A successful entrepreneur
Oskar Skaller was a pharmacist who became a successful Berlin entrepreneur in the medical supply industry at the beginning of the 20th century.
His entrepreneurial career began at the turn of the century with the establishment of a chemist’s and a medical‑dressing factory in Berlin, which he sold to the Verband der Deutschen Ortskrankenkassen (Association of German Local Health Insurance Funds) in 1925. At the same time, he purchased M. Pech GmbH, based in Berlin and Cologne, in 1917, which he expanded in the following years. The company manufactured a wide variety of products for medical supplies.
From 1925 onwards, Skaller was also managing director of Mariendorfer Gummiwaren-Fabrik G.m.b.H and a member of numerous other boards of directors.
Living between Berlin and Bad Saarow
Skaller lived in Berlin and Bad Saarow with his wife Lea Skaller, née Herbst, and their two daughters, Hanna Judith and Marianne.
From 1919 to 1933, the Skallers lived in an apartment at Schlüterstraße 45 in Berlin’s Charlottenburg district, close to Kurfürstendamm.
The rooms in Schlüterstraße, like the flat at Württembergische Straße 36, where the family moved in 1933, reflected Skaller’s economic success with their elegant furnishings and numerous works of art.
The furnishings of the Berlin apartment […] were comparable to a private museum, in which antique furniture of considerable value provided an appropriate setting for works of art and collectibles of international standing and renow.
AffidavitLegally binding statement regarding a matter of fact. More by Dr Gerald John Zellner, a friend of the Skaller family, 15 August 1957. Landesarchiv Berlin, B Rep. 025-08, No. 2121/55, fol. 25
In addition to his Berlin residence, Skaller had owned land in Bad Saarow since 1914, where he had a country house built, designed by architect Rudolf Maté.
From Impressionism to Persian ceramics
Oskar Skaller was a well-known collector of German Impressionist paintings in the German capital.
His collection included works by Lovis Corinth, Walter Leistikow, and Max Liebermann, among others.
Sammlung Würth, Inv. 20434, photo: Walter Bayer.
Matthias Eberle, Max Liebermann: Catalogue raisonné, vol. 1, 1995, p. 1107
Oskar Skaller’s lively interest in Impressionist painting led him to appreciate the chromatic qualities of Oriental faience
Dr Ernst Kühnel, staff member of the Islamic Department of the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin in the preface to the auction catalogueDirectory containing detailed information on objects or lots offered at an auction. More. Paul Cassirer, Hugo Helbing (Hrsg): Sammlung Oskar Skaller, Berlin 13. Dezember 1927
In addition to paintings and prints by European artists, Skaller also collected, from the beginning of the 20th century onwards, art objects from Islamic-influenced cultural regions of West and Central Asia, including clay works from western Turkestan and ceramics from Persia and what is now Raqqa in Syria.
Origins of the Collection
Oskar Skaller acquired these objects, among other sources, on the art market as handwritten notes in contemporary auction catalogues attest.
At the auction of Wilhelm Gumprecht’s collection held by art dealers Paul Cassirer and Hugo Helbing in Berlin in 1918, for example, Skaller purchased a total of four Persian ceramics.
In the 1920s, Oskar Skaller expanded his collection by acquiring a substantial group of Persian ceramics.
They came from the estate of Dr Richard Draeger, the former head of the Deutsch-Persische Höhere Lehranstalt in Teheran (German-Persian Higher Educational Institute in Tehran), who had died in 1923.
The collection assembled by Draeger over twelve years in Persia was already known and appreciated within Berlin museum circles. In 1921, the Islamic Department exhibited the Draeger collection, comprising more than 120 Persian faience pieces, at the Kaiser-Friedrich-Museum.
It cannot be ruled out that both the artworks assembled by Richard Draeger and the additional objects acquired by Oskar Skaller on the art market already had a problematic provenanceIn the context of art history: origin of art and cultural assets. More. This may have resulted from unequal power relations between local actors and purchasing individuals or institutions. Individual pieces may also have originated from illicit excavations.
Beginning of the dissolution of the collection
The collection of artworks from regions shaped by Islamic cultures, consisting largely of Persian ceramics, was to remain intact in Oskar Skaller’s possession for only a few years.
Only a few years after the items were purchased, at the beginning of October 1927, Skaller informed the museum employee Ernst Kühnel by letter of the planned auction of his Persian ceramics and asked for assistance with the preparations.
Skaller does not mention why he now wished to sell his collection, which he had significantly expanded only a few years earlier.
Letter from Oskar Skaller to Ernst Kühnel, 8 October 1927. Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Zentralarchiv, SMB-ZA, I/IM 66.
