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The company was now solely a book publisher and abandoned colour printing, abandoning its long-held art historical focus to publish Nazi propaganda such as ]'s ''On the Nature and Development of German Forms'' as well as Hans Weigert's ''Art of Today as a Mirror of the Times'' and ]'s ''Art from Blood and Soil''. The ] destroyed the publishing house, its photographic studio, all its documents and its printing equipment, with only the colour printing plates being stored at Förster & Borries in ] and other materials and works then outside the main building surviving. This particularly impacted the editorial staff of the "Thieme-Becker" artists' encyclopedia with its extensive library and fifty year old collection of documents - the already completed typesetting of its last volume was destroyed. The company was now solely a book publisher and abandoned colour printing, abandoning its long-held art historical focus to publish Nazi propaganda such as ]'s ''On the Nature and Development of German Forms'' as well as Hans Weigert's ''Art of Today as a Mirror of the Times'' and ]'s ''Art from Blood and Soil''. The ] destroyed the publishing house, its photographic studio, all its documents and its printing equipment, with only the colour printing plates being stored at Förster & Borries in ] and other materials and works then outside the main building surviving. This particularly impacted the editorial staff of the "Thieme-Becker" artists' encyclopedia with its extensive library and fifty year old collection of documents - the already completed typesetting of its last volume was destroyed.


=== Soviet Zone and DDR===<!--- === Soviet Zone and DDR===
Elert had signed over all parts of the company to his sister Irmgard Nußbaum-Seemann (1903–?) in September 1945 before fleeing to what would become ] and the occupying powers confirmed her as its owner on 13 February 1946. Kirstein's former half of the company, now renamed "Seemann and Co", was licensed to resume production at the war's end. On 3 December 1946 permission was granted for the company to publish the 'Zeitschrift für Kunst und künstlerische Gestaltung'.
Der einstige Kirstein-Zweig des Verlages, nun wieder „Seemann & Co.“, erhielt eine Lizenz zur Weiterführung der Produktion. Am 3. Dezember 1946 wurde die Genehmigung zur Herausgabe der ''Zeitschrift für Kunst und künstlerische Gestaltung'' erteilt. Ein Jahr später wurde mit der Lizenz zur „Veröffentlichung von Literatur über Kunst, Kunst-, Kultur- und Geistesgeschichte“ die Weiterführung des Verlages gesichert. Das Unternehmen blieb vorerst im Besitz der Familie Seemann, auch wenn Elert Seemann wegen seiner einstigen NSDAP-Zugehörigkeit nicht als Inhaber zugelassen wurde. Seemann hatte sich bereits in Richtung Westen abgesetzt, nachdem er im September 1945 seiner Schwester Irmgard Nußbaum-Seemann (1903–?) alle Verlagsteile überlassen hatte. Am 13. Februar 1946 wurde sie als Verlagsinhaberin von der Besatzungsmacht bestätigt. Elert Seemann selbst versuchte, einen Zweig des Familienunternehmens in der britischen Besatzungszone, in Köln, zu errichten und führte ihn unter großen wirtschaftlichen Schwierigkeiten bis zu seinem Tod im Jahre 1989 und zwar wieder als Kunstverlag, teilweise in Zusammenarbeit mit dem VEB E. A. Seemann in Leipzig.


In 1947 the occupiers licensed the company to publish "literature on art, art history, cultural history and intellectual history" but banned Elert from owning it due to his Nazi links, though he did establish a branch of the business in ] in the ] and ran it with great difficulties until his death in 1989, partly in collaboration with the main company's headquarters in Leipzig. Irmgard planned to move the company headquarters to Munich (i.e. out of the ]) and moved the surviving "Thieme-Becker" documents and colour printing plates to her "Nautilus" branch in Bavaria, founded in 1949. When this became known she had to flee the ] in February 1952. Verlag E. A. Seemann was seized and on 8 August the same year became ] as the VEB E. A. Seemann, retaining its founder's name after long disputes with Elert.
Die Schwester Elert Seemanns, Irmgard Nußbaum, plante, den E. A. Seemann Verlag in München zu etablieren und überführte „Thieme-Becker“-Unterlagen sowie Farbdruckklischees an ihre bereits 1949 gegründete Zweigniederlassung „Nautilus“ in Bayern. Als dies bekannt wurde, verließ sie im Februar 1952 die DDR. Der Verlag E. A. Seemann wurde daraufhin enteignet und am 8. August 1952 in einen ] (VEB) umgewandelt. Der Name seines Gründers E(rnst) A(rthur) Seemann aber blieb nach langen Querelen mit dem in Köln ansässigen Elert Seemann als Firmenbezeichnung erhalten.


