Fundacja Keddigów i ich kolekcja malarstwa w szczecińskim muzeum. Kulisy pozyskiwania i finansowania zbiorów

The article discusses circumstances of assembling and financing art collections in Szczecin at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. The first institutional city museum was established there as early as in 1857 by the city taking over the Pomeranian Art Association (Kunstverein für Pommern) collection which had been compiled since 1843 from works purchased during art exhibitions organized by Kunstverein and from individual gifts and bequests. However, in 1913 only when the museum building was erected and Dr Walter Riezler was appointed as a director, the collection started to look professional, although still there was not enough means to implement his ambitious plans. The history of the Keddig foundation and collection is an example of activities of financial and intellectual elites which supported amassing museum collections at the turn of the centuries.