Margarethe Stern

Johanna Margarethe Stern, née Lippmann, was born in Berlin on January 6, 1874, the daughter of Theodor Lippmann and Caecilie Gerschel.

Later in her life, she married Samuel Siegbert Stern, who like her was of the Jewish faith, and had four children with him: Hilde Sophie, Hans Martin, Louise Henriette and Annie Regina.

Siegbert Stern was a co-founder of the ladies' coat factory „Graumann & Stern“, which had been in existence since 1888. The success of this company enabled the couple to buy the Stern villa in Neubabelsberg in Potsdam in 1918.

The couple were also interested in art. Siegbert Stern died in 1935 and left Margarethe the art collection of 144 works of art they had built up together.

Three years later, however, Margarethe was forced to leave the country due to National Socialism. In August 1938, she traveled to the Netherlands via Switzerland. In 1939, she briefly found refuge in Amsterdam, where her daughter Annie Regina Vigeveno and her brother-in-law Albert Stern were living.

In May 1940, the National Socialists occupied the Netherlands. Margarethe tried to obtain foreign visas for herself and her family. However, she failed.

In 1941, she was declared stateless and all her assets were confiscated. The National Socialists arrested Margarethe Stern in April 1943 and took her to the Westerbork transit camp. From there, she was deported to Auschwitz, where she was murdered together with her daughter Henriette on May 22, 1944.

A large part of Margarethe and her husband's art collection was lost during the time of the gilding. The art collection is still considered lost today.

However, the painting "Murnau with Church II" by Wassily Kandinsky was recognized by the Sterns' descendants in 2023 and auctioned in London. Part of the proceeds will be invested in the search for other lost works of art by the Sterns.