Bernard V. Bothmer, Egyptologist in the making, 1912 through July 1946

Due to his disapproval of National Socialism the German-American curator and art historian Bernard V. Bothmer (1912–1993) saw himself forced to interrupt his study of Egyptology and lost his employment at the Egyptological department of the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin. This biography follows Bothmer’s career from his birth in Berlin-Charlottenburg and his youth as a member of the “Circle” surrounding the poet Stefan George, his emigration to Switzerland in 1939, his journey to the USA 1941 and his service in the US Army until August 1946, when he was able to resume his Egyptological career anew. The study is based on family correspondence, Bothmer’s own diaries and documents from archives in Boston, New York, Milan and Basel. Bothmer’s own description of his escape from Geneva via Lisbon to the USA in October 1941 is edited as an appendix.

Preface

Chapter 1: From childhood through secondary schooling

Chapter 2: Bernhard and the Stefan George Circle

Chapter 3: At university and in the museum

Chapter 4: Leaving Germany

Chapter 5: From Ascona to America

Chapter 6: New York City and beyond

Escape from Central Europe, by Bernhard von Bothmer

Archival and other unpublished sources / Sources of illustration / Bibliography / Index / Color plates