On the trail of Fritz Ascher

Hugo Ascher (1859-1922), originally from Naugard in Hinterpommern, studied in the USA at the University of Pennsylvania School of Dental Medicine in Philadelphia from 1887-88 and graduated as a Doctor of Dental Surgery on May 1, 1888. He moves to Berlin and opens his dental practice at Spittelmarkt 11 II in 1890. The practice later moved to Kochstrasse 55 II.

Fritz Ascher was born on October 17, 1893 as the first child and only son of Hugo and Minna Luise Ascher, followed by his sisters Charlotte (1894) and Grete (1897). Hugo Ascher married Minna Luise Schneider, a granddaughter of Louise Bleichröder, on September 27, 1891. The family lived on the 2nd floor of Friedrichstrasse 192/193 until 1895.

Fritz Ascher's father Hugo is the co-inventor of "Ascher's artificial tooth enamel" and is the co-founder of Ascher GmbH on December 24, 1904, for the manufacture and sale of dental and dental technology articles of daily use, in particular artificial tooth enamel. The factory is located at Lützowplatz 13 in Berlin W. 62 from 1904 to 1930. Hugo Ascher dies in 1922. The administrator of the Ascher GmbH estate is Ernst Birn, the husband of Fritz Ascher's sister Grete, who becomes co-managing director in 1923, commercial director in 1925 and co-partner in January 1933.

Hugo Ascher developed "Ascher's artificial tooth enamel" with the chemist Paul Steenbock and sold it from December 24, 1904 through Ascher GmbH. The factory is initially located at Lützowplatz 13, then at Jägerstrasse 61, where the family has lived on the second floor since 1895. The office remained there even after the factory moved to Kurfürstenstrasse 146(b) in 1928. 

An exhibit of the boxes that established Ascher's prosperity can be seen at this link [Museum Sybodo, Innsbruck 2017].

Ascher GmbH, founded by his father in 1904, is successful. He buys a 3,000 square meter plot of land in Zehlendorf's Niklasstraße and commissions the prominent architect Paul Schultze-Naumburg to build a prestigious villa. In 1909, the family moved into the property, which was one of the first in the newly emerging residential area. Fritz Ascher is 16 years old and begins his studies at the Königsberg Academy of Art. After completing his studies, he returned to Berlin and set up a studio in his parents' villa. He traveled extensively and began to exhibit his works. In 1914, Ascher and his friend and fellow painter Franz Domscheit (Pranas Domšaitis) presumably traveled to Norway and met Eduard Munch in Oslo. He established himself as a freelance artist and exhibited until he was called up for military service on October 13, 1916. He returns with a weak heart. The house passes into the hands of the SS in 1940.

In 1930, the factory moves to Kurfürstenstr. 146(b) in Berlin W. 35, to the 2nd floor (factory floor). On January 7, 1938, the Ascher company is forcibly sold to the chemist Dr. Gero Lindau from Dresden and the businessman Dr. Karl Mottet from Berlin-Schöneberg. When Dr. Lindau dies at the end of 1940, Kurt L. Heinrichsdorff is appointed managing director. The Ascher-Gesellschaft is dissolved by shareholder resolution on December 31, 1941, and ceases to exist on March 23, 1943.

With the National Socialists coming to power in Germany, Fritz Ascher constantly changed his place of residence from 1933, from 1934 in Babelsberg-Ufastadt and Steinstücken. During the Reich Pogrom Night on November 9/10, 1938, he was arrested at Sauerbruchstrasse 12 in Babelsberg-Ufastadt and interned in the Sachsenhausen concentration camp near Oranienburg. With the help of a lawyer friend, he is released from the concentration camp, but is immediately placed under police arrest again in Potsdam. He is released in May 1939. His planned departure to Shanghai (People's Republic of China) is forbidden. This blocked his escape route. He moved to Teplitzer Strasse 38 under strict conditions: he had to report to the local police station 153 (Schmargendorf) three times a week and to the police headquarters on Alexanderplatz every month. From September 1941, Ascher had to wear the "Jewish star" like all Jews.

When Fritz Ascher reports to the Schmargendorf police station on June 15, 1942, police chief constable Heinrich Wolber warns him of his imminent deportation. Ascher turns to Martha Grassmann (1881-1971), the mother of his friend Gerhard. She hides him in the cellar of the house at Lassenstrasse 26 (later 28) in Berlin's Grunewald. The house is hit by bombing raids, Fritz Ascher remains in the ruins. The confiscation of assets began in May 1943, and on May 12, 1943, Reichsanzeiger No. 108 announced that Ascher's foreign assets had been confiscated.

From the summer of 1942, Ascher spent almost endless days and hours in the darkness of the cellar at Lassenstr. 28. Only the ringing of the bells of the nearby Grunewald Church gave his day a structure. He begins to write poetry again. Little did he know that he would have to endure almost three years in hiding.

After the unconditional surrender of the Wehrmacht on May 8, 1945, Ascher was finally able to leave his hiding place. He moved in with his rescuer and motherly friend Martha Grassmann at Bismarckallee 26, where he was able to devote himself exclusively to his art. Inspired by the nearby Grunewald forest, he created powerful, expressive landscapes. Initially he painted over some of his early works, but soon he concentrated mainly on landscapes and only sometimes drew people from memory. In 1969, Fritz Ascher and Martha Grassmann had to vacate their apartment and studio. The house was demolished. They move to Gelfertstrasse 42.

Fritz Ascher and Martha Grassmann move to Gelfertstrasse 42 in 1969. The artist cannot cope with the move. He is taken back to the time of being in hiding and his depression worsens. He died on March 26, 1970, just months after a major solo exhibition at the legendary Galerie Rudolf Springer in Berlin.