Siegfried Guggenheim

Siegfried Guggenheim ( born October 12, 1873 in Worms, † January 31, 1961 Flushing, New York ( USA) ) was a German lawyer, notary and art collector. He had to leave Germany in 1938 because of his Jewish ancestry and emigrated to the United States.

Life

Guggenheim was born into a Jewish merchant family. 1900 settled a doctorate in law in Offenbach am Main as a lawyer and in 1919 appointed as a notary. Guggenheim heavily involved in the cultural and social life of Offenbach and was a member of numerous organizations. His interests were especially of art and Jewish culture. He was friends with the font designer Rudolf Koch, promoted artists such as Friedrich Heinrichsen and were also numerous works of art in order. So in the 1920s, tapestries created with texts from the Haggadah, which is still located at the Klingspor Museum, and the so-called Offenbacher Haggadah with illustrations by Fritz Kredel.

Likewise, he took active part in Jewish life. He was a member of the Central Association of German Citizens of Jewish Faith and 1933-1939 Chairman of the Jewish Community Offenbach. He initiated in 1912 with Max Goldschmidt, the former chairman of the Jewish community, the building of the synagogue in Offenbach.

With the seizure of power by the National Socialists accreditation was revoked in 1933 as a notary public, in November 1938, admitted to the bar. After the Kristallnacht on 9 November 1938, he was arrested and deported to the Buchenwald concentration camp. After a few weeks of its release in December - presumably under the condition that they leave Germany. In the same month, he emigrated with his wife Eugenie (1878-1984) to Flushing in New York. 1941 two was stripped of his German citizenship. From exile one correspondence with the Frankfurt journalist and social worker Martha Wertheimer up on supplies for their deportation and published.

1948 Siegfried Guggenheim was made an honorary citizen of the city of Offenbach. In addition, the Siegfried Guggenheim trail is named after him in the Offenbach district Lauterborn. Although he never wanted to return to Germany, he had a desire to be buried there. His ashes were interred in the family grave of his wife in the cemetery in Offenbach.