{{short description|German art collector and entrepreneur}} thumb|Otto Gerstenberg, 1923 [[Image:Max Liebermann Portrait Otto Gerstenberg.jpg|thumb|Otto Gerstenberg, painting by Max Liebermann, 1919]] thumb|Headstone of Gerstenberg in Berlin '''Otto Gerstenberg''' (11 September 1848 – 24 April 1935) was a German entrepreneur, mathematician and an early 20th-century Berlin art collector.
== Life == In his childhood Gerstenberg lived in Pyritz. Gerstenberg studied mathematics and philosophy in Berlin. Since 1873 Gerstenberg worked as mathematician for assurance '' Allgemeinen Eisenbahn-Versicherungs-Gesellschaft'', which later became German assurance ''Victoria''. In 1888, Gerstenberg became member of supervisory board in that assurance and was since 1891 CEO of the assurance.
In 1884, Gerstenberg married Elise Wilhelmine Winzerling, with her he had two daughters. The family home was first at ''Großbeerenstraße'' in Berlin-Kreuzberg and later in Berlin-Lichterfelde. His daughter Margarete married physicist Hans Georg Scharf.
Gerstenberg collected art. During World War II, part of his collection was destroyed and other works were seized from Nazi Germany, ending up in Russian museums.<ref name=kuhn>[http://www.tagesspiegel.de/kultur/ausstellungen-alt/die-helle-seite-der-nacht/1276860.html Sammlung Scharf-Gerstenberg: Die helle Seite der Nacht] Nicola Kuhn, ''Der Tagesspiegel'', 11 July 2008. Retrieved 14 September 2010. {{in lang|de}}</ref><ref name=focus>[http://www.focus.de/kultur/kunst/sammlung-scharf-gerstenberg-passion-fuer-die-fantasie_aid_316914.html Sammlung Scharf-Gerstenberg: Passion für die Fantasie] Gudrun Meyer, ''Focus'', 9 July 2008. Retrieved 14 September 2010. {{in lang|de}}</ref> His collected paintings went to his daughter, Margarete Scharf, who stored most in the bunker of the Nationalgalerie in Berlin during the war. These were taken to the Soviet Union. Others were put in storage and burned in an air raid.<ref>Steven Erlanger (March 30, 1995), [https://www.nytimes.com/1995/03/30/arts/hermitage-in-its-manner-displays-its-looted-art.html Hermitage, in Its Manner, Displays Its Looted Art] ''New York Times''.</ref> The surviving artworks remained in family ownership and were inherited by his grandson, Dieter Scharf.<ref name=berlin>[http://www.berlin.de/ba-charlottenburg-wilmersdorf/bezirk/kultur/scharfgerstenberg.html Sammlung Scharf-Gerstenberg - Surreale Welten] State of Berlin homepage. {{in lang|de}}</ref>
Gerstenberg is buried at the St. Annen cemetery in Dahlem, Berlin.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Otto Gerstenberg (1848-1935) - Find A Grave...|url=https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/187791254/otto-gerstenberg|access-date=2020-11-27|website=www.findagrave.com|language=en}}</ref>
== Art collected by Gerstenberg == <gallery> Honoré Daumier - Der eingebildete Kranke.jpg|Honoré Daumier: <br />''Der eingebildete Kranke'' <br />today: Eremitage <br /> Sankt Petersburg Gustave Courbet - Gustave Mathieu.JPG|Gustave Courbet: <br />''Porträt Gustave Mathieu'' <br />today: Sammlung Oskar Reinhart 'Am Römerholz' <br /> Winterthur Edgar Degas Place de la Concorde.jpg|Edgar Degas: <br />''Place de la Concorde'' <br />today: Eremitage <br /> Sankt Petersburg Manet, Edouard - At the Café, 1878.jpg|Édouard Manet: <br />''Au café'' <br />today: Sammlung Oskar Reinhart 'Am Römerholz' <br /> Winterthur Pierre-Auguste Renoir - In the Garden.jpg|Pierre-Auguste Renoir: <br />''Dans le jardin'' <br />today: Eremitage <br /> Sankt Petersburg Pierre-Auguste Renoir - Woman on a Stair.jpg|Pierre-Auguste Renoir: <br />''Femme sur un escalier'' <br />today: Eremitage <br /> Sankt Petersburg Édouard Manet - Pertuiset, le chasseur de lions.jpg|Édouard Manet: <br />''Pertuiset, the lion hunter'' <br />today: Museu de Arte <br /> São Paulo Lautrec a corner in a dance hall 1892.jpg|Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec: <br />''Un coin du Moulin de la Galette'' <br />today: National Gallery <br /> Washington </gallery>
== See also == * Scharf-Gerstenberg Collection
== References == {{reflist}}
== External links == {{commons}} * {{Cite book|last=Koch|first=Peter|entry=Gerstenberg, Otto|entry-url=https://www.deutsche-biographie.de/pnd118821180.html#ndbcontent|title=Neue Deutsche Biographie|publisher=Duncker & Humblot|year=1964|isbn=3-428-00187-7|volume=6|page=327}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Gerstenberg, Otto}} Category:20th-century German businesspeople Category:20th-century German art collectors Category:1848 births Category:1935 deaths Category:19th-century German businesspeople Category:Businesspeople from Berlin Category:20th-century German mathematicians Category:Art crime Category:19th-century German mathematicians Category:People from Pyrzyce Category:Mathematicians from the German Empire