Eulogy for Max Warburg (Eric Warburg, 1946)
To try to describe the charm and magnetism of MAX WARBURG, is to be confronted by a many-sided personality. One thing is certain that whoever came in contact with him left in a happier, more relieved and exalted frame of mind. It seemed as though he lifted each and every one up from the daily routine to a broader horizon where everything connected with world events, business transactions, philanthropic endeavors, changed immediately into something nobler and finer. Thomas Wolfe has said that there are those who have "the quality of richness and joy in them and they communicate it to everything they touch.... It is probably the richest resource of the spirit. It is better than all formal learning and it cannot be learned although it grows in power and richness with living." Max Warburg had this quality. He heightened one's sense of life and gave a fresh significance to all its possibilities.
The breadth of his interest and his vibrating enthusiasm were almost limitless. Limitless in broad approach, "der grossen Linie," and limitless within the smallest detail, "Der liebe Gott wohnt im Detail,"—God lives in details,—as his older brother used to say. And so he might start his day at 6 or 7, walking with Miss Hoffa, the faithful gardener, or with one of his children, all over his beloved country place, the Koesterberg, learning about trees, and watching the morning dew on the flowers. And his eyes would gaze out over the broad Elbe river, with its ships. And after a day of work in town, the breadth of thought would return to details, perhaps to the Talmud-Thorah-School or the Jewish Orphan Asylum of his Father, or to instructing the children in riding on Ballin's ponies, and still later talking to his family.
He went through life not on the dividends that charm pays but by the hardest kind of work, by diving into the detail, by "Untertauchen,"—as he used to call it. The word "charm" only partly covers the extraordinary magnetism which radiated from this man who was as amiable as he was serious and strong in willpower. As father of his family in the family circle, at social events, as a horseman, as host in his town house in Hamburg or in the country at Koesterberg; as leading member of the Chamber of Commerce or the Hapag without ever being the Chairman; in the Jewish Congregation, without ever being a member of the Committee, or in the Reichsvertretung der Deutschen Juden, of which he was never Chairman,—wherever he moved, he always assumed a leading position. However, this ability and enthusiasm to lead, which had once made him such a good soldier, was nowhere more apparent than in the wholehearted manner in which he devoted himself to the building up of his ancestral firm. He was a great disciplinarian, and with pleasure and pride he developed with his brothers Paul and Fritz the firm of his forefathers to the importance which it acquired.
Between him and his brother Paul there was a unique bond that went beyond brotherly affection. Paul's scholarly mind and prudent outlook supplemented Max Warburg's buoyant, creative energy. Each one was for the other a stimulus and a source of assurance. During the long years of separation, they continued to seek each other's advice and guidance, and they never ceased to work on joint projects. The cooperation with his brother Fritz—different as both were in character—was really close and he always respected the independence of his judgment.
His joy in work and in enlarging the business did not have its origin in any ambition to earn money or honors, but to derive the satisfaction from being the creator of something useful, the satisfaction an artist feels when progressing with his work. This work of his was most methodical. The joint reading of the mail with his partners in the morning, the 10 o’clock meetings around the green table were institutions which he upheld, and from his little note book with the words “take it coolly” engraved on it, came the endless stream of little white memoranda cards which contained the thoughts he wanted to follow.
He possessed speed of decision and action to an extraordinary degree without being superficial. He could make mistakes—sometimes in judging people—but “Irren ist menschlich”—to err is human,—he would have said. He reserved to himself the right to change his mind, and he defended this right in a masterful and logical way.
Conflicts which are so controversial in so many were harmoniously united in his nature. Max Warburg was a citizen of his country and Max Warburg was a Jew, and both with the same love and both with the same consciousness.
His joy in creating something constructive was not limited to his own profession and his vision knew no national boundaries. His work as a judge in the Commercial Court of Hamburg fascinated him. For many years he fought for the inviolability of private property. The creation of Hamburg University, the Institute for the Study of Ocean-Transport and World Economics in Kiel, the King Edward VII Foundation, and the attempts for the reform of the Reich and the States therein are only a few of his diversified activities. He became more and more conscious of the importance of his brother Aby's work in the research of history of art. He was proud that, together with his brothers, he had been able to carry on Aby's work for The Warburg Institute until it was taken over by the University of London.
