Henri Hinrichsen

The Hinrichsen family tree can be traced back to the Alhambra Edict in 1492, the decree expelling Jews from Spain by the Catholic kings Isabella of Castile and Ferdinand of Aragon. Like many Sephardic Jewish families, the Hinrichsens' ancestors then moved to Portugal. There, however, they were to be forcibly baptized in 1497. So the ancestors of the Hinrichsens fled again, this time to northern Europe. The first ancestor known by name was called Ruben Henriques and came to Glückstadt at the end of the 16th century. The town belonged to Denmark at the time. King Christian IV had a so-called Exulantenstadt and the immigrants were guaranteed complete religious freedom. The name Henriques soon became the Danish-sounding Hinrichsen. The descendants of Ruben Henriques now scattered from Glückstadt across large parts of northern Germany as Hinrichsen. In 1832, Adolph Hinrichsen (1808-1887) left his home town of Schwerin and settled in Hamburg, where he was granted full citizenship in 1849. He founded a corset factory in Merkurstraße with lasting success. Within a few years, he had built up the basis of a considerable family fortune. Eventually, his son Robert Hinrichsen (1835-1917) took over the company. He was held in high esteem by the liberal Israelite Temple Association and was a member of its board for 24 years. This was the synagogue where Hamburg's wealthy Jewish population could be found. In 1862, Robert Hinrichsen married Betty Abraham (1840-1919), who came from a Danzig merchant family. Their son Henri later described his mother as an "unusually clever and lively woman" (Bucholtz, page 19)   

Henri Hinrichsen's father Robert spent his childhood in the company building in Merkurstraße, which was also partly a residential building. His own sons, however, were able to spend their childhood and youth in the upper middle-class district of Rotherbaum due to their growing wealth. At the further Biography of Henri Hinrichsen, however, it was not his father who played the main role - he wanted to train him as his successor in the corset factory, which was still located at Merkurstraße 35/38. Finally, Henri's mother's brother exerted a decisive, albeit involuntary, influence. His name was Max Abraham (1831-1900) and he was the owner of the Leipzig music publisher C. F. Peters. 

On February 5, 1868, Henri Hinrichsen was born in Hamburg. The middle of three brothers, he grew up with Max and Edmund not far from the exclusive Rothenbaumchaussee. An upscale bourgeois lifestyle was cultivated in the equally dignified and generous merchant household. Henri Hinrichsen first attended a private elementary school and then, like his brothers, the Realgymnasium, which had emerged from the Johanneum school for scholars in 1834. This was a prestigious educational institution founded in 1529 by Johannes Bugenhagen, pastor and companion of Martin Luther. What was both special and forward-looking about it was that already relative early on, namely since the early 19th century, Jewish pupils (but generally not female pupils) were granted access. After being physically separated from the Johanneum scholars' school, the Realgymnasium was moved to those school and museum building on Steintorplatz, which today houses the Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe. What made this Realgymnasium particularly attractive to the sons of Hamburg's bourgeoisie was the educational focus on practical business subjects. This may also have persuaded the entrepreneur Robert Hinrichsen to enrol his sons in this traditional school. After the Hinrichsens' eldest son had started studying law, Henri, the second-born, was now expected to join his father's company after finishing school. An expectation that was not disappointed at first. Henri Hinrichsen apprenticed at the corset factory without objection, but only for six months. He would later refer to these six months as a "shorter guest role in his father's business for the purpose of commercial training" (quoted from Bucholtz 2001, p. 20). However, it wasn't the commercial aspect that he didn't like, but rather the industry. He had long been more interested in cultural life and was determined to make this interest his professional focus. It turned out to be a twist of fate that his uncle Max Abraham was a renowned music publisher in Leipzig, and also childless. 

