Long thought lost in the chaos of World War II, a 316-year-old Stradivarius violin may have resurfaced in Japan—sparking a modern-day mystery of identity, ownership, and cultural heritage. The violin, made by Antonio Stradivari in 1709 and known as the Mendelssohn, was placed in a Berlin bank by the Mendelssohn-Bohnke family as Nazi Germany went after Jewish assets. After the war, the violin vanished, the New York Times reports, presumed lost or destroyed. For decades, the family searched in vain.
Recently, cultural property scholar Carla Shapreau spotted photos from a 2018 Tokyo exhibition that showed a violin called the Stella, dated 1707 but with distinctive features matching the Mendelssohn. Experts compared wear marks and concluded the two instruments are likely the same. Tracing the violin's path, Shapreau found records pointing to Japanese violinist Eijin Nimura, who acquired the instrument around 2005. Nimura's lawyer insists he bought it in good faith and denies any wrongdoing, saying Nimura has no obligation to the Mendelssohn heirs. The provenance remains murky, with conflicting accounts about how the violin traveled from Berlin to postwar Europe, then into the hands of dealers before being sold to Nimura.
The case highlights the shadowy world of rare instrument sales, where provenance is often unclear and sometimes intentionally altered, per the Times. The Mendelssohn-Bohnke family wants to negotiate with Nimura, but so far, there's no agreement. "The fact that it has been discovered after all this time really shakes us up," said David Rosenthal, a family member. "The violin is part of us. Music is part and parcel of our family. We just want a resolution."
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