The Josefine und Eduard von Portheim-Stiftung was established in 1919 by Prof. Dr. Victor Goldschmidt. Born into a wealthy Jewish family, Victor Goldschmidt was an internationally renowned scientist, researcher, scholar, and collector, as well as an exceptionally generous patron of the arts and sciences. Until World War II, the foundation maintained a number of research institutes in addition to the museum.

Victor Goldschmidt shared his interest in science and art, as well as his knowledgeable and enthusiastic passion for collecting, with his wife Leontine (née von Portheim), a woman who was as cosmopolitan as she was educated. His extensive collections form the core of the museum’s initial holdings. To this day, the museum remains under the sole sponsorship of the foundation.

Victor and Leontine did not survive the dark era of the Third Reich, and the foundation, too, did not emerge unscathed.