The story of how a 1709 Stradivarius violin, looted during the Nazi era, resurfaced in Japan

The story of how a 1709 Stradivarius violin, looted during the Nazi era, resurfaced in Japan

In the 1920s, the mansion of the Jewish banker Franz von Mendelssohn in the leafy Grunewald district was a prominent center of Berlin’s cultural life. The great-nephew of the composer Felix Mendelssohn organized chamber music evenings there with renowned pianists such as Artur Schnabel and Edwin Fischer, as well as celebrated music lovers, including Max Planck and Albert Einstein. A partner in the Mendelssohn & Co. Bank, Franz owned a valuable c…