Lost Stradivarius Violin Stolen by Nazis Resurfaces in Japan
A rare 1709 Stradivarius violin that belonged to a German-Jewish family and was seized by the Nazis during WWII has resurfaced in Japan after a decades-long search.
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One of the rarest and most prestigious violins in the world — the 1709 “Mendelssohn” Stradivarius — has resurfaced in Tokyo after vanishing during the Nazi era. The instrument, crafted by the legendary Antonio Stradivari, once belonged to German-Jewish violinist Lili von Mendelssohn-Bartholdy, a relative of famed composer Felix Mendelssohn.
After Lili’s tragic death in a car accident in the late 1920s, the violin was transferred to the family-owned Mendelssohn & Co. bank. However, following the rise of the Nazi regime and the enactment of the Nuremberg Laws, Jewish ownership of property was outlawed. The bank was shut down by the authorities, and many of its assets were seized — including the Stradivarius violin.
After World War II, the Mendelssohn family was told the instrument had been lost during a transfer to Deutsche Bank. Some suspected it had been looted by the Nazis or taken by the Soviets, who later occupied the area.
It wasn’t until 1995 that the violin resurfaced in Paris, brought in by an obscure Russian violinist who claimed he had purchased it from a German dealer in Moscow in 1953. French luthier Bernard Sabatier examined the instrument and showed it to British violin expert Charles Beare, who attributed it to a collaboration between Stradivari and one of his sons. Despite this, the violin failed to sell at a 2000 auction at Tarisio, the renowned string instrument auction house.
Over the years, the violin was traded under a false name — “Stella” — with a fabricated backstory suggesting it had originated in the Netherlands during the French Revolution. In 2005, Japanese violinist Eijin Nimura purchased the instrument, unaware of its true origins.
The breakthrough came thanks to American researcher Carla Shapreau and Tarisio founder Jason Price. Together, they compared historical photographs from the Mendelssohn-Bartholdy family archives with modern images of the violin. The markings matched, confirming the violin’s true identity. Shapreau later published a detailed report on the instrument’s provenance, now available to the public.
“This violin was a family wound,” said David Rosenthal, Lili’s grandson. “We thought it had been destroyed. My uncle Walter never gave up hope. To us, this isn’t just a violin — it’s a symbol of memory, legacy, and our deep connection to my grandmother, a brilliant musician taken too soon.”
Price added in disbelief, “I knew this violin. I held it, photographed it — it was even in our vault at Tarisio. But at the time, no one realized it was the Mendelssohn stolen by the Nazis. This is a moment that brings lost history back to life.”