Kurt Martin

Between 1934 and 1939 the Staatliche Kunsthalle was limited in its activities. In the years between 1934 and 1937 the orangery building of the botanical garden was remodeled in order to accommodate a special department for the Baden paintings of the late 19th and 20th century as from 1938. Since 1934 the department of the old German Masterpieces had been reorganized. It was reopened to the public in 1937. Finally, the also redesigned department of the Dutch and Flemish painters reopened as well.[11]

Between 1934 and 1937 several exhibitions were organized in the gallery of prints, including an exhibition about Hans Thoma in 1934 and an exhibition of the most recent acquisitions of old German masterpieces by the Staatliche Kunsthalle in 1936.[11]

Furthermore, two travelling exhibitions were organized for the elementary schools in Baden. In 1936 an exhibition about Hans Thoma was shown in 55 locations and totaled about 90.000 visitors, and in 1937 an exhibition about Albrecht Dürer was shown in 25 locations and registered about 45.000 visitors.[11]

Between 1934 and 1937 the Staatliche Kunsthalle organized annually, among others, about forty tours for the Reichsarbeitsdienst (Reichs Labor Service), the organization "Kraft durch Freude" (KdF) (Strength Through Joy), the NS-Frauenschaft (Nazi women’s organization), the sisterhood of the Red Cross and schools.[11]

Just before the beginning of the war, on July 2, 1939, the museum was reopened and back in full operation.[12] At the same time the Kunsthalle celebrated its 100th anniversary. On this occasion Robert Wagner opened a memorial exhibition for Hans Thoma showing 180 works. Besides private collectors and galleries, the Nationalgalerie (National Gallery) in Berlin, the Hamburger Kunsthalle (Art Gallery Hamburg) and the Städtische Galerie Frankfurt (Municipal Gallery Frankfurt) contributed to this exhibition with loans. Martin meant to present Thoma as "a master of the German landscape and as a great portraitist".[13] At the same time the newly renovated "Feuerbachsaal" was reopened to the public. It contained the German paintings of the 19th century that had been "rearranged". The state government of Baden donated a work of Trübner, and the city of Karlsruhe a work of Thoma.

From 1940 on, the Kunsthalle remained closed.[14]

Between 1934 and 1937 the Kunsthalle acquired 115 paintings under the direction of Martin, including works of Hans Thoma, Emil Lugo and Hermann Daur.[15]

From 1938 to 1939 the Kunsthalle acquired 53 paintings. Martin emphasized paintings of Wilhelm Trübner, Anselm Feuerbach and Hans Thoma in his account report. Among the works that were marked as "transfers" were paintings by Karl Buchholz, Hermann Burte, Joseph Fratrel and Adolph von Menzel. At the same time the Kunsthalle acquired 175 drawings, 636 graphic print works and four sketchbooks. Regarding the drawings, Martin emphasized eight sheets by Ferdinand Kobell, three by Franz Kobell and nine by Wilhelm Trübner, as well as – a gift of the NSDAP-Gauleitung of Baden – the "valuable early drawing of Hans Thoma, Schönau im Wiesental (Schönau in the valley of Wiesen)".[16]

In 1940, the collection of the Staatliche Kunsthalle Karlsruhe "was enriched by a few works mainly by artists from Baden". For example, the museum acquired paintings from Albert Lang, Fritz Boehle, Ferdinand Keller, Ernst Württemberger, and Eduard Hunziker, and several drawings by Hans Thoma and Ferdinand Keller.[17]

In his activities report for the year 1940, Martin wrote: "The General Administration managed to accomplish a few essential acquisitions for the public museums which will be reported about later in context."[17]

The Kunsthalle Karlsruhe continuously took over art works from originally Jewish property. In a statement from 1947, Martin listed about 100 works, including works from the collections of Richard Lenel, Mannheim (one work), Benno Weil, Mannheim (one work), Siegfried Reiss, Mannheim (44 works), Arthur Levis, Karlsruhe (one work), E. Reiss, Heidelberg (three works), Paul Homburger, Karlsruhe (three works), Ettlinger, Karlsruhe (one work),[18] Klara Goldschmit, Karlsruhe, Salomon, Karlsruhe (one work), Ernst Gallinek, Baden Baden (16 works and a porcelain collection including more than 400 objects)[19] and Violetta von Waldberg, Heidelberg (wife of Max von Waldberg)[20] (four works). The Kunsthalle took over these works from other State authorities that had expropriated the previous owners. Most of the works mentioned by Martin were transferred to the Kunsthalle from authorities, partly against payment. The Kunsthalle acquired 20 works on its own initiative from an "Auction Sale of Jewish Property 6th-9th August 1941 in Karlsruhe".[21]

