Fritz Zuckerkandl

Fritz Zuckerkandl (b. 1895) ist das einzige Kind von Berta Zuckerkandl geb. Szeps. Sein Vater Emil stirbt bereits 1910. Fritz heiratet 1919 die Malerin Trude Stekel, die er schon 1916, während seines Kriegsdienstes kennengelernt hat. Trude kommt aus einer angesehenen jüdischen Intellektuellen–Familie. 1919 beendet Fritz sein Chemiestudium an der Universität Wien und promoviert zum Doktor der Philosophie. 1922 wird Sohn Emil geboren. Fritz, Trude und Emil übersiedeln 1929 in das von Josef Hoffmann ausgebaute Sanatorium Purkersdorf (ein von Bertas Schwagers Viktor erworbener Familienbesitz). Früher als seine Mutter erkennt Fritz die Zeichen der Zeit und wandert 1935 mit seiner Familie nach Frankreich aus. See at http://www.helmutkorherr.at/-berta-zuckerkandl-und-die-bittere-wahr...

The aryanization of Das Sanatorium Purkersdorf is the subject of a chapter in Arisiert: Eine spurensuche im gesellschaftlichen Untergrund der Republik by Irene Etzersdorfer (1995).

From Jewish News from Austria, Aug. 13, 2010: Vienna / Los Angeles – For the Zuckerkandl family, there remained no other alternative than to flee: In 1938 the Westend Sanatorium in Purkersdorf designed by Josef Hoffmann with all its art objects were aryzanized and sold to a member of the Nazi Party, Hans Gnad. Born in Vienna in 1922, Emile Zuckerkandl (son of the former owner of the Westend Sanatorium, Fritz Zuckerkandl) lives today in Los Angeles [2010] and is still fighting for the return of property.

After WW II, the family was granted some of art works, among them “Poppy Meadow,” painted by Gustav Klimt in 1907. However, the federal agency responsible for the preservation of historical monuments refused to allow them to be exported. Reason: “Interest in Klimt’s paintings is increasing, particularly among the Austrian public who have a right to see the landscapes of their native painter, Gustav Klimt.” Emile Zuckerkandl’s appeal was defeated by the Ministry of Education. It was well known that Austria’s Belvedere gallery had a strong interest in acquiring the oil painting and that the Zuckerkandl family received the recommendation to contact the Belvedere gallery, which they did . . . .