Antonio Stradivari, Cremona, 1709, the 'Mendelssohn'
Violin: 46611
Back: One-piece
Reported stolen in 1945
Notes:
Reported stolen from the Deutsche Bank in Berlin "on the occasion of the occupation of Berlin.... It bears an authentic inscription of the year 1709. ... It is generally known as the small Mendelssohn Stradivari. It was valued at RM 80,000 in 1930."Stolen instrument notice, The Strad, September, 1958, London
"The 1709 Stradivari was last documented on December 18, 1940 as being located at 51 Jägerstrasse, Berlin, a Mendelssohn property taken over by the Nazis for the Reich Finance Ministry. Lilli Mendelssohn-Bohnke’s son, Walter Bohnke, reported that the Stradivari was stolen from the Deutsche Bank in Berlin upon the 1945 occupation of Berlin, but records from the Deutsche Bank Archive suggest the violin may have vanished before this." - Carla Shapreau, Carteggio feature Sept 2015
Provenance
| - | Mendelssohn family |
| until 1928 | Emile Bohnke and Lilli von Mendelssohn |
| 1928 - c. 1945 | Mendelssohn family |
| from c. 1945 | Reported stolen |
Certificates & Documents
Certificate: W. H. Hammig & Co., Berlin (1930) Certificate No. 691
Cozio holds copies of many certificates and other documents, some of which are available to view on request. Please contact us if you wish to view a particular document. (Note that we do not always have permission to share documents.)
References
The Strad, September, 1958, London (illustrated)