Henri Hinrichsen's uncle Max Abraham was born in Danzig on June 3, 1831. In 1863, he was taken on as a partner by Julius Friedländer, the then owner of the music publishing house C. F. Peters. Max Abraham then became the sole owner in 1880. Seven years later, he brought his nephew into the publishing house, only to send him on his way again. The apprenticeship years took the young Henri Hinrichsen to renowned music dealers in Basel, Brussels and London. Then, surprisingly, his uncle urged him to return immediately. As Hinrichsen's biographer Erika Bucholtz suspects that "this date was connected with the death on 7. May 1891 of the company's long-time authorized signatory, Theodor Hermann" (Bucholtz, p. 21). In fact, Henri Hinrichsen was appointed as an authorized signatory by Max Abraham just a few days after his return, on 15 May 1891, and he was entered in the commercial register as a partner on 1 January 1894.  

During a spa stay in Karlsbad in June 1897, Hinrichsen met the 18-year-old Martha Bendix (1879-1941). She came from a Jewish family that had lived in Berlin since 1700. The festive wedding took place in the German capital. Martha and Henri Hinrichsen would have two daughters and five sons. Martha would soon play a role not only in the family, but also in business and social matters. Talstrasse 10 was also regularly a place where music was played at home. The Hinrichsen couple succeeded in attracting renowned performers for their musical soirees in a convivial circle.  

After the (presumed) suicide of Max Abraham in 1900, Henri Hinrichsen took over the publishing house as sole owner. Henri Hinrichsen's work as a music publisher coincided with a period of upheaval in musical styles. He expanded the catalog of his own publishing house to include works by Max Reger, Gustav Mahler, Arnold Schönberg, Richard Strauss and others. Edvard Grieg, who was already represented in the publisher's previous range, has been signed exclusively for Edition C. F. Peters. Even though the publisher's program was "essentially determined by serious music", "[was g]although, albeit limited, [...] taken into account different time trends" (Bucholtz, p. 88).  

On the 70th anniversary of taking over the publishing house from Max Abraham, Hinrichsen wrote a chronicle of the publishing house, which also allowed him to look back on his own life. In this context, he wrote: "I dedicated myself to the care of the poor in Leipzig as early as 1897, later I became a commercial judge, then a city councillor. [...] My honorary activities then extended further, both in the City History Museum and in the Transport Association, on the Board of Trustees of the Conservatory, to which I was particularly connected through my profession, and finally on the Board of the German Music Publishers' Association and in the Association of German Music Dealers, in the latter of which I was secretary from 1923-1931." (Buchholtz, p. 175) There is also evidence of support for Jewish charitable organizations on various occasions. Nevertheless, according to Erika Bucholtz "hardly any statements can be made about Henri Hinrichsen's relationship to the Jewish Religious Community in Leipzig due to the source situation." (Bucholtz, p. 175) 

On October 29, 1911, Germany's first "University for Women" was opened with a ceremony in Leipzig. For the 86-year-old Henriette Goldschmidt, wife of the liberal rabbi Abraham Meyer Goldschmidt, this was the realization of a long-cherished dream. For decades, she had been a pioneer of the bourgeois women's movement in Germany, and now she crowned these activities with the establishment of a university. This was made possible by the financial support of Henri and Martha Hinrichsen. At the ceremony, Leipzig's Lord Mayor Rudolf Dittrich said that the new educational institution would "gain profound significance for wide circles in our city" (Buchholtz, p. 240). As Henri Hinrichsen would later write in the publisher's chronicle, the celebratory event took place with "a large tea at Talstraße 10, at which Mrs. Martha Hinrichsen, the ideal supporter of the completed plan, made the honors" (Bucholtz, p. 241), a worthy conclusion. Over the years, the Hinrichsens' financial commitment will grow to a sum of a million Reichsmark. Henri Hinrichsen had long wanted to create another foundation property on the site next to the Peters Music Library at Königstraße 26, which was also used by the Women's Trade Association. Hinrichsen had therefore, as he would later write in the publisher's chronicle, acquired the property at Königstraße 18/20 with the intention of "building a house on it that would serve charitable purposes for the women's world" (quoted in Bucholtz, p. 241). At the time of the purchase, he could have imagined all kinds of projects, but a university was not one of them at the time.  

