In the 1890s, he was one of the founders and financiers of the Grunewald "villa colony" in Berlin, and owned several properties there.

Several famous artists were his close friends, including Adolf Brütt, Max Klinger, Wilhelm Leibl and Hans Olde.

The sculptor, Otto Lessing, was a neighbor of his, and they once travelled together to Venice, on an art buying expedition.

[2] The sculptures by Auguste Rodin, and the paintings by Christian Landenberger and Giovanni Segantini, are in the "Foundation of Modernism" collection at the Gallery.

His family grave, designed by Ludwig Brunow, is in the Melaten cemetery in Cologne.