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Title page of the auction catalogue, 13 December 1927. Paul Cassirer, Hugo Helbing (eds), Sammlung Oskar Skaller, Berlin, 13 December 1927 [auction catalogue], title page -
A total of twenty plates in the rear section of the catalogue depict numerous objects. Paul Cassirer, Hugo Helbing (eds), Sammlung Oskar Skaller, Berlin, 13 December 1927 [auction catalogue], Plate 6. -
The catalogue includes illustrations for fifty-five objects. Paul Cassirer, Hugo Helbing (eds), Sammlung Oskar Skaller, Berlin, 13 December 1927 [auction catalogue], Plate 10
Auction at the Kunstsalon Paul Cassirer / Hugo Helbing, 1927
On 13 December 1927, the collection of Persian ceramics was auctioned in the salesrooms of the art dealer Paul Cassirer in Berlin.
The auction catalogueDirectory containing detailed information on objects or lots offered at an auction. More lists a total of 177 artworks. The descriptions of the individual objects and the detailed preface were written by the museum specialist Dr Ernst Kühnel.
Several of the lots passed directly from the auction into public collections in Germany and Europe. Among the buyers were museums in Lund, Stockholm, The Hague, Munich, Bremen, and Stettin.
The Islamic Department of the Kaiser-Friedrich-Museum in Berlin was also able to report four new acquisitions from Skaller’s collection after the auction.
Prior to this, Oskar Skaller had set an amount of 1,500 reichsmarks for which Ernst Kühnel was permitted to “gratis ersteigern” (bid free of charge), meaning he could bid without paying the sum, as the correspondence shows.
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“Sammlung S., Berlin” is the designation used for Oskar Skaller’s collection in the auction catalogue. Internationales Kunst- und Auktions-Haus (ed.), Antiquitäten, Gemälde alter u. neuer Meister, Berlin, 2 February 1932 [auction catalogue], title page. -
None of the ceramics shown on this plate found a buyer at the auction. Internationales Kunst- und Auktions-Haus (ed.), Antiquitäten, Gemälde alter u. neuer Meister, Berlin, 2 February 1932 [auction catalogue], Plate 19.
Auction at the Internationales Kunst- und Auktions-Haus, 1932
The artworks that had not been sold in October 1927 were submitted by Skaller, together with additional art holdings, to the Internationales Kunst- und Auktions-Haus in Berlin in February 1932.
Once again, not all the ceramics submitted found new buyers, and some objects were returned to Skaller.
Persecuted and robbed
With the National Socialist seizure of power in 1933, the Skaller family's life changed abruptly: as a Jews, the successful businessman and his family were subjected to the antisemitic persecution policies of the NS regime.
Professional exclusion
Antisemitic persecution led to Oskar Skaller being dismissed from his position as chairman of the supervisory board at M. Pech A.G. very soon after the National Socialists took power in 1933, and in 1938 from his post as managing director of the Mariendorfer Gummiwarenfabrik
Escalation
During the November pogromsActs of violence organised and directed by the National Socialists against Jews and Jewish institutions on the night of 9 to 10 November 1938. More, antisemites stormed his country house in Bad Saarow, destroying the entire interior. The Skaller family’s fear that Oskar Skaller might be arrested grew.
Flight
Oskar and Lea Skaller decided to leave Germany. Travelling via England, they fled to Johannesburg in South Africa in September 1939. They stored their household furnishings with the transport company W. Heimann
ConfiscationBy confiscating assets, government officials initially deprived owners of the authority to dispose of their bank accounts, household furnishings, securities, etc., which were placed under state administration. More
In April 1941, the Geheime Staatspolizei(EN) Politische Polizei in der Zeit des Nationalsozialismus, die politische Gegner*innen sowie Jüdinnen*Juden überwachte und verfolgte. Berlin (Berlin Secret State Police, Gestapo(EN) Politische Polizei in der Zeit des Nationalsozialismus, die politische Gegner*innen sowie Jüdinnen*Juden überwachte und verfolgte.) reported the confiscationBy confiscating assets, government officials initially deprived owners of the authority to dispose of their bank accounts, household furnishings, securities, etc., which were placed under state administration. More of the removal goods held by the transport company and planned the expatriation of Oskar and Lea Skaller. The Gestapo(EN) Politische Polizei in der Zeit des Nationalsozialismus, die politische Gegner*innen sowie Jüdinnen*Juden überwachte und verfolgte. based this on the Gesetz über den Widerruf von Einbürgerungen und die Aberkennung der deutschen Staatsangehörigkeit (Law on the Revocation of Naturalisations and the Deprivation of German Citizenship)
Asset forfeiture
The official notice stating that the assets of the Skallers had fallen to the German Reich under the Elfte Verordnung zum Reichsbürgergesetz (Eleventh Decree to the Reich Citizenship Law) was not issued until 20 July 1944. However, the financial administration had already confiscatedBy confiscating assets, government officials initially deprived owners of the authority to dispose of their bank accounts, household furnishings, securities, etc., which were placed under state administration. More all their property before the formal conditions for doing so had been met.
