Otto Gerstenberg

Otto Gerstenberg (11 September 1848 – 24 April 1935) was a German entrepreneur, mathematician and an early 20th-century Berlin art collector.

Otto Gerstenberg, 1923
Otto Gerstenberg,painting by Max Liebermann, 1919
Headstone of Gerstenberg in Berlin

Life

In his childhood Gerstenberg lived in Pyritz. Gerstenberg studied mathematics and philosophy in Berlin. Since 1873 Gerstenberg worked as mathematician for assurance Allgemeinen Eisenbahn-Versicherungs-Gesellschaft, which later became German assurance Victoria. In 1888, Gerstenberg became member of supervisory board in that assurance and was since 1891 CEO of the assurance.

In 1884, Gerstenberg married Elise Wilhelmine Winzerling, with her he had two daughters. The family home was first at Großbeerenstraße in Berlin-Kreuzberg and later in Berlin-Lichterfelde. His daughter Margarete married physicist Hans Georg Scharf.

Gerstenberg collected art. His collection was partly destroyed after his death and partly seized as plunder (ending up in Russian museums) during the war.[1][2] His collected paintings went to his daughter, Margarete Scharf, who stored most in the bunker of the Nationalgalerie in Berlin during the war. These were taken to the Soviet Union. But some were put in storage and burned in an air raid.[3] The surviving artworks remained in family ownership and were inherited by his grandson, Dieter Scharf.[4]

Gerstenberg is buried at the St. Annen cemetery in Dahlem, Berlin.[5]

Collected arts by Gerstenberg
  • Honoré Daumier:
    Der eingebildete Kranke
    today: Eremitage
    Sankt Petersburg
  • Gustave Courbet:
    Porträt Gustave Mathieu
    today: Sammlung Oskar Reinhart 'Am Römerholz'
    Winterthur
  • Edgar Degas:
    Place de la Concorde
    today: Eremitage
    Sankt Petersburg
  • Édouard Manet:
    Au café
    today: Sammlung Oskar Reinhart 'Am Römerholz'
    Winterthur
  • Pierre-Auguste Renoir:
    Dans le jardin
    today: Eremitage
    Sankt Petersburg
  • Pierre-Auguste Renoir:
    Femme sur un escalier
    today: Eremitage
    Sankt Petersburg
  • Édouard Manet:
    Pertuiset, the lion hunter
    today: Museu de Arte
    São Paulo
  • Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec:
    Un coin du Moulin de la Galette
    today: National Gallery
    Washington

See also
  • Koch, Peter (1964). "Gerstenberg, Otto". Neue Deutsche Biographie. 6. Duncker & Humblot. p. 327. ISBN 3-428-00187-7.

References
  1. Sammlung Scharf-Gerstenberg: Die helle Seite der Nacht Nicola Kuhn, Der Tagesspiegel, 11 July 2008. Retrieved 14 September 2010. (in German)
  2. Sammlung Scharf-Gerstenberg: Passion für die Fantasie Gudrun Meyer, Focus, 9 July 2008. Retrieved 14 September 2010. (in German)
  3. Steven Erlanger (March 30, 1995), Hermitage, in Its Manner, Displays Its Looted Art New York Times.
  4. Sammlung Scharf-Gerstenberg - Surreale Welten State of Berlin homepage. (in German)
  5. "Otto Gerstenberg (1848-1935) - Find A Grave..." www.findagrave.com. Retrieved 2020-11-27.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.