in detail
Richard Merländer and his Villa
The Krefeld silk manufacturer and wholesaler Richard Merländer has a house built on Friedrich-Ebert Strasse in 1924-25 where he intends to spend his years of retirement. Because of his Jewish origins, however, he becomes after 1933 a victim of National Socialist persecution. He is forced to sell his company, hand over his fortune and finally also give up his house. Richard Merländer is first sent in 1942 to Theresienstadt and then is deported to the Treblinka extermination camp, where he is murdered.
After its "de-judification," his house is used as a hotel. Its ownership frequently changes until it is rented in 1989 by the city of Krefeld. After the wall murals of the expressionist painter Heinrich Campendonk are re-discovered in the Villa Merländer and the history of the original owner becomes known, a NS Documentation Center is established in the the Villa Merländer in 1991.
Heinrich Campendonk, one of the artists ostracized by the National Socialists
The wall murals by Heinrich Campendonk are an important component of the house. The paintings contain clear traces of the era when Campendork belonged to the inner circle of the artist group "The Blue Rider." The themes of variety theater, or circus and games are presented in bright colors, like a group of three cats that are at the center of the picture on the left. His confrontation with cubism is clear. The Merländer paintings are transitional pieces connecting the artist's expressionist Blue Rider phase with his later work.
In accordance with the "Law for the Restoration of the Civil Service" Heinrich Campendonk was dismissed from his position as professor at the art academy in Düsseldorf in 1933-34. He emigrated to Holland and was appointed to the Reich Akademy in Amsterdam. In Germany Campendonk's work was banned from museums. A few of his paintings were shown in the notorious "Degenerate Art" exhibit. Campendonk remained in Holland after the war. He died in Amsterdam in 1957.
It is likely that Campendonk's wall murals in the Merländer Villa were covered up before 1933 and then forgotten after the ownership changed. They were preservd under many layers of wall paper. Today visitors can once again view both the restored Campendonk pictures in the Merländer Villa as part of a total artwork.
Task of the Documentation Center
The main task of the Documentation Center is conducting research on the history of the Nazi period in Krefeld. One focus is finding out about the fates of Jewish residents of Krefeld during the Nazi period. The list of names is continually extended and intensive research is also conducted on the Sinti and Roma, the foreign workers, the members of the Krefeld Communist Party and the Jehovah's Witnesses. An overview of the perpetrators is also being developed with representative figures such as the district leader Distelkamp, the head mayor Dr. Heuyng, the mayor Dr. Hürter and the Gestapo chief Jung. Research results are presented to the public in lectures, tours, published essays and publications of the Documentation Center. The institution is supported by a non-profit sponsor association "Villa Merländer e. V.".
1924-25
The villa is built for the Jewish silk manufacturer Richard Merländer
1925
The expressionist painter Heinrich Campendonk designs two murals in the dining room and game room
1938
Richard Merländer moves out of the villa after the November Pogrom
1941
Forced sale of the house, it is converted into a hote.
1942
Merländer is deported to Treblinka and murdered there.
After 1945
Frequent change of ownership
1989
The house is rented by the city of Krefeld. The murals by Heinrich Campendonk are rediscovered.
1991
The Merländer Villa is opened as a documentation center of National Socialism (since 1996 under the name NS-Dokumentationstelle der Stadt Krefeld).
