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Martha Werner Collection

 Collection
Identifier: AR 7261 / MF 496

Scope and Content Note

The collection contains documents related to birth, education, marriage, employment, emigration, death as well as correspondence, writings, clippings and photographs for Martha Werner, her husband Berthold Werner, her sisters Hansi and Liesel, her parents Heinrich Gruen and Mathilda Goldstein, and her husband's parents Koloman Werner (Kohn) and Rosa Heumann. There are baptism certificates for several family members.

Dates

  • 1872-1976

Creator

Language of Materials

This 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.

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

Biographical Note

Martha Werner (nee Gruen) was born in Vienna in 1901. Her parents were Heinrich Gruen (1873-1924), a physician, and his wife Mathilda (nee Goldstein, 1875-1949). She studied at the University of Vienna from 1920-1922 and at the Academy for Social Welfare in Vienna from 1928- 1929. She worked as a nurse and as a case-worker for the welfare department of the city of Vienna. She married the physician Berthold Werner in 1924.

After her emigration to the US in 1939, she first worked as a massage therapist. She later received her B.S. with a major in psychology (1953) and her MA in vocational counseling (1954) from Columbia University and worked as a research assistant. She died in 1985.

Martha's sister Hansi was born in 1904. She married the lawyer Georg Anton Weisz. After their immigration, Georg Weisz first worked for the research library of the Department of State and later became a senior information analyst for the Free Europe Committee, which broadcasted information about the West to Communist countries in Europe. He died in 1963.

Martha's third sister, Liesel (Elise) Riesel (nee Gruen) married Josef Riesel in 1928. In 1930, she received her Ph.D. in philosophy from the University of Vienna. She immigrated to Moscow after the war and taught German at the university. She published on linguistics and received the F.C.-Weiskopf award of the Deutsche Akademie der Kuenste of German Democratic Republic in 1963.

Berthold Werner was born in Vienna in 1898. His parents were Koloman Kohn (1863-1930), a civil servant, and his wife Rosa (nee Heumann, 1865-1941). The family changed its last name from Kohn to Werner in 1905.He studied law in Vienna and received his degree in 1920. From 1921 until 1933 he worked for the Zentral-Europaeische Laenderbank in Vienna. After 1933 he took serveral classes and workshops on accounting and engineering. He immigrated to the US with his wife in 1939, and later worked for the Military Government in Germany. He died in 1984.

Extent

2 Linear Feet

Abstract

The collection contains documents related to birth, education, marriage, employment, emigration, death as well as correspondence, writings, clippings and photographs for Martha Werner, her husband Berthold Werner, her sisters Hansi and Liesel, her parents Heinrich Gruen and Mathilda Goldstein, and her husband's parents Koloman Werner (Kohn) and Rosa Heumann. There are baptism certificates for several family members.

Arrangement

  1. Series I: Heinrich Gruen
  2. Series II: Family members
  3. Series III: Martha Werner
  4. Series IV: Berthold Werner
  5. Series V: Miscellaneous
  6. Series VI: Correspondence
  7. Series VII: Photo albums

Existence and Location of Copies

Available on microfilm

Microfilm

Collection is available on 3 reels of microfilm (MF 496).

  1. Reel 1: 1/1-1/19
  2. Reel 2: 1/20-1/24a; 2/1-2/8
  3. Reel 3: 2/9-2/23

Separated Material

Photographs have been removed to the LBI Photograph Collection.

Title
Guide to the Martha Werner Collection, 1872-1976 AR 7261 / MF 496
Status
Completed
Author
Processed by LBI Staff
Date
© 2010
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin
Language of description note
Description is in English.

Revision Statements

  • February 15, 2012 : Links to digital objects added in Container List.

Repository Details

Part of the Leo Baeck Institute Repository

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