The auction of the removal goods
With the report on the confiscationBy confiscating assets, government officials initially deprived owners of the authority to dispose of their bank accounts, household furnishings, securities, etc., which were placed under state administration. More of the removal goods in April 1941, the Finanzamt Moabit-West, which was initially responsible, began to sell off the belongings left behind piece by piece.
All the removal goods stored with the transport company W. Heimann, including the Skallers’ remaining painting collection, were auctioned by the authority in two sales conducted by Bernhard Schlüter in Berlin.
On 16 August 1941, the first auction took place at Panoramastraße 1, not far from Alexanderplatz. The auction record contains only sparse information on the more than one hundred objects offered for sale.
Buyers included various art, antiques, and furniture dealers in Berlin, as well as private individuals.
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Cover sheet of the auction record by Bernhard Schlüter, 16 August 1941. BLHA, Rep. 36A (II) no. 36160, fol. 19. -
Excerpt from Bernhard Schlüter’s auction transcript concerning the property of Oskar Skaller, 16 August 1941. BLHA, Rep. 36A (II) no. 36160, fol. 25v
At the second auction on 30 June 1942, Schlüter offered the painting Weiblicher Akt (Female Nude) by Lovis Corinth separately.
The art dealer Paul Roemer and the lawyer and art collector Dr Conrad Doebbeke had previously expressed their interest in the painting directly to the Vermögensverwertungsstelle (Asset Realisation Office). Apparently, they were aware that the Skallers’ collections were now being disposed of there.
At the auction Doebbeke received the exclusive bid – for a price of 8,000 reichsmarks. Compared to the other lots, the painting by Corinth is described in detail in the auction record.
A crate of artworks
Some artworks took a different route from the removal goods: they were kept by the architect and painter Wilhelm Wagner. The crate of removal goods contained Persian ceramics.
Wagner had been married to one of the Skaller daughters from 1920 to 1937 and remained in contact with the family thereafter. He was familiar with the entrepreneur’s art collection.
The crate stored by Wagner was to be sent to England for the artworks to be auctioned at Sotheby’s, presumably including objects that had not found buyers at the auctions in 1927 and 1932.
The Geheime Staatspolizei(EN) Politische Polizei in der Zeit des Nationalsozialismus, die politische Gegner*innen sowie Jüdinnen*Juden überwachte und verfolgte. confiscatedBy confiscating assets, government officials initially deprived owners of the authority to dispose of their bank accounts, household furnishings, securities, etc., which were placed under state administration. More the objects stored with Wagner in 1941, informing the Finanzamt Moabit-West.
In July, the government official Eulert acknowledged receipt of a total of twenty-five artworks into the Vermögensverwertungsstelle and listed the objects briefly.
The subsequent whereabouts of the twenty-five artworks can only be vaguely reconstructed based on isolated traces in Oskar Skaller’s file at the Vermögensverwertungsstelle.
Expert reports by the Staatliche Museen
Two expert reports by staff members of the Staatliche Museen have been preserved in the file: Arthur Graf Strachwitz, an employee of the East Asian Art Department, and Kurt Erdmann, an employee of the Islamic Art Department, assessed fifteen of the twenty‑five artworks. The reports contain more information on the objects but also raise additional questions.
On 24 February 1943, Arthur Graf Strachwitz valued seven objects, including tea bowls, vases, and vessels, at a total of 90 reichsmarks.
Only at second glance can a handwritten document be identified as the expert report by the museum employee Kurt Erdmann. Of the thirteen artworks listed there, he assigned a value to only eight objects.
Despite the superficial descriptions, it is clear that these included Persian ceramics:
Expert report by Kurt Erdmann, undated (probably spring 1943). BLHA, Rep. 36A (II) No. 36160, fol. 62
Taken together, the two expert reports show that the museum employees Arthur Strachwitz and Kurt Erdmann valued a total of fifteen objects from Skaller’s possession at 160 reichsmarks.
Sold to Wilhelm Wagner
The two expert reports by the museum employees are connected to the sale of “14 antiken Keramiken” (fourteen pieces of antique ceramics) on 10 March 1943 to Wilhelm Wagner.
