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Else Richthofen-Jaffé Letters

 Collection
Identifier: AR 25486

Scope and Content Note

The Else Richthofen-Jaffé Correspondence primarily consists of the family correspondence of this social scientist. By far the bulk of the collection consists of Else Richthofen-Jaffé's correspondence with her children, although some correspondence with other family members or other close individuals is also present, along with parts of an unpublished work on the family and some genealogical notes.

Much of the collection is composed of Else Richthofen-Jaffé's letters to and from her sons in the United States: Friedel (Frederick Jeffrey) and Hans Jaffé, along with their families. Correspondence between Else Richthofen-Jaffé and them is present in the first three subseries of Series I. With her frequent letters, Else connected the [disparate] branches of the Jaffé family, providing news of herself and Alfred Weber along with news of their sister, Marianne von Eckhardt, and her children. Although the conveying of family news was the main purpose of the letters, Else's curiosity about her children's lives in the United States, and especially in news about her grandchildren, is clearly represented. Her own health and activities are another frequent subject, along with mentions of intellectuals who visited the house she shared with Alfred Weber. Other correspondence of Else Richthofen-Jaffé can be found in the final subseries of Series I, with letters that provide some information on her earlier years as well as on the family's history.

Series II consists of other correspondence of Friedel Jeffrey after Else Richthofen-Jaffé's death, mostly comprising letters to or about other family members. These include reflections on his early life and on his father's role in the Bavarian Revolution of 1918-1919.

Further information on the Jaffé family will be found in Series III. Such material includes letters of Edgar Jaffé from the late nineteenth century, notes on the Jaffé genealogy, and an unpublished draft with more details on the lives of Else Richthofen-Jaffé, Edgar Jaffé, and Alfred Weber.

Dates

  • 1883-2011
  • Majority of material found within 1935-1973

Creator

Language of Materials

The collection is in German and English.

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: lbaeck@lbi.cjh.org

Biographical Note

Else von Richthofen was born on October 8, 1874, the daughter of Baron Friedrich von Richthofen and his wife Anna née Marquier. She had two younger sisters, Frieda and Johanna. Else became the first female factory inspector in the state of Baden, and was Max Weber's first female doctoral student. On November 18, 1902 Else married the economist Edgar Jaffé; born to an assimilated Jewish family, he converted to Protestantism in 1882. With Edgar she had three children: Friedrich (called Friedel, born 1903), Marianne (born 1905), and Hans (born 1909). In 1907 she had a son, Peter, with Otto Gross; Peter died in 1915 of diphtheria. After the death of Edgar Jaffé in 1921, Else lived with the sociologist Alfred Weber in Heidelberg until his death in 1958. Else Richthofen-Jaffé died in Heidelberg in 1973.

In 1933 Friedel, who had studied law and became a businessman, married Marianne (called Marandl) Riezler, with whom he had three children. The family emigrated to the United States in 1934, with the couple changing their names to Frederick and Marianne Jeffrey in 1940. Friedel's sister Marianne Jaffé, who became a psychologist, married Hans von Eckardt in 1931; they had three children. The Eckardts remained in Germany during the Second World War. Hans Jaffé, who had studied physics and later became a physicist, immigrated to the United States in 1935 and married Mary Crawford Schuster in 1947; they had two children.

Extent

1 Linear Feet

Abstract

The Else Richthofen-Jaffé Correspondence primarily consists of the family correspondence of this social scientist. Much of the collection consists of Else Richthofen-Jaffé's correspondence with her adult children and their families, although some correspondence with other family members or other close individuals is also present. In addition the collection contains parts of an unpublished work on the family and some genealogical notes.

Related Material

Several collections in the LBI Archives contain related material. See also the Christopher Jeffrey Collection (AR 25348), of which this collection is a part, as are the Kurt Riezler Letters (AR 25484), the Frieda Lawrence Letters (AR 25485), and a diary by Hans von Eckhardt (Die neue Vernunft: Tagebuch 1942-1946; ME 1623). Related is also a manuscript by Guenther Roth: Edgar Jaffé, Else von Richthofen and Their Children. : From German-Jewish assimilation through antisemitic persecution to American integration A century of family correspondence 1880-1980 (MS 877).

Separated Material

An unmarked reprint, Bloch, I.S., Des k.k. Prof. Rohling neueste Faelschungen, Vienna, 1883, was removed to the LBI Library with a copy of its title page retained in the collection.

Title
Guide to the Letters of Else Richthofen-Jaffé 1883-2011 AR 25486
Status
Completed
Author
Processed by Dianne Ritchey
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 ElseRichthofen-JaffeLetters.xml

Revision Statements

  • November 2015:: 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