The Mystery of the Burned Klimt Works

Parts of Austria's National Library collection, for instance, were subjected to similar measures.

A painting of Serena herself was on display there, as well as the painting of their daughter Elisabeth, whose married name was Bachofen-Echt.

Klimt also painted a portrait of Serena Lederer's mother, Charlotte Pulitzer. Since the forced Nazi administration of the Lederer Collection in 1943, this painting has been considered lost.

Collecting art was a huge passion of the Lederers. They also had a close friendship with Klimt and helped him to overcome financial difficulties. In 1915, for example, they bought the 112-feet-long Beethoven Frieze from the patron and industrialist Carl Reininghaus, which Klimt had made in 1902 for the Beethoven exhibition at the Vienna Secession.

Serena Lederer, who was widowed in 1936, was expropriated in 1938 under National Socialism. She fled to Hungary, where she died in 1943. In those years, a part of the Lederer collection was sent to Schloss Immendorf to protect the artworks from bombing.

However, some researchers doubt the number of Klimt works from the Lederer collection that were actually burned at Schloss Immendorf. Due to inconsistencies on the storage and transport lists, it could not be ruled out that some paintings from the collection, such as "Gastein" (1917), "Malcesine am Gardasee" (Malcesine on Lake Garda) (1913), and "Aus dem Reich des Todes (Zug der Toten)" (From the Empire of Death (Procession of the Dead)) (1903) might not even have reached Immendorf, meaning the disaster could have been averted.

The three large "Faculty Paintings" by Klimt, which were deposited at Immendorf, are certainly considered to be burned. Klimt originally painted them for the University of Vienna's Great Hall. Of these, "Jurisprudenz" (Jurisprudence) and "Philosophie" (Philosophy) were once owned by the Lederers.

The "Medizin" (Medicine) painting was part of the Austrian Gallery (now the Belvedere) collection. It was also transported to Immendorf for security reasons and burned there in 1945.

At Immendorf, all deposited artworks were left in their frames, since the tall rooms in the castle could easily accommodate large-format paintings. Due to the enormous size of the Faculty Paintings (170 x 118 inches), removing them at any speed during the events in the castle in 1945 would hardly have been possible. This fact supports the general assumption that these three Klimt paintings were not saved.

The "Musik" (Music) over-door piece was exhibited in the Secession along with other Klimt works from the August and Serena Lederer collection, prior to being transported to Immendorf. The painting was originally created and installed above the door in the music room belonging to Nikolaus Dumba, which was designed by Klimt.

Nikolaus Dumba (1830–1900) was an Austrian industrialist who was considered an important art patron and collector as well as a proponent of musical life in Vienna. He commissioned the painter Hans Makart to design his study, for instance.

Even today, extensive efforts are being made to reconstruct the events in Immendorf and the search goes on for works that could possibly have been rescued from the castle before the fire.