Audiostation - Was ist ein jüdisches Objekt? Wegmarken Jüdischer Geschichte

Cup with a view of Salomon Heine’s Country House

M: An red cup with golden feet, featuring a landscape with a magnificent house. Why is it on display here in the exhibition? Did the cup belong to a Jewish household?

F: Well, maybe, but we don’t know for sure. The interesting thing about this cup is what’s pictured on it.

M: The villa?

F: Exactly…

M: Whose house was it?

F: The villa is on Elbchaussee. It’s actually more of a country house because of the huge park around it. It belonged to the Hamburg banker Salomon Heine, who bought the house in 1812. Back then, he was one of the richest men in Hamburg…

M: Salomon Heine? Was he in any way related to the famous poet,
Heinrich Heine?

F: Actually, yes: he was his uncle. Salomon Heine was born in Hanover, and when he moved to Hamburg in 1784, he was anything but rich. He made his fortune here in Hamburg, and was always his nephew’s benefactor and patron. But above all, he was one of the most important philanthropists and financiers of the city of Hamburg.

M: Really? What did he finance?

F: The Israelite Hospital in the St. Pauli district, for example, which he had built after the death of his wife Betty. And in 1842, after much of the city of Hamburg was destroyed by a huge fire, his donations and interestfree loans contributed significantly to the city’s reconstruction.

M: So, Salomon Heine was something like a citizen of honour here in Hamburg, and that’s why his country house was pictured on cups?

F: Well, no. Even though he was rich and philanthropic, because he was Jewish he was never granted formal civil rights in Hamburg.

M: How can that be? Even after he more or less saved Hamburg?!

F: In fact, he only received recognition for his good deeds after his death. Because he was Jewish, he wasn’t even allowed to own a house in Hamburg at that time. But his country house was in Ottensen, which back then still belonged to the Duchy of Holstein. There, Jewish people could legally own real estate. Salomon Heine’s country house became a popular meeting place for Jewish and non-Jewish people.

M: Interesting. So, Heine himself was treated like a second-class citizen by the city of Hamburg, but his house was so famous that its picture was printed on cups? Like the Elbe Philharmonic Hall today?

F: Something like that. The material and workmanship here, of course, are somewhat higher quality. Back then, other country estates on the Elbe were also depicted on cups or vases. Cups like these were bought by wealthy citizens who admired the magnificent estates while strolling along the Elbe …

M: But if the cup was just a souvenir, why is it here in the museum now?

F: Good question. It was purchased in 1934 by the museum director of the time, Hubert Stierling, along with several other objects. Does the year of the purchase suggest anything to you?

M: Not really, yet… But – at that time, was it even allowed to exhibit anything at all that had to do with Jewish people in a museum?

F: You’re on the right track! Nothing of the kind was allowed to be exhibited or purchased…

M: So the museum director didn’t even notice what he was buying? Did the cup just slip by him somehow, or didn’t he recognize the house on it?

F: Well, you can be pretty sure that Hubert Stierling was familiar with the history of the city and its buildings. Actually, by then the villa wasn’t even still standing: it had been torn down in 1880.

M: Okay, so this cup was bought on purpose in 1934. Did Stierling buy any other objects of Jewish life for the museum?

F: Well, he was at least always interested in Jewish topics. We know that he wanted to buy a portrait of Salomon Heine in 1933, but he was forbidden to do so for political reasons.

M: So, instead of the portrait, he secretly smuggled a small cup with a view of Heine’s country house into the museum?

F: It could be. There are no records from 1934 regarding why he bought the cup. But it’s a nice thought that a cup featuring a picture of Salomon Heine’s country house could find its way, during the Nazi Regime, into a place where it wasn’t officially allowed to be.

M: That’s definitely true. Still, I honestly have to wonder why it’s now on display here, in the exhibition on Jewish life in Hamburg, if it was only a souvenir and possibly never even belonged to a Jewish family. Can it truly even be referred to as a “Jewish object”?

F: A good question that’s not easy to answer. But let me ask you something: What, in your opinion, makes an object a “Jewish object”?

M: Well, for example, things belonging to Jewish people that also pertain to a specific tradition. But… that alone might be a bit short-sighted. After all, the cup with the picture of the villa also tells us something about Salomon Heine’s life, regardless of who owned it.

F: Exactly. And it also offers an opportunity to talk about how museums dealt with Jewish issues during the National Socialist era. That, too, is a valid argument for the cup’s inclusion in an exhibition on “Jewish history”, don’t you think?