German Bogner 1938 – 1987

German Bogner was born in Mainburg on 22nd May 1938. From 1952 to 1955 he served a commercial apprenticeship at Teppichhaus Fürstenhof, a carpet firm in Munich. He found his first employment with the renowned Otto Bieger company of Frankfurt am Main, where he worked from 1956 to 1960. Bogner, a carpet enthusiast who started his own collection at that time, made a name for himself among experts during his Frankfurt years. He attracted the attention of the Bernheimer company, one of the leading European antique firms of the day, and was asked to join the company in Munich in 1960. He worked there until his death in 1987, initially as a salesman and later as manager of the carpet department, buyer and authorised representative. At Bernheimer he encountered a major collection of historic carpets, its beginnings dating back to the period when the company was established by Lehmann Bernheimer in the 1870s, which had been constantly expanded since then. This unique study collection, published in a monograph in 1959, focused Bogner’s attention on historic carpets. His talent and rapidly expanding knowledge made him an authority in his field at less than thirty years of age, resulting in his appointment as manager of the carpet department. In 1979 he was sworn in as an expert by the Munich Chamber of Industry and Trade, and in addition he became President of the Judging Committee at the Munich Antiques Fair.

At Bogner’s initiative, Bernheimer held themed exhibitions featuring Turkmen and Chinese carpets as well as Baluch weavings. Two exhibitions, “Osmanische Kunst” (Ottoman Art) in 1983 and “Kunst und Kunsthandwerk der Seidenstraße” (Silk Route Art and Crafts) in 1985 attracted international attention. In his last years, Bogner was suffering from a severe form of cancer to which he succumbed on 6th April 1987.

Notice: Lots 32 to 97 of the Bogner Collection are listed in our Online Catalogue from page 4