Hugo Simon

Céline Marten
Project Assistant, Brücke-Museum

Hugo Simon was a man of many talents and commitment. As a trained agriculturist and banker, a social democrat politician, generous cultural patron and art collector, he helped shape the Weimar Republic in a variety of ways.

Numerous Professions and Interests

Simon was born on 1 September 1880 in Ujście, a small town in modern-day Poland. His father was a teacher and agriculturist, which likely motivated him to train in agriculture as well. Later, however, he gravitated towards banking. After completing a banking apprenticeship in Marburg, Simon went to Berlin in 1905. He began working as an authorised bank representative with power of attorney until he helped found the private banking company Carsch, Simon & Co (later Bett, Simon & Co).

His social democratic attitude was evident in his many activities. Simon’s client base included numerous protagonists from the left-wing and communist intelligentsia. He was a member of and financial consultant for Germany’s Social Democrat Party (SPD). As a staunch pacifist, he belonged to the Bund Neues Vaterland (New Fatherland League, later the German League for Human Rights), which advocated for an end to the war through diplomatic negotiation instead of military violence. Simon was also involved after the war ended in 1918, when the collapse of the German Empire led to sweeping changes in German politics. For a few eventful months, he was the Minister of Finance in the Prussian Revolutionary Cabinet. He chose not to continue further down the political path but actively supported charitable causes instead. Simon organised charity events, including those for the welfare of elderly Jews, and participated in several relief organisations dedicated to aiding political prisoners, refugees, and impoverished children.

A Passion for Art, Culture, and Humanity

Next to his accomplishments in banking and politics, Simon was most passionate about culture. He was deeply invested in fostering Berlin’s cultural life and did so as a board member of several art associations and the S. Fischer publishing house. A prominent supporter of the Nationalgalerie, he played a major role in establishing its new department at the Kronprinzpalais dedicated exclusively to contemporary art. Simon maintained a broad network in a diverse range of Berlin’s intellectual communities, fostering Berlin’s cultural life. His villa in Berlin-Tiergarten was designed by gallerist Paul Cassierer and became a social hub in the 1920s. Artist Max Pechstein, sculptor Renée Sintenis, authors Thomas Mann and Stefan Zweig, as well as scientist Albert Einstein, all came and went in the mansion in Drakestraße. Here, Simon’s guests could also admire his comprehensive collection of artworks ranging from paintings by Old Masters to the Expressionist works of the Brücke group, assembled over the course of regular visits to Berlin galleries owned by dealers that included Ferdinand Möller and Paul Cassierer.

Simon regularly advocated for the artists and writers he valued. When financial troubles plagued Kurt Tucholsky, Simon hired him as a personal secretary at his banking company. He also helped the poet Else Lasker-Schüler with financial donations during difficult economic times. She in turn dedicated the poem Gott hör… (1920) to him with the words “Hugo Simon dem Boas”, thus comparing him to the wealthy but generous and good-natured landowner Boaz from the Old Testament.

In a sense, Simon was a modern-day Boaz. He had never lost interest in agriculture, and in 1919, he acquired a former day-trip restaurant called the Schweizer Haus and its surrounding 50-hectare estate in Seelow, Brandenburg. He transformed this property into an exceptionally successful agricultural operation where he tested new crop cultivation methods. The estate was designated a model farm, attracting thousands of visitors yearly.

Persecution by the National Socialists and Life in Exile

1933 marked a significant turning point in the lives of Simon and his family. As a Jew and a social democrat, Simon was doubly persecuted by the Nazis. He, therefore, chose to flee from Berlin to France as early as 1933. In Paris, Simon was initially able to continue working as a banker. Here, too, he supported a range of cultural, humanitarian and political projects. When Paris was occupied by the National Socialists in 1940, he was forced to leave behind his new life as well as his art collection, most of which he had been able to take with him from Germany. By travelling under pseudonyms with false Czech passports – his German citizenship had been rescinded in 1937 – Simon and his family were able to flee to Rio de Janeiro. An extradition order from the Brazilian authorities, as well as threats of denunciation, left him no choice but to continue fleeing within the country repeatedly, at times living underground. He finally found refuge in Barbacena. Here, Simon was able to revive his interest in agriculture and began breeding silkworms.

The art collection Simon left behind in Paris was confiscated by the Nazis along with the rest of his property. Soon after the end of the Second World War, Simon did all he could from exile to recover his collection of over 200 artworks and his true name and citizenship. His efforts proved to be in vain. Hugo Simon died in São Paolo on 4 July 1950. Only his Brazilian death certificate listed his real name.

Resources:
Nina Senger, „Hugo Simon (1880-1950) Bankier - Sammler - Philanthrop“, in: Annette Weber (Hg.), Jüdische Sammler und ihr Beitrag zur Kultur der Moderne, Heidelberg 2011, S. 149–163.
Anna-Dorothea Ludewig; Rafael Cardoso (Hgg.), Hugo Simon in Berlin. Handlungsorte und Denkräume, Berlin 2018.
Anna-Dorothea Ludewig, Hugo Simon. Vom roten Bankier zum grünen Exilanten (= Jüdische Miniaturen), Leipzig 2021.
Hugo Simon, veröffentlicht von Hugo Simon Stiftung. https://hugo-simon-stiftung.de/hugo-simon (04.08.2024).