Friedrich Christian Flick, an art collector and philanthropist, is planning to give his collection to the Hamburger Bahnhof as a permanent loan. This offer has drawn a lot of criticism because Flick's grandfather used slave and forced labor during the war; Germany's Jewish Central Council has said that the collection was built up with "blood money," and that Flick's generosity could "outshine" the crimes of his grandfather, but "can never mitigate them." The Foundation of the National Museums of Berlin has defended Flick, saying that the grandchildren and great-grandchildren can't bear an eternal familial guilt, and, essentially, that art shouldn't be a victim of history. (Remember that the Berlin museums recently made a big show of returning a Friedrich to the decendents of its former owner after it was discovered that the painting was forcibly purchased by the Nazis.)
In an public letter in the Tagesspiegel, Flick said he was "shocked" by the Central Council's accusations of whitewashing:
Blood money. Bringing this expression into the debate means, if one follows it through, that I have blood on my hands. And further still: so do my children, and their children after them, all of the employees who receive a salary from me, even the waiters whom I give tips. Blood money: this phrase makes me responsible for the deeds of my grandfather, actions for which he was condemned at Nuremburg, and for which I also condemned him—but for which I cannot be found guilty. This expression, I feel, seeks to set me outside of the community, to criminalize me.
The collection, which has yet to be described in much detail (apparently over 1800 works by 150 artists), has caused interesting reactions, especially among Berlin's politicians. Thomas Flierl, Berlin's senator for culture, suggested that while accepting the collection raises painful questions about Germany's past, it might be a chance to "make the historical rupture with which the city and all of German society lives with into the focus of a public discussion of the past."
It's the old question: when / where does blame for the "deeds of the fathers" stop? Not easy to reconcile.
Comments
Danaum fatale munus
Seit Monaten geistert eine Geschichte durch die Niederungen der deutschen Medienlandschaft, die eindeutig mehr Aufmerksamkeit hätte. Zum Einen, weil sie so viele Gesichter hat. Etwa das einer Stadt, die offensichtlich immer noch nicht pleite genug ist, um nicht doch noch ein paar Millionen in die Luft zu pulvern...
Posted by: Jochen at June 4, 2004 09:36 AM