Repatriated landscape oil painting by Karl Wagner
Object numberM2023/043
TitleRepatriated landscape oil painting by Karl Wagner
Creator Karl Theodor Wagner (artist)
DescriptionLandscape oil painting of possibly a Dutch harbour scene by Karl Theodor Wagner (1856-1921) in ornate gold painted frame. The painting was left in the Koref family apartment in Vienna, Austria when they escaped Vienna in 1938. The painting was repatriated to descendants through the National Fund - Republic of Austria with assistance from the current owner of the apartment, Dr Peter Brandl.
Victor Koref (1873-1949) was married to Rosa Haas (1883-1961) in Vienna, Austria and had two children, Marie and Gertrude. Marie married Robert Paul Tritsch and they had a son, Fredl Hans (Fred) in 1931.
The Koref and Tritsch families operated successful businesses in Vienna including a women’s and children’s department store run by Robert. In July 1938, he was ordered to fill in Aryanization documents for his business. By August, he and his extended family were forced by law to vacate their apartments by the Gestapo. He fled to Zurich before securing passage to Australia through Royal Dutch Airline KLM to Australia.
The family arrived in Darwin, Australia on 4 November 1938. Upon arrival, Robert was interviewed and quoted in the Argus newspaper. He stated; ‘The stories of persecution are not exaggerated. Jews have been flogged, dragged through the street, and subjected to horrors which you would not believe possible in a civilised country.’
Like many Jewish citizens, Victor and Rosa Koref were forced to become “refugees” within their own country and moved into a Sammelwohnung (Jewish apartment). Over time, this involved moving into smaller and smaller lodgings. Consequently, they had to choose, with the greatest of care, selecting pieces of furniture and household items that were not only essential but would fit into their new cramped quarters. Given the dimensions of the Karl Wagner painting, it would have been impossible for it to accompany them. How they organised the relevant paperwork to leave Austria and emigrate to Sydney remains a mystery. However, they did arrive in Australia on 27 June 1939, on SS Orontes.
After the family left Vienna, the painting stayed in the apartment. According to Peter Brandl, his parents moved in in 1939 after looking to rent a larger apartment. Consequently, the painting and several other pieces of furniture left behind by the Korefs intermingled with their own possessions.
In 2020, while researching his own family’s history, Peter discovered the fate of the painting and some of the furniture. During the war (without giving up the apartment in Vienna) Peter’s mother and her two children, moved to live with her parents in Schwaz in Tyrol. She returned to Vienna in 1946, ended the lease of the apartment, and had all its contents moved to their apartment in Wörgl. After the deaths of his parents, Peter Brandl while sorting through a pile of documents, photos and letters came across an itemised list of all the furniture from the family’s first flat in Mariahilferstrasse 76. From this list, he was able to determine that many pieces of furniture and at least one oil painting did not appear on the list. He realised that these items must have belonged to the previous tenants, Victor and Rosa Koref. From this information, he contacted the National Fund of the Republic of Austria for Victims of National Socialism. Fortunately, the Koref’s grandson, Fred Tritsch had filed an application with the Fund regarding acknowledgement as a victim of National Socialism. Consequently, the Fund was able to locate the rightful owner of the Karl Wagner painting.
Dr. Brandl contacted the National Fund as an institution which, in addition to making payments to Nazi victims and sponsoring studies and commemorative projects, also supports private individuals who wish to return pictures, books, furniture, etc. of questionable provenance from their family possessions to their rightful owners. By carrying out extensive research in the Austrian archives, the National Fund was able to establish that the former owners of the items were the Koref family. The National Fund was able to trace the descendants and contacted the great-granddaughter, Ms. Julia Tritsch, to establish contact with Dr. Brandl. The Fund requested the support of the Foreign Ministry and the Austrian Embassy in Canberra to help bring the private restitution initiative to a successful conclusion. In accordance with Dr. Brandl’s wish to restitute the Wagner painting to the family, the painting was transported to Australia by diplomatic mail and handed over to Ms. Tritsch via the Austrian Embassy in Canberra in December 2021.
She donated the painting to the Museum to memorialise her ancestors’ lives—her great-grandparents, her grandparents as well as her father’s generation. She also did it for her children and the generations that will follow—to keep alive a chapter of history too significant to forget.
Sydney Jewish Museum acknowledges the role of the National Fund, the Austrian Foreign Ministry and the Austrian Embassy in Canberra, all of which were involved in the repatriation, and ensured the safe transfer of the painting to Australia and the successful handover to Ms. Tritsch.
