Station: [362] Epilogue

Salman Schocken died on 21st August 1959 in a hotel room in Swiss Pontresina. He’s supposed to have had Goethe’s „Faust II“ and „The Tales of Rabi Nachmann,“ by Martin Buber in his hands. Even if this isn’t true, it is an impressive description of Salman Schocken’s personality. 

So, what remains of his work? You can follow in his footsteps here in the Staatlichen Museum für Archäologie Chemnitz and there are some of his books in the Schocken Library in Jerusalem, which also houses the Schocken Archive. His granddaughter, Racheli Edelmann administrates his extensive inheritance. 

Some of Schockens’ descendants still work for the „Haaretz“ newspaper in Israel and in the publishing company in Tel Aviv.

The „Haaretz“ newspaper is the best known of all the traces Schocken left behind. It belongs to the „Haaretz Group“, media company that Salman founded when he bought the „Haaretz“ newspaper and which is still predominantly in the possession of the Schocken family. The company is led by Salman’s grandson, or to be more precise, Gershom’s son, Amos Schocken.

As a result of its contextual balance „Haaretz“ is regarded as the best-quality newspaper in Israel. Despite its comparatively low circulation, it’s still one of the large world newspapers and is well known for its criticism of Israeli society and politics. 

And what became of Salman Schocken’s extensive collections? A large part of them ended up in auctions and were dispersed all over the world. Public facilities here in Germany and some in France bought some of the works. The Leo Baeck Institute in New York that collects the legacy of German-speaking Jews repeatedly receives books published by the Schocken Verlag.

It may sound like a twist of fate to hear that Salman Schocken’s books and art objects that he bought at uncountable auctions for a lot of money were re-auctioned for enormous sums of money after his death.

If you would like to know more about Erich Mendelsohn, Department Stores  or Jewish writers and philosophers, then please have a browse in our museum shop.

We’d now like to bid you a fond farewell.

Auf Wiedersehen from the Staatliches Museum für Archäologie Chemnitz!