Station: [263] Epilogue

Simon and Salman Schocken wrote part of the success story of Jewish traders in pre-war Germany. Their name can be compared to those of Tietz, Karstadt and Wertheim.

In 1949, 51% of the former Schocken company property in American occupied territory was returned to Salman Schocken. Through the loss of branches in Saxony and the centre in Zwickau as well as the branches in Waldenburg however, the value of the company had dropped considerably.

In 1953 Schocken sold the business to the Nuremberg-based company, Merkur, Horten & Co, because, among other reasons, no member of the family wanted to return to Germany, not even his son Theodor, who had remained in Zwickau until the Autumn of 1937. This brought an end to the impressive history of the Schocken Company. Many Schocken brother innovations still remain in the modern trading world of today however, and the logo above the entrance to the State Museum for Archaeology is a reminder of the name Schocken in Chemnitz.  

The building remained empty for many years. The pictures on the wall document this impressively. Museum alterations began In 2010. Today the building emanates a new radiance and casts its spell on the visitors to the Staatlichen Museum für Archäologie Chemnitz.