Jewish art collectors and dealers

The Cologne City Museum has a long and varied history. Founded in 1888 as the Historisches Museum Köln (Cologne Historical Museum), it became part of the newly founded Rhineland Museum, which opened at the end of the 1930s. A section on Jewish life in the Rhineland had been planned, with many artefacts from Jewish as well as non-Jewish collectors and dealers. However, with the advent of the National Socialist government, the intended Jewish section was never realised. In 1936, the museum opened as the Haus der Rheinischen Heimat (House of the Rhineland Homeland) and was used by the Nazi regime for propaganda purposes.

Albert Italiander
Between 1924 and 1931, the Krefeld antiques dealer sold various objects to the Rhineland Museum, including the Seder plate. With his profound understanding of art and his active membership in the Jewish community, he was in great demand as both dealer and agent. His business closed in 1939. In 1942, Albert Italiander died in Theresienstadt ghetto at the age of 82, a victim of the devastating living conditions there.

Hermann Feit
The Jewish businessman ran an art and antiques business in Cologne from which he sold various objects to the Rhineland Museum. A year after the forced closure of his business in 1938, Hermann Feit and his family fled to Florida, where he died in 1941 at the age of 51. A Torah pointer, wedding ring, and numerous other Judaica items are part of the Cologne collection thanks to Hermann Feit.

Sybilla Haber
The Jewish art dealer ran a gallery in Mülheim an der Ruhr between 1925 and 1929. She emigrated to the Netherlands in 1936 to escape persecution by the Nazi regime, but the invasion of the Netherlands in 1940 by German troops frustrated that attempt. Sybilla Haber was deported to Auschwitz in 1943 and declared dead a year later. Thanks to her, the Cologne City Museum is in possession of the Torah shield and other artefacts.