KIRSCHSTEIN, SALLI

KIRSCHSTEIN, SALLI (1869–1935), German writer and art collector. Kirschstein, who was born in Kolmar, Poland, became a prominent merchant in Berlin. He was active in Jewish affairs and as director of the Juedischer Volksverein did much to help foreign Jews living in Germany during World War I. Kirschstein was an expert on Jewish art and wrote articles on the subject for many publications. His main work in this field was a study of Jewish engravers, Juedische Graphiker aus der Zeit von 1625–1825 (1918). He amassed an important collection of Jewish art and cult objects, the catalog of which appeared as Die Judaica Sammlung (1932). Most of his collection was bequeathed to the Hebrew Union College, Cincinnati. By collecting Judaica, Kirschstein wished to emphasize that Judaism had its own cultural traditions. Like his contemporaries Max Grunwald and Heinrich Frauberger, Kirschstein created a concept of presenting Jewish art as based on tradition and history. -ADD. BIBLIOGRAPHY: J. Gutmann, "The Kirschstein Museum of Berlin," in: Jewish Art, 16–17 (1991), 172–76; M. Osborn, "Eine Sammlung juedischer Kunstdenkmäler. Das Museum Kirschstein in Nikolassee bei Berlin," in: Der Schild (March 15, 1926).