Elkan & Levinsohn was formed in Berlin in 1909 by my great grandfather, Leopold Levinsohn. After many years working as a window decorator for a larger firm, Leopold set out to start his own decorator’s school.

This school’s main focus was to train designers in the art of window decorating, at that time widely viewed as elaborate and “higher-end” advertising. This heritage is directly linked to scenic design and fabrication, a field I have been deeply involved my entire adult life.

Unfortunately, Leopold and his family were killed by the nazi regime except for my grandmother, Helga and her older brother Heinz, (seen in the attached family photo.) Fleeing to South Africa and China, (respectively) the two siblings lived on to eventually immigrate to the United States.

As an exhibition design specialist, I find the connection to this history of my grandfather as very compelling and hope to discover more about his work and the work of his friends and collaborators during this time. I am especially interested to learn about Elkins, who I know little about.

As such, I am relaunching their firm specializing in fine art exhibitory and production. I am also working closely with colleagues, associates and friends to research more about this era - a Berlin rich with intellectual vigor and creative passion, now mostly lost to us, it’s inheritors.

- Adam Thabo