Elder son of Sophie and Salo Guttmann, brother of Frieda and Julien Guttmann, nephew of Heinrich and Jeanette Schenker, godson of Heinrich. See Guttmann family.

In his diary for August 17, 1898, Schenker speaks of his being godfather to the "first-born" (Hans) of his sister Sophie Guttman, expressing the hope that he will honor the name of his grandfather (Johann Schenker). Nothing is known of Hans’s childhood, except for the amusing incident when, visiting Vienna aged 16, he saw a crucifix over the bed of Jeanette (who was Jewish) and was upset that Heinrich might have to convert to Christianity (diary, Oct 28, 1914); or of his education, other than an attempt to enroll him in the Piarist secondary school in Vienna (diary, Oct 28, 1914).

In April 1916, Hans was deemed fit for military service and stationed first in Schönberg (Šumperk) in the Sudetenland in 1916–17, on “light duties,” later in Bielitz, Wiener-Neustadt, and in 1918 Szeged, from where he was able frequently to send food parcels to Heinrich. After the war, he studied in Vienna with financial support from his uncle, Moriz Schenker, graduating in August 1919, then moving to Vinkovci, in Croatia-Slavonia, from which he had access to Agram (Zagreb). The only hint of his occupation thereafter comes from a letter of 1922, where he speaks of working in an office (Büro) and chancellery (Kanzlei) (OJ 14/4, [2]), which suggests that he might be an attorney’s clerk. In 1922 and 1923, he was living in the Yugoslavian town of St Gjurjerovai (location unknown). Hans spent a good deal of time with his Uncle Moriz at the latter’s house in Baden bei Wien and occasionally in Bucharest, and there may have been a question of Moriz finding him a place in a bank.

Heinrich’s diary for April 2, 1929 records Hans’s engagement to Edith (?née Schwartz). Their marriage followed on May 27 in Agram; Heinrich was invited but did not attend; bride and groom visited the Schenkers in Vienna on June 25–26. Edith gave birth to a daughter at the beginning of November 1932. Edith’s character is three times criticized by Sophie, first in July 1933 speaking of her “unchasteness; I am more convinced than ever that her child is not her husband’s,” secondly in a letter to Jeanette in January 1938, that she “puts on so many airs and graces” and causes Hans financial strain by her extravagant living (OJ 11/31, [1]), reinforced in a letter to Jeanette of November 1938 reporting that Hans “has an extremely fashion-conscious wife who is very, very extravagant” (OJ 11/31, [2]). Hans was transferred to Belgrade in 1939 “after having lived in the countryside for nineteen years” (OJ 11/31, [3]), on receiving a promotion.

Thereafter, we have no information as to whether he escaped transportation.

Hans Guttmann and Heinrich and Jeanette Schenker

In Fall 1914, Heinrich commented that Hans’s “posture and speech are uncultivated” (diary Sep 17, 1914), and three years later described him as “unintelligent and headstrong” (Sep 16, 1917). In the 1920s, living in Vinkovci, Hans visited Vienna periodically, attending opera and theater and sharing meals with Heinrich and Jeanette, who exhibited growing affection for him. Heinrich borrowed money from him frequently, while encouraging him to purchase his publications, medallion, and mezzotint portrait.

He visited the Schenkers at their summer resort in Galtür from August 29 to September 1, 1927, where he proved himself to be a photographer (a skill first mentioned in 1918): on the final day, Heinrich records: Around 10 o'clock, we ride down with the automobile; Hans takes a picture of us in the car and accompanies us, taking several pictures along the way: one in a very well-chosen place, where the Parsei Massif and the castle at the Trisanna Bridge provide the background; the driver is photographed with us. [...] Even at the last moment, as we are boarding, Hans takes a picture. (diary, Sep 1, 1927)

After this, he stayed in Vienna September 8‒18, visiting them each day. In subsequent months he delivered prints and enlargements of his photographs (see below, under Correspondence). A second visit to Galtür took place in 1930, when Hans and Edith booked themselves into a hotel, staying three weeks, June 29 to July 17, and again Hans took photographs, sending prints to the Schenkers.

Correspondence and other documents

One telegram and one letter to Heinrich survive as OJ 14/4, [1] (Nov 29,1918) and [2] (May 14, 1922), and one fragmentary letter to Heinrich and Jeanette Schenker is preserved as OC 65/56 (Dec 22, 1923), and a fieldpostcard from Moriz Schenker and Hans Guttmann from Rumania to Heinrich Schenker survives as (Aug 8, 1918).

Photographs of Hans survive as OJ 72/18, Nos 9, 10 (in military uniform: 1917), and he appears also in Nos 8 and 13 with Frieda and Julien (1912, 1919), and probably No. 11 with his parents and siblings (1916/17).

It is possible that some or all of the photographs OJ 72/15, Nos 2‒4, showing Heinrich and Jeanette in a chauffeured car in Galtür, were those recorded in the diary as having been taken by Hans on September 1, 1927 (see above)

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