“The Materiality of History” is a project to digitise in 3D, document, update the descriptions of, disseminate and promote the four largest and most representative family tombs in Wrocław from the 19th and 20th centuries – those of the Kauffmanns, Kolkers, Cohns and Schottlaenders – located on the grounds of the Museum of Cemetery Art of the Old Jewish Cemetery on Ślężna Street in Wrocław.
The digital documentation will immortalise and popularise their unique craftsmanship of cemetery art, as well as provide an educational aspect about specific families and the Jewish community of pre-war Breslau/Wrocław. The created 3D models will be used to present the tombs to a broad national and international audience, both via the Internet and during visits to the cemetery, bringing visitors closer to the concept of digitisation of cultural property.
The project is being carried out in cooperation with the Museum of Cemetery Art of the City Museum of Wroclaw on the premises of the Old Jewish Cemetery on Ślężna Street and the SPARK Civic Accelerator Foundation, thanks to funding from the National Plan for Reconstruction and Increasing Resilience (KPO Culture).
The tombs and the families
The four tombs that we, together with the Museum of Cemetery Art, have selected for digitisation are among the most valuable monuments in the Jewish cemetery on Ślężna Street (formerly Lohestrasse) in Wrocław, which functioned between 1856 and 1943. They are all small architectural structures designed by well-known architects, while three of them also form so-called wall tombs, forming an integral part of the cemetery walls. Due to their value, they are located on the main tour of the necropolis, developed by the staff of the Wroclaw City Museum.
THE SCHOTTLAENDER TOMB
An empire-style tomb, in the form of an Egyptian temple, built of grey granite, with an inscription slab of red granite. Julius Schottländer (1835 – 1911), Anna Schottländer, née Galewsky (1846 – 1911) and Paul Schottländer (1870 – 1938).
Julius Schottländer was an entrepreneur and the owner of the Breslau department store ‘Under Saint Jerome’, a mineral water bottling plant in Karlsbad (today Karlove Vary, Czech Republic), and many Breslau properties and land estates in Lower Silesia, known for his philanthropic activities. He founded, among others, the Welfare Home and the South Park, and one of Wrocław’s streets is named after him.
THE KAUFFMANN TOMB
Built in the form of a chapel in Neo-Mauritanian style, the tomb is unique for its style and material, made of multicoloured brick and decorated with glazed terracotta details and marble columns. The foundation and inscription plaques are made of granite.
Max Kauffmann (1855 – 1893) and Louise Kauffmann, née Hellft (1863 – 1942).
Max Kauffmann was the manager of the Breslau cotton mill, and the grandson and co-owner of the well-known company belonging to Meyer Kauffmann, which played an important role in the Silesian textile industry. The Kauffmanns owned textile factories in Jawor, Świdnica, Jedlinka Zdrój, Głuszyca, Wałbrzych and Wrocław, among others.
THE KOLKER TOMB
A tomb in the form of a neo-Romanesque temple, built of sandstone with inscription slabs made from red granite.
Heimann Kolker (1818 – 1880), Liebchen Kolker, née Elsner (?-?), Hugo Kolker (1845 – 1915), Natalie Kolker, née Glaser (1852 – 1921), Hubert Kolker (1885 – 1918).
Hugo and Bruno Kolker were Breslau entrepreneurs, owners of an oil refinery and a machine grease factory, and trading depots selling chemicals and fats. They were also enthusiasts and collectors of art. Hugo amassed a collection of canvases, among others by Pablo Picasso, Henri Mattisse and Edvard Munch, with whom he maintained relations. You can read more about Hugo Kolker’s collection on our page dedicated to Jewish art collectors from pre-war Breslau/ Wrocław > here.
THE COHN TOMB
A neo-classical tomb in the form of a tympanum supported by Corinthian columns. Granite, Carrara marble and sandstone.
Louis Cohn (1843 – 1903), Margarethe Cohn, née Hainauer (1860 -1939), Ernestine Cohn, née Sachs (1851 – 1884), Martin Cohn (1873 – 1922).
Louis Cohn was the owner of the Trautner department store at Ring 49 in Breslau, and the father of historian and grammar school professor Willy Cohn (1888 – 1941), the author of a well-known diary documenting the fate of Wrocław’s Jewish community from 1907 to 1941, published in excerpts under the title ‘No Law – Nowhere. A Diary from Breslau 1933-1941’ (2010). In 1941, Willy Cohn, his wife and two small daughters were deported by the Nazis to Kaunas, where the entire family and a group of around 1,000 people from the same transport were executed.
ABOUT THE PROJECT
Implementation period: 01/09/2024 – 31/12/2024
Partners: The Urban Memory Foundation, The City Museum of Wroclaw – The Old Jewish Cemetery Art Museum and the SPARK Civic Accelerator Foundation.
Funding: the total budget of the project, which was carried out from September to December 2024, is PLN 125,890.00, of which PLN 100,000.00 comes from funding from the National Plan for Reconstruction and Increasing Resilience (Component: Resilience and Competitiveness of the Economy, Investment A2.5.1: Programme to support the activities of entities from the cultural and creative industries sector to stimulate their development) and PLN 25,890.00 is the Urban Memory Foundation’s contribution to the project.
