Bruno Cassirer

Who was Bruno Cassirer?

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