Victor Koref (1873-1949) was married to Rosa Haas (1883-1961) in Vienna, Austria and had two children, Marie and Gertrude. Marie married Robert Paul Tritsch and they had a son, Fredl Hans (Fred) in 1931.
The Koref and Tritsch families operated successful businesses in Vienna including a women’s and children’s department store run by Robert. In July 1938, he was ordered to fill in Aryanization documents for his business. By August, he and his extended family were forced by law to vacate their apartments by the Gestapo. He fled to Zurich before securing passage to Australia through Royal Dutch Airline KLM to Australia.
The family arrived in Darwin, Australia on 4 November 1938. Upon arrival, Robert was interviewed and quoted in the Argus newspaper. He stated; ‘The stories of persecution are not exaggerated. Jews have been flogged, dragged through the street, and subjected to horrors which you would not believe possible in a civilised country.’
Like many Jewish citizens, Victor and Rosa Koref were forced to become “refugees” within their own country and moved into a Sammelwohnung (Jewish apartment). Over time, this involved moving into smaller and smaller lodgings. Consequently, they had to choose, with the greatest of care, selecting pieces of furniture and household items that were not only essential but would fit into their new cramped quarters. Given the dimensions of the Karl Wagner painting, it would have been impossible for it to accompany them. How they organised the relevant paperwork to leave Austria and emigrate to Sydney remains a mystery. However, they did arrive in Australia on 27 June 1939, on SS Orontes.
After the family left Vienna, the painting stayed in the apartment. According to Peter Brandl, his parents moved in in 1939 after looking to rent a larger apartment. Consequently, the painting and several other pieces of furniture left behind by the Korefs intermingled with their own possessions.
In 2020, while researching his own family’s history, Peter discovered the fate of the painting and some of the furniture. During the war (without giving up the apartment in Vienna) Peter’s mother and her two children, moved to live with her parents in Schwaz in Tyrol. She returned to Vienna in 1946, ended the lease of the apartment, and had all its contents moved to their apartment in Wörgl. After the deaths of his parents, Peter Brandl while sorting through a pile of documents, photos and letters came across an itemised list of all the furniture from the family’s first flat in Mariahilferstrasse 76. From this list, he was able to determine that many pieces of furniture and at least one oil painting did not appear on the list. He realised that these items must have belonged to the previous tenants, Victor and Rosa Koref. From this information, he contacted the National Fund of the Republic of Austria for Victims of National Socialism. Fortunately, the Koref’s grandson, Fred Tritsch had filed an application with the Fund regarding acknowledgement as a victim of National Socialism. Consequently, the Fund was able to locate the rightful owner of the Karl Wagner painting.
Dr. Brandl contacted the National Fund as an institution which, in addition to making payments to Nazi victims and sponsoring studies and commemorative projects, also supports private individuals who wish to return pictures, books, furniture, etc. of questionable provenance from their family possessions to their rightful owners. By carrying out extensive research in the Austrian archives, the National Fund was able to establish that the former owners of the items were the Koref family. The National Fund was able to trace the descendants and contacted the great-granddaughter, Ms. Julia Tritsch, to establish contact with Dr. Brandl. The Fund requested the support of the Foreign Ministry and the Austrian Embassy in Canberra to help bring the private restitution initiative to a successful conclusion. In accordance with Dr. Brandl’s wish to restitute the Wagner painting to the family, the painting was transported to Australia by diplomatic mail and handed over to Ms. Tritsch via the Austrian Embassy in Canberra in December 2021.
She donated the painting to the Museum to memorialise her ancestors’ lives—her great-grandparents, her grandparents as well as her father’s generation. She also did it for her children and the generations that will follow—to keep alive a chapter of history too significant to forget.
Sydney Jewish Museum acknowledges the role of the National Fund, the Austrian Foreign Ministry and the Austrian Embassy in Canberra, all of which were involved in the repatriation, and ensured the safe transfer of the painting to Australia and the successful handover to Ms. Tritsch.
Subjectrepatriation, escape pre-war
Object namepaintings
Dimensions
- painting width: 970.00 mm
painting height: 710.00 mm
frame width: 1400.00 mm
frame height: 1130.00 mm
frame depth: 125.00 mm
Credit lineSydney Jewish Museum Collection, donated in memory of the Tritsch Family