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| Edwin Redslob | |
|---|---|
| Name | Edwin Redslob |
| Birth date | 1884-11-30 |
| Birth place | Lübeck, German Empire |
| Death date | 1973-02-29 |
| Death place | Wiesbaden, West Germany |
| Occupation | Art historian, journalist, cultural administrator, politician |
| Notable works | Founder and first director of the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, cultural policy in the Weimar Republic |
Edwin Redslob was a German art historian, critic, cultural administrator, and liberal politician who played a central role in shaping museum organization and cultural policy during the Weimar Republic and after World War II. He served as the founding director of the centralised museum administration that evolved into the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin and was active in public debate through newspapers and periodicals. His career spanned interactions with leading figures and institutions in Berlin, Weimar, and postwar Germany.
Redslob was born in Lübeck in the German Empire and studied art history and philosophy in major German academic centres, including Berlin, Munich, and Leipzig. He trained under prominent art historians and critics associated with institutions such as the Kunsthistorisches Institut, the University of Berlin, and the University of Leipzig, coming into intellectual proximity with scholars linked to the Bauhaus, the Prussian Academy of Arts, and the circle around Max Liebermann. During his formative years he encountered debates influenced by figures like Heinrich Wölfflin, Aby Warburg, Ernst Cassirer, and Wilhelm von Bode.
Redslob worked as a cultural journalist and critic for influential newspapers and periodicals in Berlin and elsewhere, engaging with editors and contributors from outlets such as the Vossische Zeitung, the Frankfurter Zeitung, and literary journals connected to Thomas Mann, Rainer Maria Rilke, and Karl Kraus. He participated in editorial networks that included the Kulturpolitische Gesellschaft and collaborated with museum directors and curators tied to institutions like the Nationalgalerie, the Gemäldegalerie, and the Kunstgewerbemuseum Berlin. His criticism and essays addressed exhibitions at venues including the Neue Nationalgalerie predecessors and discussions linked to the German Werkbund, the Deutsche Demokratische Partei, and liberal cultural reformers.
In the aftermath of the German Revolution of 1918–19 and amid administrative reforms in the Weimar Republic, Redslob became instrumental in organising state collections, working within structures inherited from the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation predecessors and collaborating with figures such as Wilhelm von Bode's successors, directors from the Ethnologisches Museum, and curators from the Museum für Vor- und Frühgeschichte. He oversaw centralising measures affecting collections then associated with the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, coordinating with cultural ministries linked to the Prussian State Ministry and liaising with politicians from the National Liberal Party and cultural committees of the Reichstag. Under his leadership, policies affecting holdings from the Pergamon Museum, the Altes Museum, and the Neues Museum were debated alongside international exchanges involving institutions like the British Museum, the Louvre, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Active in the liberal milieu of the Weimar Republic, Redslob engaged with intellectuals and politicians including members of the Deutsche Demokratische Partei, supporters of Friedrich Ebert, and cultural reformers around Walter Gropius and Hermann Hesse. He contributed to parliamentary and public discussions on cultural policy, art education, and museum governance that drew attention from deputies in the Reichstag, ministers of culture in the Prussian State Ministry, and commentators from the Frankfurter Schule circle. His work intersected with debates provoked by events such as the Kapp Putsch and controversies over exhibitions involving artists like Emil Nolde, Max Beckmann, and proponents of Expressionism and Neue Sachlichkeit.
With the rise of the Nazi Party and the reorganisation of cultural institutions under the Third Reich, Redslob's position became precarious; like many liberal critics and administrators he faced professional marginalisation and engaged with émigré networks that connected to figures in Paris, London, and New York City such as exiled scholars from the Institut für die Wissenschaften vom Menschen and colleagues associated with the International Institute of Intellectual Cooperation. After World War II he returned to Germany and took part in the reconstruction of cultural life in West Germany, cooperating with occupation authorities from the Allied Control Council, cultural officials in the Federal Republic of Germany, and directors rebuilding collections at the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin and museums in Dresden and Munich. His postwar activities involved exchanges with museum professionals linked to the Monuments, Fine Arts, and Archives program and dialogues with artists and administrators from institutions such as the Berlin University of the Arts and the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft.
Redslob maintained friendships and professional ties with leading cultural figures including Max Liebermann, Walter Benjamin, Bertolt Brecht, and museum directors across Europe and North America. His legacy is reflected in institutional continuities at the Staatliche Museen, debates in periodicals like the Süddeutsche Zeitung and the Die Zeit predecessors, and scholarship by historians of culture connected to universities such as Humboldt University of Berlin, the Free University of Berlin, and the University of Bonn. Collections and administrative structures he helped shape remain reference points for curators and historians involved with restitution, provenance research linked to the Nazi-looted art discourse, and policies debated by bodies including the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation and international museum networks.
Category:German art historians Category:People from Lübeck Category:1884 births Category:1973 deaths