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Brüder Böhm Company Collection

 Collection
Identifier: AR 25122

Scope and Content Note

The Brüder Böhm Company Collection includes materials documenting the operations of the company that was involved in the production of hats and had plants in Vienna, Austria and Neutitschein, Czechoslovakia (now Nový Jicín, Czeck Republic),. There is also a small amount of personal materials pertaining to the lives of the owners of the company, brothers Joseph and Victor Böhm and their cousin Richard Böhm, as well as some other members of the Böhm family.

The collection includes blueprints, correspondence, financial documents, reports, notes, photographs, and printed materials. The bulk of the collection consists of business correspondence of both Brüder Böhm Company and Frank Allaire Co., Inc. (the company that was incorporated in to the Brüder Böhm Company in about 1940) and includes correspondence with business partners, lawyers, and some government institutions. Most of the pre-war correspondence (Series II; Business, Subsubseries 1: Brüder Böhm Company, Pre-War) documents Richard, Victor, and Joseph Böhm's attempts to collect payments form the foreign customers after their plants in Europe were lost. There is an abundance of correspondence dealing with patents and disputes about them; extensive correspondence between the owners of the company, namely Joseph, Richard, and Victor Böhm, and the managerial stuff at the Vienna factory (Subseries II: Business, Subseries 2: Brüder Böhm, Post-War, Subsubseries A: Correspondence.)

There is a wealth of financial, legal, and technical documents, such as agreements, annual reports, blueprints, declarations of trust, ledgers and expense books, invoices, letters of credit, property reports, registries, reports, lists, charts, notes, and patents certificates.

Additionally, there are personal documents, such as affidavits of support, immigration documents, passports, and visa applications.

Other personal materials include correspondence with friends and family; American consulates and other organizations regarding immigration; lawyers and personal financial advisers regarding immigration, personal accounts, taxes, and restitution. There also is correspondence concerning the estate of Rudolph Bach.

Furthermore there are personal materials concerning Henry Landesmann, Richard and Victor Bohm’s cousin, consisting of personal and business correspondence, immigration and restitution documents and correspondence concerning the estate of Eduard Landesmann.

Dates

  • Creation: 1910-1979
  • Creation: Majority of material found within 1938-1965

Creator

Language of Materials

The collection is in German, English, and French, with some Danish, Czech, Italian, and Norwegian.

Access Information

Readers may access the collection by visiting the Lillian Goldman Reading Room at the Center for Jewish History. We recommend reserving the collection in advance; please visit the LBI Online Catalog and click on the “Request” button

Use Restrictions

There may be some restrictions on the use of the collection. For more information, contact:

Leo Baeck Institute, Center for Jewish History, 15 West 16th Street, New York, NY 10011

email: lbaeck@lbi.cjh.org

Historical Note

The history of the Brüder Böhm Company can be traced back to the 1840s, when Joseph and Richard Böhm’s great-grand mother opened a business trading in hare skins for hat manufacturing. Later it was transformed into hat production and the first hat factory was found at Schottenfeldgasse, Vienna in 1862 and was run by the members of the Böhm family.

Later more plants were opened in other places, namely in Prague and Neutitschein. When the factory in Neutitschein was completed between 1918 and 1920, the Prague factory was moved there. The plant in Neutitschein was managed jointly by Otto Wolf and Richard Böhm, whereas Victor was in charge of the technical side of the business.

After the Anschluss the Böhm family moved Vienna to Czechoslovakia. Before their move there, they sold their Vienna factory to the Bavarian hat factory of Othmar Reich. However, they did not receive any money for that deal, since all the money went to the German authorities mainly as taxes for the exit visas.

After the German occupation and subsequent loss of the factory in Neutitschein, some members of the Böhm family stayed shortly in Belgium, where the Böhm brothers established a partnership with Bottu, who was their agent. In early 1939 the Böhm family moved to England and established a hat factory there. In 1940 the Böhm family had to leave England, due to their alien status and came to the United States.

Between the loss of their factory in Vienna and their arrival in the United States, the Böhm brothers were mainly involved in securing their claims on foreign customers.

After the war, Brüder Böhm resumed its operations in Vienna, but not in Nový Jicín, since that factory was nationalized by the new Czechoslovak government. The Brüder Böhm Company was dissolved in the late 1960s.

It is unclear when the company’s name was changed to Brother Bohm Co., Inc. and when it was changed back to Brüder Böhm.

Extent

17.5 Linear Feet

Abstract

The Brüder Böhm Company Collection includes materials documenting the operations of the company that was involved in the production of hats and had plants in Vienna, Austria and Neutitschein, Czechoslovakia (now Nový Jicín, Czech Republic). There is also a small amount of personal materials pertaining to the lives of the owners of the company, the brothers Joseph and Victor Böhm and their cousin Richard Böhm, as well as some other members of the Böhm family.

Title
Guide to the Brüder Böhm Company Collection 1910-1979, bulk (1938-1965) AR 25122
Status
Completed
Author
Processed by Yakov Sklar
Date
© 2007
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin
Language of description note
Description is in English.

Revision Statements

  • 2010-03-23 : encoding of linking to digital objects from finding aid was changed from <extref> to <dao> through dao_conv.xsl
  • August 20, 2018:: Corrections made to descriptive summary, historical note, and scope and content note regarding relation of Victor, Joseph, and Richard Böhm, from information provided by family member.

Repository Details

Part of the Leo Baeck Institute Repository

Contact:
15 West 16th Street
New York NY 10011 United States