After ten years, it had to be stated that the concept of a university as a general educational institution had failed. The institution had long since become more of a vocational school for women, for which the term university was no longer appropriate. As early as 1911, the founding of a "college for women" was no longer in keeping with the times, as women were already able to study at state universities. Now the school was to be converted into a "social education college". Hinrichsen was initially skeptical about this. In view of the declining number of female students, he finally gave his approval and continued to provide financial support. For example, he donated 100,000 Reichsmark when the institution was taken into municipal administration. Hinrichsen also responded to repeated requests from the notoriously cash-strapped municipality for further financial support and involvement in individual projects. On the occasion of Henri Hinrichsen's 60th birthday, the Leipzig City Council finally commissioned the then established painter Eduard Einschlag to paint a portrait of the patron. At Henri Hinrichsen's express wish, the work was simply hung in a simple ceremony at the school. The Henriette-Goldschmidt-Schule, which still exists today, now operates under the name "Berufliches Schulzentrum der Stadt Leipzig".  

On May 30, 1929, the opening ceremony of the Institute of Musicology of the University of Leipzig and the associated Instrument Museum took place in the new building of the Grassi Museum. Henri Hinrichsen played no small part in the fact that the largest collection of musical instruments in Germany after Berlin was now housed here. When the famous instrument collection of the Cologne commercial councillor and patron of the arts Wilhelm Heyer was acquired in 1926, Hinrichsen had supported the purchase with 200,000 Reichsmarks from his private assets, which corresponded to a quarter of the purchase price.  

In January 1894, Max Abraham had already donated a music library, the accessibility of which for women was apparently a novelty at the time and which immediately caused an international sensation. The largest public private collection of music in Germany initially comprised 8,000 volumes. Under the aegis of Henri Hinrichsen, it grew to over 30,000 volumes by 1939. In addition to a selected Autograph Collection their special scientific and cultural value lay in their possession costly first prints, rare scholarly source works and an extensive collection of opera scores. In addition to his work as a music publisher, Henri Hinrichsen devoted himself to building up an art collection with the active support of his wife Martha. Over the years, he amassed a remarkable collection of paintings and a number of sculptures. He had a particular preference for contemporary painting, especially the representatives of realism. Works by Hans Thoma, Adolph von Menzel and Wilhelm Leibl hung on the walls of his living rooms alongside older masters such as Carl Spitzweg and Adam Friedrich Oeser, as well as those of the painter who was celebrated as a "pioneer of modernism": Max Liebermann. In addition, Hinrichsen and his wife created a Autograph Collection on. Around one hundred letters from famous composers, such as those from Edvard Grieg and Johannes Brahms, as well as the entire publishing correspondence with Louis Spohr formed the basis of the collection. This Autograph Collection, which was one of the most valuable in private hands worldwide, through purchases at auctions or of complete letter bundles in private hands. In 1933, the collection comprised around three hundred and seventy documents. Among them was a letter from Richard Wagner, which was later appropriated by Adolf Hitler after being stolen by the Nazis. 

Two months after his 60th birthday, Henri Hinrichsen was awarded an honorary doctorate by Leipzig University for his cultural and scientific commitment. His professorship in musicology, which he had financed, was probably a decisive factor. This honor was to be revoked during the Nazi era. It speaks for those responsible at Leipzig University at the time that this order was not complied with. 

Henri Hinrichsen now became involved in the only institution in which he was still able to participate: the Jewish Cultural Association. This was based in the former Israelite school at Gustav-Adolph-Straße 7. Thanks to his good connections, Hinrichsen was able to organize extraordinary concerts. In April 1936, for example, the Hungarian-Jewish star violinist Carl Flesch, who was already living in exile in London, came to Leipzig for a short visit to play works by Handel, Mozart, Reger and Brahms. At the turn of the year 1935/36, Hinrichsen, like all other Jewish booksellers and publishers, was expelled from the Reichsschriftumskammer were excluded. Many non-Jewish composers immediately turned away from the publishing house F. C. Peters. A few of them had confessed to their former publisher in a one-on-one conversation that they had otherwise been threatened with expulsion from the Reich Chamber of Music. This would have been the equivalent of a de facto professional ban. 

