a result of persecution, especially from Jewish property.
Cover image: Felix Ganz (left) with family, around 1914. Family Archives © Ganz Family
Read more
Contact
Project manager:
Prof. Dr. Elisabeth Oy-Marra
Institute of Art History and Musicology
Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz
55099 Mainz
Tel. +49 6131 39-33875
E-Mail: oymarra@uni-mainz.de
Research assistant:
Nathalie Neumann, M.A.
Institute of Art History and Musicology (IKM)
Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz
55128 Mainz
Tel: +49 160 90311953
E-Mail: naneuman@uni-mainz.de