English Translation

Philipp Reemtsma was interested in a purchase. However, the sale of the present painting, which was still bound by the Fideikommissis band due to the transitional regulation of § 11 of the Reichsgesetz on the extinction of the fideikommis, was also opposed to the preservation of the monument which the gallery had as a unit. On 9 December 1939, Erich Gritzbach, head of the Staff Office of Hermann Göring, wrote to Jaromir Czernin that Hermann Gö Ring would welcome a sale of the actual painting to Philipp Reemtsma. On 9 Dec. 1939 Erich Gitzbach telegraphed from the Central Monument Protection Office that Hermann Goering had authorized the sale of this painting to Philip Reemtingsma on 11 December 1939. In December 1939, Jaromir Czernins Rechtsanwälte Ernst Egger and Fritz Lerche applied to the Central Office for Monument Protection, with reference to Hermann Göring's support for the preservation of monuments. Herbert Seiberl, head of the Central Agency for the Protection of Monuments, then reported to the (Vienna) Ministry of Internal and Cultural Affairs that this, "authorized by Hermann Göring, should be prevented from selling and asked for instructions. Subsequently, various possibilities were considered, among others. an inclusion of the Viennese Gauleiter Josef Bürckel, who would draw Hermann Göring's attention to the "unreasonable impact of a sale of the image away from Vienna" and could develop the necessary "energy" so that the monument protection authority approval of the sale is not granted. In December 1939, the Magistrate of the City of Vienna prepared a communication to ensure the present painting, and Herbert Seiberl drafted a telegram to the Reichsminister des Inneren, Wilhelm Frick, with whom he wanted to request the inclusion of the Czerninsche Galerie as a whole in the list of nationally valuable works of art (in the so-called "Reichsliste"). At the same time, Jaromir Czernin, through his lawyers, prepared the transfer of the purchase price and a change in the comparison with Eugen Czernine from 1933 in such a way that the present painting should go to Jaromi Czernin in its entirety and only the remaining gallery to Eugen Ccernin, who also has to pay the inheritance tax up to the amount of RM 300,000,--. In December 1939 Gottfried Hohenauer and Friedrich Plattner, also from the (Vienna) Ministry of Internal and Cultural Affairs, sent a letter to the head of the Reich Chancellery, Hans Heinrich Lammers, in which they reported on the intended sale of the present painting to Philipp Reemtsma at the net price of RM 1.8 million. In order to prevent the actual painting from moving away from Vienna, they asked Hans Heinrich Lammers to present Adolf Hitler's case with the aim of a public purchase.