Simon james

James Simon came from a family of Berlin Jews. His father Isaac, along with his brother Louis, settled in Berlin in 1838. In Berlin, the brothers successfully engaged in the sale of men's clothing, and in 1852 founded a trading company engaged in intermediary deals with cotton. During the Civil War in the United States, when the supply of cotton to Europe practically ceased, Simons made a large fortune. In the years 1863-1864, a cotton crisis erupted in Prussia, and the brothers traded cotton from their warehouses at a five-fold price. Since the 1870s, the company Simonov developed rapidly and at that time until the outbreak of World War I in 1914 was considered the largest cotton enterprise on the European continent. The Simon brothers were called the “Cotton Kings,” a nickname subsequently inherited by Isaac’s son James. James Adolfin's mother was from a rabbi family.

James studied at the famous Berlin High School “At the Gray Monastery” in Berlin, was fond of Latin, Greek, and the history of the Ancient World , studied piano and violin. Mathematics was more difficult for him. James dreamed of studying classical philology , but he obeyed his father’s desire and at the end of the gymnasium he entered the family enterprise as a student. For six months, Simon had an internship in Bradford , at that time the center of the British textile industry, and at 25 he became a junior partner in his father's company. In 1883, Simon joined the Society of Friends, an influential association of Berlin Jews. After the death of his father in 1890, James Simon conducted business with Uncle Louis, later with his cousin Edward. James Simon showed active participation in cultural and social life and was a very successful businessman. In 1911, his fortune was estimated at 35 million marks, and his income was 1.5 million marks a year. In the list of millionaires of the capital of Kaiser Germany, James Simon occupied the honorable seventh line.

At 28, James Simon married, his chosen one Agnes Reichenheim also came from a solid family of Berlin textile manufacturers. Father Agnes owned a stake in the textile company N. Reichenheim & Sohn , was elected to the Prussian Landtag , the Reichstag of the North German Union and the Berlin City Assembly, and was one of the co-founders of the German National Liberal Party .

In 1886, the Simon couple settled on the top floor of their father’s villa in one of the most prestigious areas of Berlin in Tiergarten on 15a Tiergarten Strasse. During World War II, the building burned out, the ruins were demolished in May 1957. Since 2000, this land has been occupied by the Baden-Württemberg Land Office. Simon had three children: Elena (1880-1965), Henry (1885-1946) and the insane Maria-Louise (1886-1900).

James Simon enjoyed great authority in society, as far as possible under the conditions of anti-Semitism of that time. Friends and colleagues described him as a person of extremely correct, very restrained, always striving to share his personal life and work. James Simon always accepted honorary titles and awards, but at the same time avoided participating in official ceremonies. James Simon died on May 23, 1932 and was buried in the Jewish cemetery on Schönhauser Alley in Berlin. Kaiser Wilhelm II , by then a long time in exile in his Dutch estate Dorn , sent a wreath in memory of him.

The offensive nickname "Kaiser Jews" Zionist Haim Weizman , the future president of Israel, gave a small group of famous Berlin Jews close to Kaiser Wilhelm II. This inner circle included, first of all, Albert Ballin, CEO of HAPAG , and since 1901 also James Simon, in addition to them, coal tycoon Eduard Arngold, bankers Karl Fürstenberg and Paul von Schwabach, as well as Emil and Walter Rathenau from AEG . William II initially attracted the “Kaiser Jews” as consultants on economic issues, then these meetings turned into informal conversations in the evening on a variety of topics. Simon's opinion was especially significant on Jewish issues; after some time, his presence became mandatory for the Kaiser to make decisions regarding Jews. Simon always advised the Kaiser privately, without an official position.

Such a trusting relationship between the German Kaiser and the Jew Simon was not usual for his time. Kaiser was the spokesman for the most conservative views and hostile attitude towards the Jews. Simon was a co-founder of an anti-Semitism organization, he held liberal views in politics, and at the end of his life he sympathized with the Social Democrats . These differences clearly did not affect personal relationships. Even after the Kaiser's abdication in 1918, they continued to communicate, despite the fact that Simon not only never advocated the restoration of the monarchy, but, on the contrary, actively supported the Weimar Republic .

Archaeological Site of Egypt

The common interests of the Kaiser and James Simon were not limited to issues of economics and Jewry. Wilhelm II was very enthusiastic about the Kaiser Wilhelm Society for the Development of Science project, for which Simon allocated an unusually large sum of 100,000 Reichsmarks . But first of all, both of them were passionate lovers of antiquity . Simon was the driving force of the German Eastern Society , founded under the patronage of the Kaiser in 1898. Simon led the company in close collaboration with the director of Berlin museums, Wilhelm von Bode, and financed many of his activities.

Since 1911, Simon also financed archaeological excavations in Egypt, which were conducted by Ludwig Borchardt on the ruins of the state capital Pharaoh Akhenaten in Amarna , 300 km south of Cairo . The archaeological campaign yielded great results. Among the numerous finds were gypsum sculptural portraits of members of the Akhenaten family and a painted sculptural bust of limestone of his main wife Nefertiti in unusually good condition. Simon single-handedly financed the expedition and, as a private individual, concluded an agreement with the Egyptian government that the German share of the finds would be transferred to his personal property.