In 1935, Kurt Martin acquired the work Portrait of the Marchesa Veronica Spinola Doria by Peter Paul Rubens for 63.000 Reichsmark at the liquidation auction of the gallery van Diemen & Co. GmbH.[22] In the 1950s the Kunsthalle Karlsruhe paid compensation to the heirs of the Jewish gallery directors. In 2000 a new compensation was claimed without success.[23] This acquisition was not mentioned in the report for the years 1934 until 1937.[17]

With the occupation of Alsatia, Robert Wagner became chief of the Alsatian Civilian Administration and had complete political freedom. It was his main objective to ensure that Alsatia become "German" again, in particular that Strasbourg become the "preeminent first cultural center of the German Reich".[24] He pursued this goal in the performing arts by founding several theatres and establishing German libraries.[25] Moreover, he prohibited the use of the French language in public and Germanized all toponyms.[26]

Kurt Martin was responsible for the museums and helped Wagner prepare his "vision of a cultural model-district Alsatia-Baden".[27]

NK 2556: Master of Frankfurt – St. Christopherus, 1942, bought from Paul Cassirer, Amsterdam

On November 17, 1940, as "State Representative for the Museums in Alsatia", Martin describes the initial situation in Strasbourg in the light of the new political realities in an article about the future of the museums in "our land at the Upper Rhine": In the city, the Palais Rohan[28] and the Frauenhausmuseum unite the architecture of the Middle Ages and the 18th century in a "unique way in Germany". This unity is also reflected in the museums' inventories. Martin aimed especially at the development of museums as places of national education with a regional and local focus.

With this scope in mind, Martin aimed at the expansion of the Strasbourg collection "on European grounds". He wanted to develop the collection as a collection of European significance.[29]

At the instigation of Wagner, Martin became director of the Municipal Museums of Strasbourg.[30] He also kept his position in Karlsruhe. As of April 1, 1941 he became the Director of the General Administration of the Upper Rhine Museums, thus of all museums in Baden and Alsatia.

From 1941 to 1944, Martin purchased about 40 paintings and a series of other objet d'arts in the Netherlands.[31] Some works with Dutch provenance, which Martin purchased, are part of the Dutch art collection (NK Collection) today.[32]

In the database of the NK Collection, the following purchases of Martin are listed:

NK 2740: ter Borch (previously attributed to) – Music lesson, 1942, purchased of the Dienststelle Mühlmann

Kurt Martin was able to reintegrate his position as director of the Staatliche Kunsthalle Karlsruhe immediately in the summer of 1945, especially because Walter W. Horn, officers from the French Art Protection and his former French colleagues from Strasbourg confirmed his great integrity and qualification. Martin supported the French and American authorities in locating and rescuing the artworks that had been stored for purposes of protection during wartime.[60]

In 1946 he co-founded the International Council of Museums and remained director of the German National Committee for 15 years. From 1948 until shortly before his death in 1975, he was a member of the administrative board of the Germanic National Museum in Nuremberg.[61] In 1947 he was already able to exhibit masterpieces of the museum in St. Gall. In 1951 he reopened the museum in Karlsruhe. He added a pedagogical department to the museum, which was a novel idea at the time. In 1948 he curated an exhibition of German art for the Federal Foreign Office, which was shown in several cities in the United States.[62] In 1950 he organized the exhibition Des maîtres de Cologne à Albrecht Dürer showing works of old German masters in Paris. He initiated the exhibition German watercolors, drawings and prints: A midcentury review, which was shown by the German government in the US in 1956. Martin was one of the co-founders of the documenta in Kassel, an exhibition for contemporary art that took place for the first in time 1956. He was a member of the documenta-council for many years.[61]

In 1956 he became director of the Academy of Art Karlsruhe. In 1957 he transferred to Munich, succeeding Ernst Buchner in the General Direction of the Bayerische Staatsgemäldesammlungen (Bavarian State Painting Collections). He retired in 1964. In Munich, Martin was responsible for the establishment of several museum branches in different cities in Bavaria. He also promoted the extension of the Munich Museum collections to contemporary art works.