A handwritten note on the reverse of the receipt for the submitted artworks shows that Wilhelm Wagner had apparently expressed his interest in the objects directly when they were delivered to the authority.
The former custodian of the artworks – once the Skaller family’s son‑in‑law and a lasting friend of the family – purchased fourteen of the twenty‑five artworks directly from the Vermögensverwertungsstelle (Asset Realisation Office) in March 1943 for 150 reichsmarks. Whether he acted on behalf of Skaller remains uncertain.
While the two expert reports by the museum employees listed a total of fifteen artworks from Skaller’s possession with a combined value of 160 reichsmarks, Wilhelm Wagner purchased only “14 Stücke antike Keramik” (fourteen pieces of antique ceramics) for 150 reichsmarks.
The whereabouts of one appraised object valued at 10 reichsmarks therefore remain unclear.
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Front side of the “Verkaufsverhandlung” (sales record) documenting the sale to Wilhelm Wagner, 10 March 1943. BLHA, Rep. 36A (II) no. 36160, fol. 60. -
Reverse side of the “Verkaufsverhandlung” (sales record) for Wilhelm Wagner, 10 March 1943. BLHA, Rep. 36A (II) no. 36160, fol. 60v
A ceramic object “for the museum”?
Could it be that the Islamic Department of the Staatliche Museen Berlin purchased the “1 Puppe, Persien 13.–14. Jahrhundert” (one doll, Persia, 13th–14th century), valued at 10 reichsmarks? The annotation “für Museum” (for the museum) suggests this.
In the course of the restitutionReturn of confiscated property to its rightful owners or their heirs. proceedings, one of Skaller’s daughters identified the “Puppe”: she stated that it was identical with the object listed in the 1932 auction catalogueDirectory containing detailed information on objects or lots offered at an auction. More of the Internationales Kunst- und Auktions-Haus under no. 192 as “Kleines Gefäss, plastisch modelliert in Form einer sitzenden Person” (small vessel, modelled in the form of a seated figure).
The catalogue provides the following information on the Persian vessel: “türkisgrün glasiert mit blauen Streifen, schwarzen Punkten und schwarzer Gesichtszeichnung. Persien (Suitanabad), 14. Jahrh. Höhe 10 cm, Breite 8,2 cm” (turquoise‑green glaze with blue stripes, black dots, and black facial features. Persia (Suitanabad), 14th century. Height 10 cm, width 8.2 cm).
Beyond the statement made by Skaller’s daughter, no conclusive evidence has been found suggesting that the “Puppe” (doll) from Kurt Erdmann’s expert report in the file of the Vermögensverwertungsstelle is in fact identical with the “Kleines Gefäss” (small vessel) in the auction catalogueDirectory containing detailed information on objects or lots offered at an auction. More.
Equally uncertain is the hypothesis that the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin acquired the “Puppe”.
Evidence for this argument:
The note “für Museum” (for the museum) on the expert report signed by Kurt Erdmann, an employee of the Islamic Department of the Staatliche Museen, suggests that the museum may have intended to acquire the object.
Without the “Puppe”, the number and total value of the objects in the expert reports correspond exactly to the sales agreement with Wilhelm Wagner: fourteen pieces for 150 reichsmarks. It is therefore quite possible that the “Puppe” was subsequently sold to the Staatliche Museen for 10 reichsmarks.
The Staatliche Museen already owned Persian ceramics from Oskar Skaller, and several staff members were familiar with the collection’s museological significance.
Evidence against this argument:
Neither the file of the Vermögensverwertungsstelle nor the acquisition records of the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin contain further indications that would confirm a purchase or donation to the Islamic Department.
The object itself cannot be traced in the holdings of the Museum für Islamische Kunst. The sparse information on the “Puppe” makes the search difficult.
So far, none of the assumptions regarding the fate of the “Puppe” can be substantiated – the gaps in the documentation are simply too large.
Nineteen of twenty-five artworks
Regardless of whether one object ultimately entered the Staatliche Museen or not: in the file of the Vermögensverwertungsstelle, only the sale of nineteen of the twenty‑five artworks stored with Wilhelm Wagner is documented without gaps.
“14 Stücke antike Keramik” (fourteen pieces of antique ceramics) were purchased by Wilhelm Wagner from the Vermögensverwertungsstelle.
Five lapis lazuli objects were sold by the financial authority to the jeweller Gutschner.
What happened to the remaining six objects is not evident from the file. This, too, reveals something about how the Vermögensverwertungsstelle saw itself: its work – and thus the documentation it was to create and preserve – ended once the proceeds of sale had been received.
You can find out what happened to Skaller’s property after the end of the Nazi regime in the chapter on Responsibility.