Karl Süßheim

Karl Süßheim was born on 21 January 1878 in Nuremberg. His father Sigmund (1836 – 1910) had acquired prosperity as a merchant, trading hops. Karl studied history, obtaining a doctorate in 1902 on a historical topic. In the course of his studies, he became increasingly interested in the Turkish and Arabic languages and cultures. After several long-term stays in the Middle East, Süßheim settled in Munich in 1910, became a private teacher in 1911 and in 1919 finally was appointed extraordinary professor at the University of Munich for the history of the Islamic world, Turkish, Persian and modern Arabic. In 1927 he married Karoline Plank, their daughter Margot was born in 1929 and Gioconda in 1934 († 2006). In 1933, Süßheim was dismissed from public service, but remained active as a private scholar and gave private lessons. He was detained in the concentration camp of Dachau for three weeks in 1938. Two years later, he received an invitation from the Turkish government. On 19 June 1941 Süßheim could finally leave the country with his family and go to Istanbul. Up to his death in 1947, he worked at the university there. His widow and daughters emigrated to the USA later on, where the family has been living up to the present.

Karl Süßheim (entry in the in the common authority file, GND)

Karl Süßheim had inherited a collection of manuscripts on the history of Nuremberg from his brother Max (1876 – 1933). Max, an expert for the history of his home town, had been an attorney at law and politician. Between 1907 and 1920 he was a member of the Bavarian Landtag, representing the Social Democratic Party of Germany.

Max Süßheim (entry in the in the common authority file, GND)

Restitution on 19 June 2017: Lisa D'Angelo and Dr. Stephan Kellner (Bayerische Staatsbibliothek) | © Lisa D'Angelo

In 1941, 43 manuscripts of this Norica collection were deposited with the exchange control office in Munich, which was assigned to the regional tax authority. Representatives of the Bavarian state archives and of the Bayerische Staatsbibliothek met there in January of the same year. The Bayerische Staatsbibliothek acquired two manuscripts, while the remaining items went to the archive administration. In both cases, a comparatively low sum was paid. In addition, a print titled "Noch ein Todtentanz" (another danse macabre) was found among the holdings of the Bayerische Staatsbibliothek that had been catalogued in 1943. Like the manuscripts, this print bears the exlibris of Karl Süßheim, thus doubtlessly likewise constituting a looted item.

Noch ein Todtentanz (digital version)

These three works, along with the 41 manuscripts from the holdings of the state archives, were returned to the representatives of Süßheim's heirs, Ms. Lisa D'Angelo, Ms. Cynthia D'Angelo and Ms. Annalisa D'Angelo, in a ceremonial act held by the Directorate General of the Bavarian State Archives on 19 June 2017 in Nuremberg. The family has decided to give the restituted items to the Nuremberg City Archive as a permanent deposit.

City Archive of Nuremberg

The three titles have been digitized with the permission of the heirs.
They will continue to be displayed in BSB DISCOVER!