Schenk zu Schweinsberg, Eberhard Freiherr von

Art historian

Born: 04.02.1893 in Darmstadt

died: 29.03.1990 in Wiesbaden

Schenk zu Schweinsberg studied architecture, art history, archaeology and history. From 1919 he worked as a museum assistant (from 1925 as curator) at the Weimar art collections. He soon found his way to the Bauhaus, where he was particularly interested in the field of applied art. In May 1929, he moved to Wiesbaden.

Schenk zu Schweinsberg became the first full-time director of the young municipal museum in Wiesbaden and, in connection with this, also chairman of the Nassauischer Kunstverein e.V. He supplemented the existing holdings of the picture gallery with loans of mainly expressionist art from the collection of Heinrich Kirchhoff. Specific purchases were made from contemporary artists, including paintings and works of applied art. A large number of contemporary prints were also acquired, all works that had been confiscated by the Nazis in 1937 as part of the "Degenerate Art" campaign and taken back from the museum. In the summer of 1934, Schenk zu Schweinsberg took over the management of the Castle Museum, Library and Coin Cabinet of the Ducal Foundation in Gotha. Imprisoned by the Russians for three months in 1945, he managed to return to Wiesbaden in 1948.

In the following years, he was entrusted with the furnishing and redesign of Schloss Wilhelmshöhe in Kassel (Weißensteinflügel and Löwenburg), the castle in Bad Homburg vor der Höhe and the diocesan museums in Limburg and Fulda. He also held a teaching position at the Academy of Art in Kassel. He was active for many years in the Historical Commission of the German Glass Technology Society. Numerous publications reflect his broad interest in art history.