Franz Koenigs
Franz Wilhelm Koenigs | |
|---|---|
| Born | Template:Birth date Kierberg, Prussia |
| Died | May 6, 1941 (aged 59) |
| Occupation(s) | Banker, art collector |
| Known for | Banking; art collection including Old Master paintings and drawings |
Franz Wilhelm Koenigs (3 September 1881 – 6 May 1941) was a notable German banker and avid art collector.
Biography
Franz Koenigs was born in Kierberg, Prussia, the son of Ernst Friedrich Wilhelm Koenigs. He served as a director at Delbrück Schickler & Co in Berlin and Delbrück von der Heydt in Cologne. In 1920, together with his cousins Alfred and Felix Rhodius, he established the Rhodius Koenigs Bank in Amsterdam.
His passion for art collecting began at the age of 17 when he purchased his first drawing by Jean-François Millet. In 1914, he married Countess Anna von Kalckreuth, thereby connecting himself to influential artistic circles through her father, Leopold Graf von Kalckreuth.
After moving from Berlin to Cologne, Koenigs relocated his family to Haarlem in 1922 following the founding of Rhodius Koenigs Bank in Amsterdam, seeking a safer environment for his family and business.
In 1924, to maintain Koenigs as a valuable client after his departure from Berlin, German art dealer Paul Cassirer sent Helmuth Lütjens to establish a Cassirer branch in Amsterdam. This new gallery was strategically placed near the Rhodius Koenigs Bank on Keizersgracht, facilitating Koenigs’ continued engagement with the dealer.
Franz Koenigs Modern Art Collection
By 1930, Franz Koenigs had loaned his Modern Art Collection—which featured masterpieces by Cézanne, Corot, Degas, Manet, Renoir, and Toulouse-Lautrec—to the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam. Later, in 1938, at the request of the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam’s director for their '100 years French Art' exhibition, Koenigs transferred this collection there. He regarded the Stedelijk as a more suitable institution for his assemblage of 226 French drawings from the 19th century.
Old Master Painting and Drawing Collection
The Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen opened its new premises in Rotterdam in July 1935. Prior to this inauguration, Koenigs had exhibited Dutch drawings dating from the 15th to 17th centuries along with around 100 French drawings at Boijmans. Desiring a permanent museum home for his Old Master Paintings—which included 46 works such as 20 by Rubens and four by Jheronimus Bosch—and his extensive Old Master Drawing Collection totaling 2,144 pieces, Koenigs agreed in April 1935 to lend these collections to Museum Boijmans for a minimum period of ten years.
Standstill Agreements and Financial Strategy
The banking crisis in Germany during 1931 affected Rhodius Koenigs due to its connections with Delbrück banks and the collapse of DANAT Bank. After Germany halted reparations payments and President Hoover declared a moratorium, Rhodius Koenigs encountered trade restrictions and liquidity challenges. To overcome these difficulties, Koenigs increased Rhodius Koenigs Bank’s capital through loans from Jewish-owned Hamburg banks Lisser & Rosenkranz, Tillmann, and Altmann. These loans provided liquid assets secured by pledges against Koenigs’ art collection, thereby circumventing capital limitations.
In 1937, Ernst, Koenigs’ eldest son, died fighting under an assumed name against Franco’s forces during the Spanish Civil War. Due to the sensitive nature of Ernst’s anti-fascist activities, his death was concealed. Subsequently, Franz Koenigs applied for Dutch citizenship to safeguard his family and art holdings from Nazi threats; this citizenship was granted in February 1939. The loan of his collection to Museum Boijmans played a crucial role in obtaining this status amid increasingly strict immigration controls.
Koenigs passed away in 1941 after an incident involving a train at Cologne station; his descendants suspect that Nazi involvement may have been a factor.
Art Collection During World War II
The Old Master drawings and paintings from the Koenigs collection, which were on loan to Museum Boijmans, attracted significant interest from Hitler. Prior to the Nazi invasion in April 1940, the Jewish-owned bank Lisser & Rosenkranz conducted a preemptive sale, disposing of the collection at a steep discount to a benefactor of Boijmans. Subsequently, on 3 December 1940, Van Beuningen transferred approximately one-fifth of these drawings—totaling 528 items—to Hitler through Hans Posse for 1.5 million guilders, intended for the Führermuseum planned in Linz.
Following the war, Allied agreements invalidated such transactions and required that artworks be returned to their rightful owners. Nevertheless, Soviet forces seized much of the collection and relocated it to the USSR. For many years, Soviet officials denied holding these pieces; eventually, it was revealed that the majority were kept at Moscow’s Pushkin Museum, with some located in Kyiv. In response to appeals from the Dutch government, Ukraine repatriated its share of the artworks in 2004. Despite continued efforts to recover them, over 300 drawings are still retained in Moscow.