Bruno Cassirer was a publisher and gallery owner in Berlin who had a considerable influence on the cultural life of the city.

He was born on 12 December 1872, the second child of Jewish parents, Julius and Julcher Cassirer. Julius was a partner, with two of Bruno's cousins, in a cable factory. Julius completed his final school examination in 1890 at the Leibniz-Gymnasium.

In 1898, together with his cousin Paul Cassirer

Paul Cassirer

Paul Cassirer was a German art dealer and editor who played a significant role in the promotion of the work of artists of the Berlin Secession and of French Impressionists and Post-Impressionists, in particular that of Vincent van Gogh and Paul Cézanne.- Starting out :Paul Cassirer started out as...

, he opened a gallery and bookshop at 35 Viktoriastraße near Kemperplatz, Berlin. On 2 May 1898 the artists' association Berlin Secession

Berlin Secession

The Berlin Secession was an art association founded by Berlin artists in 1898 as an alternative to the conservative state-run Association of Berlin Artists. That year the official salon jury rejected a landscape by Walter Leistikow, who was a key figure amongst a group of young artists interested...

 was established with Paul and Bruno as secretaries. For three years they acquainted the art and literature scenes of Berlin with the newest waves from Belgian, English, French and Russian culture.

In 1901, Bruno and Paul divided the business into separate parts, with Paul running the gallery and art dealership, whilst Bruno owned the publishing side which relocated to 15 Derfflingerstraße. In 1903 Christian Morgenstern

Christian Morgenstern

Christian Otto Josef Wolfgang Morgenstern was a German author and poet from Munich. Morgenstern married Margareta Gosebruch von Liechtenstern on March 7, 1910...

joined as literary editor and the journal "Das Theater" was founded under his direction.

In 1936 Jewish printers were removed from membership of the Reichsschrifttumskammer (RSK) and the last book appeared from the Cassirer publishing house. In 1938 part of the Cassirer family decided to emigrate to Oxford where Bruno founded a new publishing house.

He died on 20 October 1941 in Oxford, England.

After the death of Bruno Cassirer, his son-in law Dr. George Hill (born Günther Hell) continued the publishing business until he died in 1995.

(translated from the German Wikipedia page)

Research resources

• Cassirer collection, 1906-1933 (.5 linear ft) is housed in the Department of Special Collections and University Archives at Stanford University Libraries