Personal Collection

Simon converted his villa in Tiergarten in advance into a private museum. Private collections of works of art in Germany under Wilhelm II gave their owners significance in the eyes of the public and an occasion to declare it, and many nouveau riche era of grunding took advantage of this. But in the case of Simon, everything looked different. He became interested in collecting in his youth. At 34, he acquired his first Rembrandt . After 1890, when Simon became a senior partner in a family company, he had the opportunity to spend much more on art. Most likely, a passion for ancient art allowed Simon to escape from the monotonous work, compensated for his unrealized desire to receive a humanitarian education.

Since the mid-1880s, Simon used the advice of Wilhelm von Bode to form a valuable collection. Bode played an outstanding role in the development of museum work in Berlin. With his professional advice, he contributed to the creation and purposeful development of many private collections in Berlin, perhaps hoping that subsequently the state collections that he directed would be replenished with works of art donated by private art lovers.

Simon was the first among Berlin collectors who began to compile systematic collections of not only painting and sculpture, but also other forms of art. Most of all he was interested in the Italian Renaissance. Under the leadership of Bode, who had been advising Simon for almost 20 years, Simon assembled an extensive collection consisting of paintings, sculptures, furniture, and coins of the 15th-17th centuries, exemplary even according to museum workers. The exposition of a private museum in the villa of Simon was available for inspection by prior arrangement.

A gift to museums

In 1900, Simon donated his collection of Renaissance art to the state under the project of a new museum under construction. The Museum of Kaiser Friedrich , which opened in 1904, received the support of the Kaiser as a symbol of Prussia’s prestige, now it is named after Wilhelm Bode, who gave his offspring several years of life. As a collector and patriot of Prussia, Simon felt that he also had to contribute to the cause. His collection perfectly complemented the existing museum funds, occupied a separate “Simon Hall” and was displayed in exactly the same form as in his house. Bode supported Simon and agreed with him that the objects of art of different categories combined together created a stylistically true and expressive overall impression. Bode applied this approach throughout the museum exposition. A century later, which opened in the fall of 2006 after a long overhaul, the Bode Museum preserved the main idea of ​​its founder, but in a less categorical form, Bode mild , as they say in the museum’s management.

After parting with his collection of Renaissance art, Simon took up the second collection. Its core was a wooden sculpture of the Late Middle Ages from Germany and the Netherlands, as well as antique furniture, wall carpets, paintings and works of applied art from Germany, France and Spain. The collection consisted of 350 items. Simon, who had studied the expositions on Museum Island well , apparently from the very beginning he was selecting art objects in the collection that would complement the existing museum funds. With the outbreak of World War I, he donated the collection to Berlin museums. For many years, Simon also dealt with collections of German folk art, the Coin Office and the art departments of Ancient Egypt and Asia Minor. Simon always approached the donation of works of art rationally and systematically, taking into account the specific situation in each of the museums.

At the end of excavations in Egypt in 1913, a bust of Nefertiti and other finds from Amarna took their place in Simon’s private collection in his villa, next to another outstanding exhibit - acquired in 1905 in Cairo, the head of Queen Taye , mother of Akhenaten. Numerous guests, following William II, admired the new exhibits. Simon handed the first copy of the bust to Nefertiti in October 1913. Following this, he donated to the Berlin museums most of his collections, and in 1920 - the exhibits from Egypt that had already become world famous. In honor of Simon, on his 80th birthday, a large commemorative inscription was erected in the Amarna Hall of the New Museum. For the last time, Simon showed himself in public life by sending a letter to the Prussian Minister of Religious Affairs, in which he requested the return of the bust of Nefertiti to Egypt.

With the advent of the National Socialists, the commemorative inscription in the New Museum was removed, like all other indications of Simon's participation in the creation of museum collections. Currently, the patron is reminiscent of a bronze bust and a plaque.

• James Simon Gallery

• Hans-Georg Wormit: James Simon als Mäzen der Berliner Museen . In: Jahrbuch der Stiftung Preußischer Kulturbesitz 2, 1963, S. 191-199
• Ernst Feder: James Simon. Industrialist, Art Collector, Philanthropist . In: Leo Baeck Institute Year Book 10, 1965, S. 3-23
• Olaf Matthes: James Simon. Mäzen im Wilhelminischen Zeitalter . Bostelmann & Siebenhaar (Reihe Bürgerlichkeit, Wertewandel, Mäzenatentum , Bd. 5), Berlin 2000, ISBN 3-934189-25-3
• Peter-Klaus Schuster (Hrsg.): James Simon, Sammler und Mäzen für die Staatlichen Museen zu Berlin, anlässlich des 150. Geburtstages von James Simon . Berlin 2001, ISBN 3-88609-190-2
• Bernd Schultz (Hrsg.): James Simon - Philanthrop und Kunstmäzen . Prestel, München 2006, ISBN 3-7913-3759-9
• Dietmar Strauch: James Simon. Der Mann, der Nofretete zur Berlinerin machte . Progris, Berlin 2010, ISBN 978-3-88777-018-1
• Olaf Matthes: James Simon. Die Kunst des sinnvollen Gebens . Hentrich & Hentrich, Berlin 2011, ISBN 978-3-942271-35-6

• James Simon Foundation
• Spiegel: “The Man Who Gave Nefertiti” (German)