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Dimon-Kurrein Family Collection

 Collection
Identifier: AR 25652

Scope and Content Note

The Dimon-Kurrein Family Collection includes documents on the Kurrein family in folder 1. It contains undated photographs of several family members. Some documents refer to Max Kurrein's father, Adolf Kurrein, including a birth certificate, school certificates and a résumé. Outstanding is the correspondence of an unknown family member with Theodor Herzl about the first Zionist Congress, dated in 1897. The folder also includes a clipping of donations the family made to the Jewish National Fund to contribute to the Jewish settlements in Palestine.

Folder 2 contains Max Kurrein's documents. Most of the material consists of articles about him, describing his work as a professor and metallurgist in Israel. Early correspondence with his wife Charlotte Kurrein refers to the daily life of the couple in 1917, while she studied in Berlin and he was deployed as a soldier in Vienna. The folder includes invitations for several of Max Kurrein's birthdays. A photo album holds pictures of the Kurrein siblings Max, Isidor and Herbert as children, as soldiers during World War I, and as young men, as well as Max Kurrein as professor in Israel in the 1950s.

Folder 3 contains Charlotte Kurrein's official documents and correspondence. An enrollment book for the Friedrich Wilhelms University in Berlin documents the classes she took in mathematics and physics in 1914. A university certificate from 1918, a driver's license, issued in Berlin in 1931, and an Israeli passport are included as well. Several photographs show her as a child, as a young woman together with her classmates at her graduation in 1918, and together with her brother Rudolf Kurrein. The included family correspondence mostly refers to the 1930s and describes the preparations for the family's emigration to Palestine and the United States.

Folder 4 holds several 19th century wills that refer to the extended Blau family, namely Solomon Simon Landsberger and his wife Sophie Landsberger from 1835, and two wills of the merchant Josef Mendel Bramson and his wife Nathalie Bramson from 1857 and 1871. It also includes a certificate of insurance of a Blau family member, issued in 1847.

The Dimon family folder contains mostly family correspondence, mainly letters from Ina Dimon's grandmother Bertha Blau, who wrote about her preparation during the 1930s for her emigration to the United States. A second correspondence between Ina Dimon and a professor of history, Dr. Harriet Freidenreich, who conducted research on higher education of women in the twentieth century, contains information about Charlotte Kurrein and her studies.

A biographical essay written by Ina Dimon is held in folder 6. It describes Ina Dimon's early childhood in Berlin before emigration, her arrival and her schooling in Palestine. Moreover, the essay refers to Max and Charlotte Kurrein, their childhood and education. Attached are photos of their house in Berlin and documents regarding to the described persons. Another chapter of the essay describes Chanoch Dimon's childhood in Berlin and England, and the survival of his parents, hidden at the sailor club "Freie Vereinigung der Tourensegler Grünau 1898 e.V.". A correspondence between Ina Dimon and the sailor club is attached to the essay.

Folder 7 contains material about the Loewe family; the main part is a Hebrew correspondence between Raphael Loewe and Ina Dimon, who are both descendants of the Loewe family and got in touch in 1994. Included with the correspondence are several family trees that show the connection between the families and their shared ancestors. The folder includes undated photographs of Louis Loewe and other Loewe family members.

Unrelated clippings about the salaries of officials, the costs of living, Hebrew scholars in 19th Century England and a paper print of an online article on Caroline Marcus (née Fischl) are held in folder 'other'.

Dates

  • 1835-2013
  • Majority of material found in 1930s and 1960s

Creator

Language of Materials

The collection is in German, English, and Hebrew.

Access Restrictions

Open to researchers.

Access Information

Collection is digitized. Follow the links in the Container List to access the digitized materials.

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: http://www.lbi.org/ask

Biographical Note

Max Kurrein was born in Linz, Austria, on April 29, 1878, as a son of Rabbi Adolf (Abraham) Kurrein and his wife Jessie, née Loewe. He worked as an engineer since 1905, and became a lecturer and professor at the Technical University of Berlin. In addition, he worked as an advisor for patents at the Reich's Court in Berlin and related to engineering in general. During World War I he was conscripted into the Austrian Army and stayed in Vienna. For the biographical note on Max Kurrein, see Max Kurrein Family Collection 1896-2011, AR 25467.

Charlotte Kurrein, née Blau, was the daughter of Louis Blau. She studied mathematics and physics in Berlin before getting married to Max Kurrein in 1918. They had two children, Fritz and Ina. The family emigrated in 1934 to Palestine. Ina Dimon studied architecture at the Technion in Haifa, but left the university after a year to work at the General Manager's Office of the Palestine Railways. She married Chanoch Dimon (Hans Doering) in 1946.

Hans Doering was the only child of a Jewish mother and a gentile father, a social democrat. His parents survived in hiding with the help of their friends at the sailing club "Freie Vereinigung der Tourensegler Grünau 1898 e.V.". Hans emigrated to Palestine in 1935, joining the kibbutz Giv'at Brenner near Rehovot and changing his name to Chanoch Dimon.

Extent

0.5 Linear Feet

Abstract

The Dimon-Kurrein Family Collection contains the assorted papers of the Kurrein, Blau, Dimon, and Loewe families. A special focus is on the family correspondence during and after their emigration to the United States and Palestine in 1934. Official documents, a biographical essay, a family photo album, articles on Max Kurrein and several family trees are included in the collection.

Arrangement

The collection is arranged in one series.

Related Material

  1. Adolf Kurrein Collection 1872-1918 (AR 11839)
  2. Herbert Kurrein Collection 1909-1918 (AR 4311)
  3. Max Kurrein Family Collection 1896-2011 (AR 25467)

Processing Information

During processing of the collection in August 2015, the folders of the collection were organized into one series.

Title
Guide to the Papers of the Dimon-Kurrein Family 1835-2014 AR 25652
Status
Completed
Author
Processed by Sabine Hanke
Date
© 2015
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin
Language of description note
Description is in English.
Edition statement
This version was derived from Dimon-KurreinFamily.xml

Revision Statements

  • January 2016:: dao links added by Emily Andresini.

Repository Details

Part of the Leo Baeck Institute Repository

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