According to the "Ordinance on the Use of Jewish Assets", an SS-Standartenführer was appointed trustee at the publishing house in 1939. As early as January 1939, almost all reputable music publishers had applied to acquire C. F. Peters. On July 22, 1939, a purchase agreement dictated by the Nazis was concluded, with a purchase price of 1 million Reichsmarks, a paltry sum compared to the company's assets. In addition to the publishing house, the assets transferred included the business property Talstr. 10 as well as the assets of the Peters Music Library including the property at Königstr. 26. The Autograph Collection had been confiscated in 1938 and came to the Saxon State Library in 1943 via the Leipzig antiquarian bookseller Hans Klemm. The proceeds had to be used to pay the "Reich Flight Tax" as well as the "Jewish Property Tax", the "Emigration Tax", the "Community Tax" and other levies. As the purchase price set by the Nazis was not sufficient for all this, Hinrichsen was forced to have 12,000 British pounds transferred to him from the company branch that his son Michael had opened in London in the meantime. In the pogrom of November 9, 1938, the publishing house's offices in Leipzig were demolished, the Hinrichsens' apartment on the second floor was broken into and sheet music by Mendelssohn-Bartholdy was burned in the courtyard. Henri Hinrichsen was taken into "protective custody" that very night. 

On January 27, 1940, Henri Hinrichsen and his wife Martha left their homeland and found accommodation in Brussels in a room at Rue des Suisse 21. Belgium was still a free country. Seven years of discrimination, exclusion and finally de facto expropriation lay behind them. Immediately after the Nazis came to power, Henri Hinrichsen's foundation to maintain the professorship for musicology at the University of Leipzig was rejected by the new Nazi state government. A few months earlier, the finance minister of the previous democratic government had ordered its acceptance. In February 1934, the school management of the former University for Women publicly criticized the portrait of its founder in the auditorium and the portrait of Carl Seffner bust of Henriette Goldschmidt in the stairwell. One month later, it was removed for propaganda purposes. 

The exile in Brussels, which was thought to be safe, did not last long. On 10. In May 1940, German troops invaded neutral Belgium. Martha Hinrichsen died because the occupying forces denied the diabetic Jewish woman the insulin she needed to survive. After October 15, 1941, the widowed Henri Hinrichsen had to register with the "Association des Juifs en Belgique","Vereeniging van Joden in België ". He was entered in the register as "German" and without the compulsory first name Israel with the number 6093. When he was entered in the "Registre des Juifs", the "Judenregister", of 27. November 1941, the nationality of Henri Israel Hinrichsen "allemande" (German) and replaced by "apatride" (stateless). According to these records, he first lived at 109 Rue St. George and then at Avenue de l'Hippodrome 76.  

On September 15, 1942, 74-year-old Henri Hinrichsen was deported and murdered two days later, immediately after arriving at the Auschwitz extermination camp. Five of his children, children-in-law and grandchildren also perished in death camps.Two of Martha and Henri Hinrichsen's sons managed to emigrate in time: Max went to England in 1936 and Walter to the United States, where they continued to run the music publishing company C. F. Peters. It was not until 2004 that the valuable Autograph Collection to the heirs of Henri Hinrichsen. In connection with the confiscation of the collection of Cornelius Gurlitt, son of the Nazi art dealer Hildebrand Gurlitt, the drawing "Das Klavierspiel" by Carl Spitzweg was also discovered and identified as Nazi-looted art in 2015. Due to the complex succession in the widely ramified Hinrichsen family, the restitution to the heirs took six years.