His creative enthusiasm never left him during the long years of his great achievements, not even later in the years 1933-1938 during which each day represented a retreat before the forces of defamation. In those years of destruction he succeeded in producing results through his tireless efforts on behalf of the Reichsvertretung der Deutschen Juden. The nearer the time of parting from the town of his forefathers, the stronger became his efforts on behalf of the persecuted Jews in Hamburg who found a last temporary haven in the Community Center which he established. He was so devoted to this work that only the tragic events of November 1938 in Germany made him realize—while on a visit in New York—that there was no return. It will always remain to his great credit that—though urged by relatives and friends to leave early in the Nazi regime—Max Warburg remained so long as he could be of service, for he had great courage. Those who were with him at Versailles in 1919 recall the stoutness of heart he, as a German Financial Expert, displayed in rejecting what he properly regarded as extravagant demands.
Another example of his courage was on the 31st of May, 1938. The day of his greatest grief, his departure from his old firm where he had worked for 46 years, showed his greatness of standing above all material things. Every one present felt this when he, at the age of 71, with the characteristic flower in his lapel, said good-bye to his 200 employees. His words contained nothing of resignation, no abdication, no bitterness,—but instead the philosophy of a private banker, his philosophy.
His years in America, from 1938 until the very end, were again filled with the desire to create, to reconstruct, and to help the many who, on account of the tragedy in Europe, had come to this country.
In the Old as well as in the New World he tried to simplify many problems without ever sparing himself, and he would jokingly remark that on his tombstone the word "SIMPLIFICATOR" be added to his name.
Thus the ever-youthful Max Warburg was able to enjoy a harmonious old age but he sadly missed his brothers Paul and Felix who had passed away before he settled in this country. He and his brother Felix had much in common, surely their joy of living. In later years, with his ever-increasing interest in philanthropy and relief,—particularly after their joint trip to Palestine in 1929—his admiration for Felix's intuition and creative spirit had drawn them even closer together. He became a citizen of the land of his brothers, surrounded by the love and devotion of his wife, his children and grandchildren in this blessed land where his sisters-in-law Nina and Frieda and the American members of his family all made him feel at home once more.
And so during these last few years he stood before us, the center of a wide circle of relatives and friends who called him affectionately "Uncle Max." He played the role of senior member of the family with great dignity—grateful that he was able to advise and to let others profit from his experience.
This consciousness of family leadership also drove him to occupy himself throughout the latter years with the preparation of his Memoirs. Up to that time he had refused to look backward as he considered it incompatible with his desire . . .to look ahead. But he drove himself to write these reminiscences of the past which seemed to him so important that they should be available to a wider circle which might profit from the vastness of his experiences, particularly negotiations of the post-war settlements.
During the illness of the last year and a half of his life, he was led farther and farther into the memories of his long life. This tendency became all the more marked as the present complicated international situation raised so many problems about which in the past his advice had been sought.
In the last few years he pondered over World War I and the period following it,—especially the mistakes of Versailles. His thoughts wandered to Melchior, to Ballin, and to many friends and comrades of those times, and to his brothers Paul, Felix and Fritz.
Going back even farther he talked about the trips in the coach from his parents' house in Hamburg to Koesterberg during the first summer the family lived there. And when his mind almost disappeared behind the sheltering veil of eternity, he suddenly awoke and speaking of the family governess and friend who, next to his Mother, was mostly responsible for the moulding of the character of Max Warburg and his brothers, said: "Yes, Franziska, how wonderful she was and what tact poured from her heart." When in this mood the wish to see once more Europe, Hamburg, often came over him. He wanted to help,—as before.
Personalities like Max Warburg do not develop by mere chance: breeding and environment help to form the character. In both of these he was extremely fortunate. Fond parents gave him a happy boyhood and his sense of obligation to the community. His humor was bred in him. And in the most constructive years of his career he was blessed by a home life such as few men ever enjoyed. No memorial to Max Warburg can be complete without stating the part his wife played. She devoted her full powers towards his happiness and development. The pride in the mature man is deservedly hers. His relationship towards his children and their adoration of him never changed. During the years of forced separation the flame of their love burned steadily.
This love and affection, not only of his immediate family but of all who had the fortune of knowing him is after all the surest immortality. The memory of his joy of living, his humor, his unforgettable smile up to the end, and his great achievements will inspire us to live and work in accordance with his philosophy. "En avant."
E. M. W.