Interesting Contemporaries

Mayer, who came from a humble background in the Hunsrück region, achieved extraordinary professional success as a fur trader; he used his financial independence selflessly to support (mostly émigré) writers and painters. Ludwig Rubiner and Leonhard Frank were among his circle of friends, as were Albert Ehrenstein and Ignazio Silone. After 24 years of working in Belgium, Mayer settled permanently in Zurich with his business in 1916, where he kept an open house on Russenweg. Earlier, he had purchased a magnificent property on Monte Verità in Ascona, which he converted into a retreat for his family. As a matter of course, the estate on Lake Maggiore remained open for many years to his artist friends as a haven of relaxation and undisturbed creativity. During World War II, Mayer temporarily relocated his activities to the United States, a country he knew well from business trips and where he maintained a friendly relationship with, among others, Albert Einstein. Throughout his life, Mayer also felt connected to Zionism; he had already traveled to Palestine in 1929, and he was good friends with Martin Buber. Despite his sympathy for Zionism, however, Mayer retained a critical perspective. “Upon disembarking in Tel Aviv, I immediately noticed the discord between the Jews and the Arabs,” Mayer reported on his 1929 visit. “The arrogant manner of the Jews was deeply repugnant to me. (. ..) Our Jewish chauffeur was so arrogant that I told myself things couldn’t go on like this. And sure enough, that same year in the fall, the unrest I had foreseen broke out.”