Galerie Heinemann was founded in 1872 in Munich by David Heinemann (1819-1902). It was initially located on Promenadeplatz, but later moved to Prinzregentenstraße and then to Lenbachplatz 5/6. From 1890 the management of the gallery passed into the hands of David Heinemann's three sons: Theodor, the eldest, settled in New York to take over the American branch, while Theobald and Hermann continued the business in Munich (Jooss, 2012). After the death of the latter two the management was left in the hands of Franziska Heinemann (1882-1940), Theobald's widow, and her son Fritz (1905-1983).
Although the gallery originally had an outstanding international projection, the rise of the Nazi regime put an end to the business. In January 1938 Fritz Heinemann retired from the family business and in May of the same year emigrated to the United States. An employee of the gallery, Friedrich Heinrich Zinckgraf (1878-1954), bought it and became the sole owner of the gallery, changing its name to Galerie Zinckgraf (Jooss, 2012).