Carl Braunschweig was born into a Jewish family in Bad Homburg, Germany in 1886. He was educated in Germany where he worked in the art world and in banking. Braunschweig first came to London in 1909 to work as a stockbroker and was interned at the Isle of Man in 1915 after which he went back to Germany and then returned again in 1933 after fleeing the Nazis. In London, Braunschweig curated the <em>Exhibition of German-Jewish Artists’ Work: Sculpture – Painting – Architecture</em>.
Art dealer Carl Braunschweig was born into a Jewish family in Bad Homburg, Germany in 1886. He pursued his education at the Universities of Marburg and Frankfurt, where he studied art history while simultaneously training as a banker. By 1909, Braunschweig travelled to England and worked as a stockbroker in London. With the outbreak of the First World War, he was still in England and, in 1915, was detained as an enemy alien on the Isle of Man at the Douglas & Knockaloe Camp. The following year, he was sent back to Germany through an internee swap. It is likely that Braunschweig served in the German military after his returnhome, but with the end of the war resumed his occupation in the art world, while intermittently continuing to work with German banks and lawcourts. By 1919, Braunschweig became a certified art appraiser and examiner, with expertise in French art and in works by Peter Paul Rubens, Rembrandt van Rijn, and Anthony van Dyck. In the 1920s, he bought an art dealership and gallery business in Wiesbaden called Kunsthaus Aktuaryus. Initially, Kunsthaus Aktuaryus focused on Dutch and Flemish masters as well as French landscapes, but Braunschweig expanded the scope to include modern pieces. However, with the rise of Nazism, Braunschweig’s gallery was Aryanised in 1933 and like other German-Jewish entrepreneurs he lost his business. He left for London while his wife Johanna (née Pospiech) stayed behind to dissolve their assets and urgently sell the collection. By 1934, Johanna and their son Hans were in London.
Braunschweig quickly became active with the London art world. In 1933, he was commissioned by the Jewish Refugees Committee in Woburn House, London WC1 (where Ben Uri also hosted exhibitions during the 1930s) to curate an exhibition of persecuted artists. By 1934, he presented a pioneering exhibition of Nazi-persecuted artists which opened at Parsons’ Galleries in Kensignton, under the title Exhibition of German-Jewish Artists’ Work: Sculpture – Painting – Architecture. Ben Uri was, at the same time, beginning to offer exhibition opportunities to Jewish contemporary artists, regardless of their nationality, and a similar selling-show opened in Paris under the title Exposition du Comité français pour la Protection des Intellectuels Juifs persecutes. The London exhibition was organised in partnership with the Berlin-based Central Association of German Citizens of Jewish Faith and highlighted the plight of German-Jewish artists under Nazi rule by showcasing 220 pieces (paintings, sculptures, graphic arts and interior design sketches), by 86 artists, many of whom were banned from exhibiting or publishing in Germany. Among the exhibiting artists, some were already in exile across Europe and in Palestine, while many remained in their home country; others were later murdered in extermination camps or committed suicide. A notable aspect was the significant presence of female artists, with 27 women participating. Artists such as Margot Wittkower, Erna Auerbach and Benno Elkan, who had fled to London, were featured, alongside others who would later immigrate elsewhere, such as Lotte Laserstein (to Sweden) and Eugen Spiro (to the USA) . Braunschweig's exhibition served as both a showcase and a selling opportunity, aiming to integrate these works into museums through sales and donations. The Exhibition of German-Jewish Artists’ Work began in London before touring to other English cities, marking an effort to increase the visibility of these artists and their work during a period of increasing persecution and marginalisation by the National Socialist regime.
The year 1935 brought deep personal loss as Braunschweig’s wife passed away. He obtained French citizenship in 1937 and, in 1947, he also became a British citizen, changing his name to Charles Brunswick. Around this time, he also worked in the field of medical and dental supplies. Braunschweig was deeply affected by the quick succession of losing his family home, business and his wife, and continued to lead a simple life away from the art world. Carl Braunschweig died in London, England in 1963. In the UK public domain, many of the artists who exhibited at the Exhibition of German-Jewish Artists’ Work are now part of the Ben Uri Collection including: Jankel Adler, Erna Auerbach, Martin Bloch, Benno Elkan, Hans Feibusch, Ludwig Meidner, Max Liebermann, Josef Oppenheimer, Adèle Reifenberg, Julius Rosenbaum, Arthur Segal, and Eugen Spiro. In summer 2024, he featured in Ben Uri's exhibition, Cosmopolis: The Impact of Refugee Art Dealers in London.