Eduard Freiherr von der Heydt (September 26, 1882 – April 3, 1964) was a German and Swiss banker, art collector and patron.
Biography
He was born in Elberfeld, Germany and died in Ascona Switzerland. In 1919 he married Vera von Schwabach (1899–1996), daughter of the Berlin banker, Paul von Schwabach. The marriage ended in divorce in 1927; there were no children. Vera von der Heydt was later a prominent Jungian analyst in London.
His collections were the basis for the creation of the Museum Rietberg in Zürich, Switzerland. He was also the former owner of the Monte Verità, a well known site of many different Utopian and cultural events and communities, which upon his death became the property of the Swiss Canton of Ticino. He was also a member of the NSDAP until he became a Swiss citizen in 1937 and left the party in 1939. After the Second World War, he was arrested for treason in 1946, but was acquitted in 1948. He described art using the term "ars una", an all encompassing art that appreciates diversity as it is found throughout the world.
Ancestry
