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I. Buildings Integral to the Former Life and/or Persecution of Jews in Hamburg - Neustadt/St. Pauli.No. 36 Gänsemarkt.
 Leo Lippmann was born on 26th May 1881 to a Jewish businessman's family, attended the Gelehrtenschule Johanneum, studied jurisprudence and became a senior civil servant in the Finanzdeputation (Tax Department). Due to his service in organizing war supplies during the First World War, he was promoted to the position of Senatssekretär (secretary to the Hamburg Senat) in 1920, and in 1921 promoted to Staatsrat (councillor of state), the first Hamburg Jew to have attained such a high position within the Hamburg administration. By this time Leo Lippmann no longer had any connection to Judaism, but did not convert to any other religion either. He was a civil servant through and through, regretted the loss of the Hohenzollen Empire under Kaiser Wilhelm II (1888-1918), did not accept that Germany was responsible for the First World War, was, however, loyal to the Weimar Republic. Leo Lippmann writes in his memoirs: "ich habe stets die Auffassung vertreten, daß ein Verwaltungsbeamter sein Amt nicht nur unparteiisch, sondern auch unpolitisch führen soll." (I have always held the opinion that a civil servant should not only serve his office impartially but also be politically neutral). It was all the more alarming for him therefore when the Nazi regime ousted him from his office in the Finanzdeputation and spread accusations of his having been corrupt, in the press. "Nach langen Jahren rastloser Arbeit und das Bemühens, das Beste für meine geliebte Vaterstadt und mein geliebtes Vaterland zu leisten und zu erreichen, habe ich eine bittere schwere Enttäuschung erlebt." (Following long years of untiring work and the endeavour to give and accomplish the best for my beloved home city and country, I have experienced a bitterly severe disappointment). Dr. Leo Lippmann so describes his being relieved from his duties as a public servant by the Nazis in March 1933, and his ensuing dismissal. As Staatsrat in the Finanzdeputation (councillor of state in the Tax Department) he had to vacate his office without a word of acknowledgement for his long and distinguished career, and with only regrets from his superiors. "Auch von meinen früheren Mitarbeitern, Kollegen und Untergebenen haben nur wenige gewagt, mir ein Wort der Teilnahme zu übermitteln." (Very few of my former colleagues or subordinates ventured to convey a word of sympathy). For Leo Lippmann, the civil servant who had served in the Finanzdeputation since 1906, this meant the collapse of his world. He had organized Hamburg's war supplies to the First World War, was decorated with the "Eisernen Kreuz am schwarz-wießen Band" (Iron Cross with black-white ribbon - the highest decoration for bravery awarded to the German armed forces in wartime), had, as civil servant, survived the short lived rule of the workers' and soldiers' council following the First World War, had steered Hamburg's finances through the chaos of the Inflationary period in Germany in the late 1920s and the Great Depression in the early 1930s, had served many senators, and the city of Hamburg, only to be treated like a criminal. He initially fought for an honourable retirement from office, probably with the hope that he could quickly return to the administration. When this was prevented and the system of injustice became more established Lippmann entered a state of crisis. It was out of the question for him and his wife Anna-Josephine to emigrate from his beloved country, and so in November 1935, he put himself at the disposal of the Deutsch-Israelitische Gemeinde (German Israelite Community), as a member of the board. The Nazi regime had led him back to Judaism.
Leo Lippmann made use of his long years of financial experience to swiftly put in order the
disasterous finacial position of the community caused by the emigration of many wealthy Jewish families,
and mounting social problems. This was only possible by increasing community membership
contributions, an additional burden for Jewish families already hard hit by the Nazi boycott of their
businesses, and general Nazi oppression. Lippmann was able to secure that the community continued to
function and provide its various social services by reforming its financial organization, and through
dogged negotiations with the authorities. In addition, he helped community members to emigrate. Leo Lippmann continued working for the Jewish community, that had became ever smaller, firstly through the forced emigration and then through the deportation of Jewish individuals and families to concentration camps and extermination camps. He had initially contributed to the economic security of the community and was now forced to take part in its dissolution. He negotiated with the Gestapo and the authorities, on behalf of the community, for the retention of old peoples' homes and nursing homes, over the sale of property and the transfer of the communities archive to the city archive. On the night of 10th/11th June 1943, shortly before their own deportation to Theresienstadt Concentration Camp, Anna-Josephine and Leo Lippmann took their own lives. Their letter of farewell states: "Wir haben uns entschlossen, freiwillig aus dem Leben zu scheiden. Dem Elend draußen wären wir nicht mehr gewachsen gewesen." (We have decided to depart this life of our own free will. We are no longer able to face the despair around us).
Leo Lippmann could not have been very enthusiastic about the new tax department building at No. 36 Gänsemarkt as he only refers to the move to the new building in one short sentence in his memoirs. The imposing brick building was built in "Kontorhaus" style by the famous Hamburg Oberbaudirector (city architect) Fritz Schumacker with interior design by the renown artist Richard Kuöhl. This impressive building was also not particularly popular with Hamburg citizens as it was here that they had to pay their taxes, in cash. This took place in a glass-roofed hall built for this purpose in the inner courtyard. Later on it became less common to pay taxes in cash, and in the 1950s the large hall became redundant, and was converted to a storeroom with total disregard to its aesthetic. It was not until the building underwent a complete renovation in the 1980s that the hall was newly discovered, and reclaimed. It was then named the Leo-Lippmann-Saal, after Staatsrat Dr. Leo Lippmann, who had been persecuted, and finally forced to take his own life, by the Nazis.
On the 11th June 1993, Finanzsenator Curilla in his commemorative address, on the 50th anniversary
of Leo Lippmann's death, concluded with these words: (Councillor of state, retired, Dr. Leo Lippmann lived his entire life in this city. His life continues to fascinate, and his death to shock us. We remember him today with respect and lasting sorrow, and an unassuagable guilt).
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