Experts and appraisers-Archiv - »Besitzen Sie Gemälde,...?«

Willy Wingberg

Name: Willy Wingberg

Personal details: Jeweller with his own workshop and expert at the Berlin Regional Tax Office

Address: Potsdamer Straße 36, Berlin W 9 (Tiergarten)

Appraised object group: Silver, jewellery, precious stones.

Traces in the files: Commissioned by the tax authorities to appraise a wide variety of jewellery and handicrafts made of precious metals or gemstones

Image of a printed letterhead — Letterhead of Willy Wingberg. BLHA, Rep. 36A (II) No. 27542, fol. 54.

Wilhelm Schäfer

Name: Wilhelm Schäfer

Personal details: Sworn expert, employee at the Berlin art dealership Quantmeyer & Eicke, which was considered a „NS-Musterbetrieb“ (model Nazi business) and maintained close contacts with the leaders of the Nazi regime

Address: Kronenstraße 61/63, Berlin W 8 (Mitte)

Appraised object group: carpets

Traces in the files: He was always consulted as an expert on carpets

Image of a red round stamp with signature — Stamp and signature of Wilhelm Schäfer, June 1940. BLHA, Rep. 36A (II) No. 6902, fol. 162

Max Ludwig Niederlechner

Name: Max Ludwig Niederlechner

Personal details: Bookseller at Lange & Springer, expert, representative of the Reichsschrifttumskammer (Reich Chamber of Literature)

Address: Unter den Linden 60, Berlin NW 7 (Mitte); Albrechtstraße 91, Berlin (Steglitz)

Appraised object group: Books, libraries

Traces in the files: He was apparently the only appraiser for private libraries on behalf of the OFP. He regularly suggested buyers. He also demonstrably acted as a buyer of a gentleman's study interior at an auction.

Excerpt from a document with pre-printed letterhead — Letterhead Max Niederlechner. BLHA, Rep. 36A (II) No. 444, fol. 85

Green stamp and signature in green ink — Stamp and Signature Max Niederlechner. BLHA, Rep. 36A (II) No. 444, fol. 85

Dr. Ludwig Schmidt-Bangel

Name: Dr. Ludwig Schmidt-Bangel

Personal details: Expert for the Deutsche Rechtsfront (German Legal Front), art historian. Sworn expert for movable interior furnishings since 1913. From 1922 to 1931, handled art auctions and cataloguing. Member of the NSDAP since 1933.

Adrdess: Hubertusallee 2, Berlin (Grunewald)

Appraised object group: Furniture, works of art

Traces in the files: Frequently used by the OFP for inventorying and valuing art objects and interior furnishings

Excerpt from a document, letterhead — Letterhead Ludwig Schmidt-Bangel. BLHA, Rep. 36A (II) No. 8094/1, fol. 63

Passport photo of a man, black and white. The man is looking at the camera with a neutral expression — Photo Ludwig Schmidt-Bangel, personal file at the Reich Chamber of Fine Arts. Bundesarchiv Berlin, R 9361-V/105741

Kuno Hilbrich

Name: Kuno Hilbrich

Personal details: Expert and valuer

Adrdess: Schützenstraße 79, Berlin SW 68 (Kreuzberg)

Appraised object group: Furniture, home furnishings and household items of all kinds

Traces in the files: Not often found in the files, his connection to estates is striking

Printed advertisement — Entry for Kuno Hilbrich in the 1940 Berlin telephone directory. Amtliches Fernsprechbuch Berlin 1940, p. 610

Georg Hinsche

Name: Georg Hinsche

Personal details: Expert witness for the Deutschen Rechtsfront (German Legal Front), member of the Reichsfachschaft für das Sachverständigenwesen (Reich Student Council for Expert Witnesses). Also an art and furniture dealer since 1895. Member of the NSDAP since May 1933.

Address: Kurfürstenstraße 81a, Berlin W 62 (Tiergarten)

Appraised object group: Valuation of antique and modern home furnishings, paintings, and art objects

Traces in the files: No specificities

Landscape-format document with pre-printed letterhead — Letterhead from an invoice issued by Georg Hinsche in 1940. Rep. 36A (II) No. 36796, fol. 130

Franz Grosse

Name: Franz Grosse

Personal details: Jeweller, sworn expert of the Industrie- und Handelskammer zu Berlin (Chamber of Industry and Commerce in Berlin) for gold goods and jewellery

Address: Wallstraße 17-18, Berlin C 2 (Mitte)

Appraised object group: Gold goods and jewellery

Traces in the files: no specificities.

Erich Fritz

Name: Erich Fritz

Personal details: Appraiser for the Deutschen Rechtsfront (German Legal Front)

Address: Landhausstraße 2, Berlin (Wilmersdorf); Tauentzienstraße 18a, Berlin (Charlottenburg)

Appraised object group: Carpets, furniture, paintings, sculptures, household goods

Traces in the files: Not often found in the files

Senior bailiffs

As judicial officers, senior bailiffs appear in two roles in the files of the Vermögensverwertungsstelle (Asset Realisation Office):

During the first wave of deportations, senior bailiffs conducted auctions of the deported persons' possessions in their homes, for which they charged 10% of the proceeds as a fee.

They also assessed the furnishings left behind by deported persons in their apartments. They recorded the various items and their estimated values in the form „Inventar und Bewertung“ (Inventory and Valuation). Depending on the value of the furnishings, they charged a tax and administrative fee and invoiced travel expenses, among other things.

Image of a paper document in portrait format. Last page of the ‘Inventory and Valuation’ form filled out on a typewriter. With handwritten annotations and stamps — Page from the appraisal report of senior bailiff Hoffmann. BLHA, Rep. 36A (II) No. 37426, fol. 31v

Bruno Ritter

Name: Bruno Ritter

Personal details: Kunsthändler, Sachverständiger der Deutschen Rechtsfront, Taxator

Address: Rankestraße 31/32, Berlin W 50 (Charlottenburg)

Appraised object group: Paintings, graphic art, silverware, carpets

Traces in the files: Often acted as an appraiser for art objects and valuable furnishings for the OFP