Museum Georg Schäfer

The Georg Schaefer Museum, Schweinfurt (English)

The Georg Schäfer Museum does not possess any works of art of its own but only houses exhibits on loan from the collection belonging to the Dr. Georg Schäfer Foundation. The items on loan originate from a far greater private collection accumulated by the Schweinfurt industrialist Georg Schäfer (1896-1975). Today, these works of art are to be found in museums or in widely spread private ownership. Those works preserved at the Georg Schäfer Museum belonging to the Schäfer Foundation constitute the heart of the collection. As far back as 1966, the collector began to give permanent loan of many works making up the present-day portfolio to various German art museums, these being publicly revealed as such. (English)

Georg Schäfer, an industrialist, made his fortune in roller bearings and died in 1975. He bought much of the art in the foundation’s collection in the 1950s in Munich, which was at that time a hub for dealers who had had relationships with the Nazis. The heirs of Jewish collectors have laid claim to about 20 works in the collection. (English)