Erik Ernst Schwabach

In 2014, a loose bookplate by Erik-Ernst Schwabach was returned. The bookplate comes from the bookplate collection of the Berlin City Library, the access route to the collection is unclear.

Erik-Ernst Schwabach, born on 24 January 1891 in Kronstadt/Brassó, was a writer, publisher and patron of the arts. Due to the world economic crisis in the 1920s, Schwabach lost his entire fortune, so that in 1930 he was forced to sell a large part of the furniture and art objects of the family residence, Märzdorf Castle in Lower Silesia, as well as a large part of his library (one announcement mentions 5,000 volumes).

The sale was conducted by the auction house Paul Graupe in Berlin on 14 and 15 November 1930, so from that time onwards a large part of Schwabach's library was on the open market. The ZLB also owns volumes from this auction, which could be clearly proven via the accession books. Whether Schwabach still owned books after this sale, and if so, how many, is unknown.

From 1933 onwards, the hurdles for Erik-Ernst Schwabach, who had been baptised a Christian, to regain a foothold socially and financially increased. The reason for this was the Jewish faith of all four grandparents. At the latest with the introduction of the so-called "Nuremberg Laws" on 15 September 1935, Schwabach could no longer pursue his work as a writer and publisher.

Therefore, he tried to gain a foothold in London from 1936 onwards and commuted back and forth between the German Reich and Great Britain due to visas that were only issued for a few months. However, Schwabach did not manage to continue his old successes in London. He died in London on 4 April 1938. He was buried on 19 April 1938 at the Wilmersdorfer Waldfriedhof in Stahnsdorf.