Jellinek-Mercedes, Raoul Fernand

Raoul Fernand Jellinek (1888-1939) was born to Emil Jellinek (1853–1918) and Rachel Gogman-Azoulay (1854–1893) in Algiers. His father was an industrialist, diplomat and businessman, who from 1898 worked as a sales consultant for Daimler vehicles. The Mercedes automobile was named after Raoul's sister Mercedes (1889-1929). In 1903, the family changed its surname to Jellinek-Mercedes. Raoul Fernand Jellinek-Mercedes married Léopoldine Weiss (1885–1981) in 1908. The couple lived in Baden, near Vienna, until 1938. Raoul Fernand Jellinek-Mercedes wrote for publications such as the “Badener Zeitung”, was a supporting member of the Wiener Musikverein (Vienna Musical Society), and possessed a library and a large collection of musical scores and paintings.

After the 'annexation' of Austria in March 1938, Raoul Fernand Jellinek-Mercedes was persecuted for being Jewish. He attempted to have himself recognised as a so-called Mischling (part-Jew), but his efforts were unsuccessful since his birth certificate contained no information about the religion of his parents and grandparents. His accounts were therefore frozen, which meant that he was repeatedly forced to sell items from his collections and private library. On 10 February 1939, he succumbed to the pressure of National Socialist persecution and took his own life. Léopoldine Weiss was forced to continue selling his property even after his death. Looking back, she described the circumstances as follows: "On 10 February, my husband shot himself after an official act by an enforcement officer. He was about to be arrested. After his death, I had to pay 32,000 RM as a Judenvermögensabgabe (Jewish asset levy). To raise this enormous amount, I had to sell the extremely valuable library, the unique collection of scores, my property in Baden, some jewellery and five very valuable Persian carpets, all at prices well under their real value." These sales led to the complete dispersal of the collection through the antiquarian book trade. In recent years, provenance research has helped identify numerous volumes in German and Austrian libraries, including 15 publications held at the German Museum of Books and Writing.

These primarily consist of seven two-part volumes of the Zeitschrift für Bücherfreunde (Journal for Book Lovers), which were acquired by Leipzig's city library in 1944. When the city library was converted into a public library at the beginning of the 1950s, it had to hand over large parts of its historical holdings to other institutions in Leipzig. The journals accordingly found their way into the collection of the German Museum of Books and Writing in 1956. In 1986, the German Museum of Books and Writing purchased another volume from the Jellinek-Mercedes collection from the antiquarian book dealer Norddeutsches Antiquariat in Rostock.

These volumes, along with 26 others, were restored to the heirs in a joint act of restitution led by the German National Library on behalf of 14 libraries from all over Germany. They were subsequently repurchased for the libraries' collections in the spirit of a just and fair solution.

Further information:

Eintrag „Raoul Fernand Jellinek-Mercedes“, in: ProvenienzWiki, 28.04.2025, URL: https://provenienz.gbv.de/Raoul_Fernand_Jellinek-Mercedes

Reinhard Brenner, Zur Geschichte der Sammlung Jellinek-Mercedes – ein Briefwechsel, in: Forum Bibliothek und Information 56 (2004), H. 5, S. 351–357.

Reinhard Brenner, Die Sammlung Jellinek-Mercedes in der Stadtbibliothek Essen, in: Regine Dehnel (Hg.), Jüdischer Buchbesitz als Raubgut. Zweites Hannoversches Symposium, Frankfurt a.M. 2006, S. 379–385.

Anett Krause und Cordula Reuß (Hg.), NS-Raubgut in der Universitätsbibliothek Leipzig. Katalog zur Ausstellung in der Bibliotheca Albertina, 27. November 2011 bis 18. März 2012 (= Schriften aus der Universitätsbibliothek Leipzig 25), Leipzig 2011, S. 58–59.

Emily Löffler, „14 Bibliotheken geben gemeinsam Bücher an die Erb*innen von Raoul Fernand Jellinek-Mercedes zurück“, in: Retour. Freier Blog für Provenienzforschende, 08.05.2025, URL: https://retour.hypotheses.org/5802

Walter Mentzel, „Raoul Fernand Jellinek-Mercedes“, in: Lexikon der österreichischen Provenienzforschung, 06.01.2019, URL: https://www.lexikon-provenienzforschung.org/jellinek-mercedes-raoul-fernand (zuletzt abgerufen am 27.03.2025).

Markus Stumpf und Mathias Lichtenwagner, „… erschoss sich mein Gatte nach einer Amtshandlung des Vollstreckungsbeamten“: Raub und Rückgabe aus der Sammlung Raoul Jellinek-Mercedes“, in: Birgit Kirchmayr und Pia Schölnberger (Hrsg.), Restituiert. 25 Jahre Kunstrückgabegesetz in Österreich (Schriftenreihe der Kommission für Provenienzforschung Bd. 9), Wien 2023, S. 344-351.