Art Dealer Alfred Flechtheim - The Rise, the Fall, the Questions

Alfred Flechtheim's accomplishments, persecution and loss of property are analysed from an historical perspective. The study addresses milestones in the art dealer's personal development and his acquisition biography. It focuses on the special circumstances, which led to his complete financial annihilation in Germany after he fled in the autumn of 1933. Who profited from the liquidation of the well-known galleries and who was the driving force behind this? How did Alfred Flechtheim react to losing his business? Was the victim of persecution able to take any action when the Nazi regime forced him to flee and therefore abandon his occupation in the "Third Reich"? On the basis of these questions, many problematic issues which we are currently facing in the attempt to reconstruct the ownership, theft or asset transfers are illuminated. Difficulties arise, for example, due to the considerable time gap to the crimes or the significant lack of source materials. Furthermore, the descriptions in primary sources from the Nazi period often lead to ambiguities or inadmissible blanket judgements, the use of which must, therefore, be critically examined. In doing so, the study also contributes to the better understanding of current debates on the restitution of art and cultural artefacts formerly owned by the victims of persecution under the Nazi regime.