Eduard von der Heydt
Eduard von der Heydt in the vault of Von der Heydt‘s Bank AG, Berlin, black and white photograph, 1928
Born	(1882-09-26)September 26, 1882 Elberfeld, Germany
Died	April 3, 1964(1964-04-03) (aged 81) Ascona, Switzerland
Nationality	German, Swiss
Occupation(s)	Banker, art collector, patron
Known for	Museum Rietberg, "ars una"
Title	Freiherr
Spouse	Vera von Schwabach (1919–1927, divorced)

Eduard Freiherr von der Heydt (September 26, 1882 – April 3, 1964) was a German and Swiss banker, art collector and patron.

He was born in Elberfeld, Germany and died in Ascona Switzerland. Heydt served in the Imperial German Army during World War I. He was badly wounded from a gunshot wound to the stomach, and injury that he suffered complications from for the rest of his life. In 1919 he married Vera von Schwabach (1899–1996), daughter of the Berlin banker, Paul von Schwabach [de]. The marriage ended in divorce in 1927; there were no children. Vera was later a prominent Jungian analyst in London.^[1]

Heydt's collections were the basis for the creation of the Museum Rietberg in Zürich, Switzerland.^[2] He was also the former owner of the Monte Verità, a well known site of many different Utopian and cultural events and communities, which upon his death became the property of the Swiss Canton of Ticino. He was also a member of the NSDAP until he became a Swiss citizen in 1937 and left the party in 1939. After the Second World War, he was arrested for treason for his handling payment transactions of the German intelligence service under Wilhelm Canaris. Heydt was acquitted in 1948. Unconvinced of his innocence, the U.S. government confiscated all of Heydt's American bank deposits as well as his works of art to the Buffalo Museum of Science as "enemy assets" under the Trading with the Enemy Act.^[3]

Heydt described art using the term "ars una", an all encompassing art that appreciates diversity as it is found throughout the world.^[4]

• Eduard von der Heydt/Werner von Rheinbaben: Auf dem Monte Verità. Erinnerungen und Gedanken über Menschen, Kunst und Politik, Atlantis, Zürich 1958.

• Karl With: Bildwerke Ost-und Südasiens aus der Sammlung Yi Yuan [d.i. Eduard von der Heydt]. Mit begleitendem Text von K. With. Einband u. Vorsatzpapier nach Entwurf von Georg Baus. Schwabe, Basel 1924
• Robert Landmann (d.i. Werner Ackermann): Monte Verità. Die Geschichte eines Berges, Berlin: Adalbert Schultz Verlag 1930.
• Stefan Balazs: Die Inschriften der Sammlung Baron Eduard von der Heydt, Sonderdruck aus der Ostasiatischen Zeitschrift. 20. Jahrgang. De Gruyter & Co Verlag, Berlin 1934.
• Curt Riess: Ascona. Geschichte des seltsamsten Dorfes der Welt. Zürich: Europa Verlag 1964 (1. Aufl.), 1977 (3. Aufl.) - In this book Eduard von der Heydt is referred to as "Mr. X" beginning on page 194
• Sabine Fehlemann und Stamm, Rainer (Hrsg.): Die Von der Heydts. Bankiers, Christen und Mäzene. Müller + Busmann, Wuppertal 2001, 184 S., ISBN 3-928766-49-X
• Francesco Welti: „Der Baron, die Kunst und das Nazigold“, Verlag Huber Frauenfeld, 2008, ISBN 978-3-7193-1475-0
• Eberhard Mros: Phänomen Monte Verità. Neun Bände, im Selbstverlag des Verfassers, Ascona 2008/2011
• Karl Schem: Wuppertal untersuchte Nazi-Verquickungen seines Ehrenbürgers / NSDAP-Baron ein moderner Till Eulenspiegel? auf der Seite Neue Rheinische Zeitung, Online-Flyer Nr. 94 vom 9. Mai 2007
• Eberhard Illner (Hrsg.): Eduard von der Heydt. Kunstsammler – Bankier – Mäzen. Prestel, München/London/New York 2013, ISBN 978-3-7913-4204-7. (Accompanies the exhibit Von Buddha bis Picasso. Der Sammler Eduard von der Heydt at the Museum Rietberg Zürich, April 20 – August 18, 2013 and also accompanies another exhibit at the Von der Heydt-Museum, Wuppertal, from October 13, 2015 - February 28, 2016.)

• Searchable online database of the Museum Rietberg, including von der Heydt's collection Archived 2013-07-04 at the Wayback Machine
• Section in German about provenance research happening at the Museum Rietberg regarding von der Heydt's collection
• Link to von der Heydt exhibition at the Museum Rietberg