The auction house Christie’s starts this week with the auction of the unique jewelry collection of the Austrian billionaire Heidi Horten – over which, however, lies the shadow of the Nazi past of the German entrepreneur Helmut Horten. Hundreds of pieces of jewelry from the Horten collection will be auctioned, including “exceptional pieces” by jewelers such as Cartier, Harry Winston, Bulgari and Van Cleef
Heidi Horten died last year at the age of 81. According to Forbes, she left a fortune of $2.9 billion. Her former husband had been accused of profiting from the “Aryanization” of Jewish companies during the Nazi era.
According to a historian’s report commissioned by the Horten Foundation and published in January 2022, Helmut Horten, who died in Switzerland in 1987, was a member of the NSDAP for a long time. In 1936, three years after the Nazis seized power, he took over the textile department store Alsberg in Duisburg after its Jewish owners had fled. He later took over other businesses that had been owned by Jewish families.
It is questionable how a 27-year-old could have taken over a large department store and whether he put pressure on the salespeople, the historians wrote. However, the giant among West German entrepreneurs remained silent about his activities in the years 1933 to 1945, which is why the image of an “unscrupulous profiteer” has persisted to this day.
Auction house Christie’s said on its website that von Horten’s Nazi-era business practices, in which he acquired Jewish businesses sold under duress, are well documented. The necessary information is also contained in the sales documents. Christie’s CEO Guillaume Cerutti told AFP the decision to auction the collection was made after “careful consideration”.
The proceeds are to go to the Heidi Horten Foundation, which was founded in 2021. It will support an art collection, medical research, child welfare, and other philanthropic activities dear to the wealthy heiress.
From May 10th to 12th, 400 pieces from the hoard collection will be auctioned at the Geneva auction house. Additional jewels will be available for purchase online May 3-15 and November.
The auction could surpass previous records, such as the auction of actress Elizabeth Taylor’s collection in 2011.
