Georg and Margarethe Mecklenburg

Georg Mecklenburg's ex-libris

In 2017 an ex-libris of Georg Mecklenburg could be returned.

The ex-libris was clearly attributable to Georg Mecklenburg, born in Königsberg in 1869. The son of the merchant Louis Mecklenburg and his wife Rosalie moved from Königsberg to Chemnitz, where he owned the dye works 'Kunath & Mecklenburg'. From 1921 to 1927 he was chairman of the Jewish community of Chemnitz. Mecklenburg was also on the board of the Zentralverein der deutschen Juden and was active as a patron and art collector. Georg Mecklenburg took his own life in February 1932.

He was first married to Lucie Mecklenburg née Manasse who died in 1916. His second wife Margarethe Mecklenburg née Pulvermacher lived in Berlin after his death. She was deported to Auschwitz in 1942 and murdered there in 1943.

The bookplate which was part of the ex-libris collection of the Berlin City Library is documented to come from the so-called Collection Treptow (Trp, Hans Pohl), recognizable by Pohl's handwritten note "Ex-libris. Pen drawing by Ollmuth". Which book the ex-libris was taken out of and when could not yet be determined. Since the ex-libris was removed before it was added to the library collection, it is also unclear whether there is a matching book in the collection at all.

The restitution was carried out with the help of the Holocaust Claims Processing Office (HCPO) in New York, which we would like to thank sincerely.

Additional information

The restituted objects at lootedculturalassets.de