<!---
Mit dem Erscheinen der ''Zeitschrift für Kunst'' wurde der Neubeginn der Verlagstätigkeit eingeleitet, die Buchproduktion wurde fortgesetzt. Der letzte Band des „Thieme-Becker“ konnte dank einer geretteten Korrekturfahne 1947 neu gesetzt, gedruckt und ausgeliefert werden. Neue Monografien und Kunstbände sowie Kalender waren neben Nachauflagen im Programm vertreten. Als neues Verlagsdomizil bekam der E. A. Seemann Verlag 1951 das Wohnhaus Jacobstraße 6 in Leipzig zugewiesen. Neben dem ] in Dresden und dem ] bestritt der E. A. Seemann Verlag den Großteil der Kunstbuchproduktion in der DDR. Die Leitung des Verlages E. A. Seemann bekam zunächst ] übertragen, er wurde 1954 von ] (1922–1997) abgelöst. Er baute E. A. Seemann zum führenden Kunstverlag der DDR aus. Mit dem Erscheinen der ''Zeitschrift für Kunst'' wurde der Neubeginn der Verlagstätigkeit eingeleitet, die Buchproduktion wurde fortgesetzt. Der letzte Band des „Thieme-Becker“ konnte dank einer geretteten Korrekturfahne 1947 neu gesetzt, gedruckt und ausgeliefert werden. Neue Monografien und Kunstbände sowie Kalender waren neben Nachauflagen im Programm vertreten. Als neues Verlagsdomizil bekam der E. A. Seemann Verlag 1951 das Wohnhaus Jacobstraße 6 in Leipzig zugewiesen. Neben dem ] in Dresden und dem ] bestritt der E. A. Seemann Verlag den Großteil der Kunstbuchproduktion in der DDR. Die Leitung des Verlages E. A. Seemann bekam zunächst ] übertragen, er wurde 1954 von ] (1922–1997) abgelöst. Er baute E. A. Seemann zum führenden Kunstverlag der DDR aus.


Revision as of 22:02, 23 December 2024

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The E. A. Seemann Verlag (now operating as the Seemann Henschel GmbH & Co. KG) is a German publisher, founded on 1 December 1858, based in Leipzig and specialising in art and art history.

History

Ernst

Ernst Arthur Seemann, 1888

On 1 December 1858 the 29-year-old Ernst Arthur Seemann announced the opening of a business entitled E. A. Seemann, Verlags- und Sortimentsbuchhandlung, verbunden mit Kunst-, Musikalien u. Antiquariatsbuchhandel (Publisher's Bookshop and Assorted Bookshop, connected with the art, musical and antiquarian book trade) in Essen, the first German publisher to focus on painting reproductions and art writing. On 15 August 1861 he moved it to Leipzig, where the company name soon became a byword for high-quality writing on art. For example, it published Wilhelm Lübke's "History of Architecture" (1858) and his "History of Sculpture in all Times and Lands" (1863), Robert Dohme's six-volume biographical dictionary "Art and Artists of the Middle Ages and the Modern Era" (1875–1880) and the series Seemanns Beiträge zur Kunstgeschichte (Seemann's Contribution to Art History, 1878 onwards), dedicated to specific artists, artworks, eras or regions.

From 1866 it began publishing Germany's first art magazine, entitled Zeitschrift für bildende Kunst (Magazine for Fine Arts), which remained a specialist journal for the art world for sixty-six years. In 1867 it began publishing the Jahrbuch für Kunstwissenschaft (Art Yearbook) and the following year took over the rights to Jacob Burckhardt's work. From 1877 it used printing blocks for woodcut illustrations.

Artur to Elert

Ernst finally handed the company over to his son Artur on 1 January 1899. Ernst was its sole leader from then until 1 October 1899, when he split management with Gustav Kirstein (1870–1934) and largely withdrew into private life. He handed his share over to his eldest son Elert A. Seemann (1892–1989) in 1923 and killed himself two years later aged sixty-four.


Under Nazism

Elert joined the Nazi Party early on and in 1933 separated from Kirstein due to his being Jewish, leaving him with the art publishing house and image production, separate from the Verlag E. A. Seemann. He soon also forced Kirstein's operation to rename itself "Meister der Farbe" (Master of Colours), though the Reich Chamber for Art (Reichskunstkammer) did give it a special permit to stay in business until 1938. On Kirstein's death on 14 February 1934 his widow Cläre took over management of his company but in 1938 Elert exerted his agreed right to repurchase it, though due to a dispute with the Reich Propaganda Ministry this only became legally binding in 1942 - in the meantime, in 1939, Cläre had killed herself.

