Hermann Max Pechstein's "Märzenschnee" – A masterpiece of German Expressionism
In the year it was created, the present painting was featured in the International Art Exhibition of the Berlin Secession. By the end of the first day, Pechstein had sold it for 300 Reichsmarks. The first owner of this work was none other than Walther Rathenau. The liberal intellectual, industrialist, and later Secretary of State of the Weimar Republic was a political pioneer and a passionate patron of the arts. He acquired “Märzenschnee” right at the 1909 Secession exhibition—a testament to his enthusiasm for emerging artists like Pechstein.
This sale enabled the artist to make “a long-cherished wish come true and spend the summer by the sea, devoting himself entirely to his art” (quoted from: M. Moeller, in: exhibition catalog, Berlin/Tübingen/Kiel 1996/97, p. 14). He chose Nida at the Curonian Spit for this extended summer stay. It was here that some of his most important paintings were created. Our “Märzenschnee: Der Bahndamm” (March Snow: The Railway Embankment) captures the atmosphere of a late return of winter in glaring brightness. It is a painting with a composition far more complex than the impressionist style of the time. Just how striking the impact of Pechstein's works from early 1909 must have been in comparison to the works of other artists outside the “Brücke” community becomes evident from a memory of the artist. Looking back on the Berlin Secession exhibition, he wrote: “On the opening day, I was shocked when I realized how much more powerful and distinct my style was compared to Impressionism” (Max Pechstein, Erinnerungen, Stuttgart 1993, p. 33f.). And another testimony from the pen of the artist, a letter to Rosa Schapire, shows the spontaneity and his innate need to capture the distinctive atmosphere of late spring snow: “I would have replied to your kind letter sooner had I not been painting the snow again, and there were a couple of sunsets that left me utterly exhausted. Unfortunately, I couldn't paint any of them, as I had used up all my paint on the three snow landscapes, [... and] the stationmaster told me I had to leave the railway embankment. As I was quite happy with what I had achieved, I complied with his friendly request.” The steam locomotive comes rumbling in the background, puffing its bright blue clouds powerfully into the sky. He painted two more “snow pictures” under this impression, one, “Schmelzender Märzenschnee” (Soika 1909/6), is considered lost, the other, “Märzenschnee” (Soika 1909/6), is in the possession of the Kunstsammlung Chemnitz (inv. no. 800).

Hermann Max Pechsteins "Märzenschnee" – A document of German history
After Rathenau's assassination in 1922, the painting passed into the hands of his family. His sister Edith Andreae, a central figure in Berlin salon culture, managed the extensive estate with her mother, Mathilde Rathenau. In close cooperation with the government, they established the Walther Rathenau Foundation in 1923, to which the former residence at Königsallee 65 in Grunewald was donated, along with its contents, including this painting.
However, with the rise to power of the National Socialists, the memory of Rathenau was systematically erased. The foundation was dissolved in 1934, the state withdrew from the donation, and the house with the painting 'Märzenschnee' returned to the ownership of the Andreae family.
Eventually, in 1936, under increasing pressure from Nazi repression, the Andreae family was forced to sell part of their property. On June 13, 1936, around 50 objects from the Andreae family's estate were put up for auction at the Berlin auction house Mandelbaum & Kronthal, including Märzenschnee, which had a symbolic starting price of 30 Reichsmarks.

Today, the painting can be offered without any claims to restitution. [EH]