Emil Georg Bührle
| Emil Georg Bührle | |
|---|---|
| Born | 31 August 1890 Pforzheim, Germany |
| Died | 26 November 1956 Zürich, Switzerland |
| Residence | Zürich |
| Known for | arms manufacturer and art collector |
Emil Georg Bührle (31 August 1890 in Pforzheim – November 26, 1956 in Zürich) was an arms manufacturer, art collector and patron. His art collection is now housed in the Foundation E.G. Bührle.
After studying philosophy, literature, history and art history in Freiburg, Bührle went to Munich. From 1914 to 1919 he was a German cavalry officer in the imperial army. In 1919 he joined the Magdeburg Werkzeugmaschinenfabrik and rose up to become a legal representative. The Magdeburger Werkzeugmaschinenfabrik bought the Werkzeugmaschinenfabrik Oerlikon in 1923, and Bührle became the CEO the following year. In the same year he was moved to Zurich. In 1929, Bührle became the majority shareholder of the Werkzeugmaschinenfabrik Oerlikon and in 1936 he became the sole owner of the company (later the Oerlikon-Bührle Holding AG). Also in 1936, Bührle obtained Swiss citizenship.
From his 1920 marriage with Charlotte Schalk came two children. The following foundations are attributed to Emil Bührle: Emil Bührle Foundation for the Swiss literature (1943), Goethe Foundation for Art and Science (1944) and the Foundation of the cultivation of the Kunsthaus Zurich (1954).
Emil George Bührle's role as an industrialist has been controversial in recent decades because of his ties to Nazis. Although he converted the almost bankrupt Werkzeugmaschinenfabrik Oerlikon into a thriving company, his main business became arms production and export. Before the second world war the Oerlikon-Bührle company supplied the Republicans in Spain (i.e. Franco opponents), the independent Abyssinia (in the colonial war against fascist Italy), along with several Baltic countries, Czechoslovakia, Greece, China, Turkey, France, Holland and Britain. In the period from 1940 - 1944, with Switzerland then completely surrounded by fascist countries (Italy, Germany) and fascist-occupied countries (Austria, France), and at the request of the Swiss government, the company also supplied weapons to Germany and Italy.
Bührles first acquisitions were two 1920 watercolours by Erich Heckel, followed in 1924 by a picture of Maurice de Vlaminck. The present day make up of the Bührle collection started in 1936, when financial conditions were very favourable.
...
Wikipedia