Friedländer, Alice

Alice Friedländer

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21 April 1864 Vienna – 10 March 1949 Los Angeles
née Alice Politzer

Alice Friedländer was the only child of the Vienna ear specialist and university professor Adam Politzer and his wife Julie, née Rosenfeld. She trained as an actor and concert pianist at the Conservatory in Vienna and edited at least one collection of scores of dances by Franz Schubert for C. F. Peters-Verlag in Leipzig. On 6 May 1884 she married Richard Fleischl von Marxow (1853–1901) in the Vienna City Temple but divorced three years later. In the 1880s she performed on many occasions in Germany, for example at the Deutsches Theater and Königliches Schauspielhaus in Berlin. On 28 October 1888 she married the singer, musicologist and honorary professor Max Friedländer (1852–1934), also in Vienna, and lived thereafter with him in Berlin. The couple had four children. The son Franz (1896–1989), also known after 1919 under the name Franz Friedländer Röhn, was the only child still alive when Adam Politzer died in 1920. Alice Friedländer and her son inherited some of his extensive art collection. Much of it was auctioned in various stages in Vienna and Berlin, for the last time in February 1928 at Auktionshaus Albert Kende in Vienna, possibly in connection with Julie Politzer's death in January 1928.

Alice Politzer was persecuted by the Nazi regime as a Jew and emigrated from Germany. In summer 1938 she managed to escape to the USA, where she arrived on 24 June and on the same day applied for citizenship, although it was not granted until 9 November 1945. Before her emigration she sold her property in Berlin-Eichkamp in January 1938 and lived thereafter in Vienna, in the Salzkammergut and finally as a tenant of Valerie Wolffenstein at Ringstraße 77 in Berlin-Lichterfelde. In December 1938 and April 1939, 6,666.67 and 2,300 Reichsmarks, respectively, were expropriated from her and her son's assets for the Jew Asset Tax (Judenvermögensabgabe). At the instigation of the Oberfinanzpräsident in Berlin the property at Gonzagagasse 19 in Vienna's 1st district that she had inherited from her father Adam Politzer and owned jointly with her son Franz was seized in July 1941. In June 1942 the Berlin Gestapo applied for forfeiture in favour of the German Reich of the property in Berlin and also for the removal goods (Umzugsgut) stored at the latest since June 1941 with Spedition Otto Noerenberg, Berlin-Lichterfelde and earmarked for auction. The art and household objects were valued in an asset notification of 23 May 1942 at 17,790 Reichsmarks. Furniture was auctioned on 29 May 1942 by Versteigerungshaus Union owned by Leo Spik for 18 Reichsmarks. On 9 and 16 February 1943 a much larger number of objects was auctioned in the auction rooms at Neue Schönhauser Straße 16 in Berlin, for a total of 71,005.50 Reichsmarks.

Alice Friedländer died on 10 March 1949 in Los Angeles. In 1967 her son Franz Friedländer applied for compensation in the Federal Republic of Germany. He was paid compensation for the household goods, securities and Alice Friedländer's share of the property in Gonzagagasse, Vienna. In view of the persecution by the Nazis of Alice Friedländer and her son, artworks from Adam Politzer's former collection that were possibly still owned by Alice Friedländer and her son and were acquired after 1938 by museums and public collections remain the focus of German and Austrian provenance research.

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Publications about the person / institution

Glückselig & Wärndorfer, Wien, Versteigerung der Gemäldesammlung Hofrat Professor Adam Politzer, 7. bis 9.12.1920, URL: digi.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/diglit/glueckselig1920_12_07 (28.4.2022).

Amsler & Ruthardt, Berlin, 103. Auktion, Sammlung des in Wien verstorbenen Hofrats Prof. Dr. A. Politzer, 18. bis 20.5.1922, URL: digi.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/diglit/amsler_ruthardt1922_05_18 (28.4.2022).

Ignaz Schwarz, Wien, Sammlung Hofrat Professor Dr. Politzer,12. bis 14.6.1922, URL: digi.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/diglit/schwarz1922_06_12 (28.4.2022).

Albert Kende, Wien, 92. Kunstauktion, Nachlässe Hofrat Professor Dr. Adam Politzer, Wien, Hofrat Franz Breitfelder, Wien und Wiener Privatbesitz, 23. bis 25.2.1928, URL: digi.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/diglit/kende1928_02_23 (28.3.2022).

Archives

Brandenburgisches Landeshauptarchiv, Rep. 36 A Oberfinanzpräsident Berlin-Brandenburg (II), Nr. 10224.

Landesarchiv Berlin, Wiedergutmachungsakten Alice Friedländer, B-Rep025-07, Nr. 1242-67.

Landesamt für Bürger- und Organisationsangelegenheiten (LABO), Berlin, Abteilung 1 – Entschädigungsbehörde, Entschädigungsamt Berlin, Entschädigungsakten Röhn, Dr. Franz, Nr. 342.840.

OeStA/AdR, E-uReang, FLD, Zl. 14784, Alice Friedländer.

WStLA, BG I Verlassenschaften Politzer, Julie und Adam.

WStLA, M.Abt. 119, A41, VEAV Zl. 126,1. Bez., Franz Röhn.