The company was now solely a book publisher and abandoned colour printing, abandoning its long-held art historical focus to publish Nazi propaganda such as Wilhelm Pinder's On the Nature and Development of German Forms as well as Hans Weigert's Art of Today as a Mirror of the Times and Paul Schultze-Naumburg's Art from Blood and Soil. The 4 December 1943 bombing raid on Leipzig destroyed the publishing house, its photographic studio, all its documents and its printing equipment, with only the colour printing plates being stored at Förster & Borries in Zwickau and other materials and works then outside the main building surviving. This particularly impacted the editorial staff of the "Thieme-Becker" artists' encyclopedia with its extensive library and fifty year old collection of documents - the already completed typesetting of its last volume was destroyed.

Soviet Zone and DDR

Elert had signed over all parts of the company to his sister Irmgard Nußbaum-Seemann (1903–?) in September 1945 before fleeing to what would become West Germany and the occupying powers confirmed her as its owner on 13 February 1946. Kirstein's former half of the company, now renamed "Seemann and Co", was licensed to resume production at the war's end. On 3 December 1946 permission was granted for the company to publish the 'Zeitschrift für Kunst und künstlerische Gestaltung'.

In 1947 the occupiers licensed the company to publish "literature on art, art history, cultural history and intellectual history" but banned Elert from owning it due to his Nazi links, though he did establish a branch of the business in Cologne in the British Occupation Zone and ran it with great difficulties until his death in 1989, partly in collaboration with the main company's headquarters in Leipzig. Irmgard planned to move the company headquarters to Munich (i.e. out of the Soviet Occupation Zone) and moved the surviving "Thieme-Becker" documents and colour printing plates to her "Nautilus" branch in Bavaria, founded in 1949. When this became known she had to flee the German Democratic Republic in February 1952. Verlag E. A. Seemann was seized and on 8 August the same year became state owned as the VEB E. A. Seemann, retaining its founder's name after long disputes with Elert.


1990-present

Bibliography

  • Hundert Jahre im Dienste der Kunst! Tradition, festliche Besinnung und Perspektive des VEB E. A. Seemann in Leipzig. In: Börsenblatt für den deutschen Buchhandel (Leipzig) 125, 1958, S. 806–808.
  • Alfred Langer: Kunstliteratur und Reproduktion. 125 Jahre Seemann-Verlag im Dienste der Erforschung und Verbreitung der Kunst. E. A. Seemann, Leipzig 1983.
  • Reinhard Würffel: Lexikon deutscher Verlage von A–Z. 1071 Verlage und 2800 Verlagssignete; vom Anfang der Buchdruckerkunst bis 1945. Adressen, Daten, Fakten, Namen. Verlag Grotesk, Berlin 2000, ISBN 3-9803147-1-5, S. 800–803.
  • P. Neumann: Seemann, E. A. In: Lexikon des gesamten Buchwesens. 2. Auflage, Band 7, Stuttgart 2007, S. 44.
  • "Ute Willer, Susanne Müller-Wolff, 150 Jahre E. A. Seemann. Die Geschichte des ältesten deutschen Kunstverlages. 1858–2008 (E. A. Seemann: Leipzig, 2008)" (PDF).
  • Ulrich Faure: 150 Jahre E. A. Seemann. In: Aus dem Antiquariat 2008, Nr. 1, S. 28–30.
  • Ralph Gambihler: Im Land der Schachtelhalme. Der Seemann Verlag und seine Geschichte ab 1945. In: Leipziger Blätter 2008, Nr. 52, S. 38–40.
  • Christoph Links: Das Schicksal der DDR-Verlage. Die Privatisierung und ihre Konsequenzen. Ch. Links Verlag, Berlin 2009, ISBN 978-3-86153-523-2, S. 160–163.
  • Lothar Poethe (2010), "Seemann, Ernst Arthur", Neue Deutsche Biographie (in German), vol. 24, Berlin: Duncker & Humblot, pp. 153–154; (full text online)
  • Lothar Poethe (2010), "Seemann, Arthur", Neue Deutsche Biographie (in German), vol. 24, Berlin: Duncker & Humblot, pp. 154–155; (full text online)

External links

References

  1. (in German) Curt Vinz, Günter Olzog: Dokumentation deutschsprachige Verlage. 8. Ausgabe, Günter Olzog, München/Wien 1983, S. 358.

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