Hahn Family Collection
Scope and Content Note
This collection contains materials relating to Isfried and Ilse Hahn, and their family. Official and educational documents relating directly to Isfried and Ilse Hahn include property lists and a Vermoegensverzeichnis von Juden submission; German residence permits; and Isfried Hahn's military service papers. Other materials pertaining directly to them include United States immigration and naturalization papers, financial documents reflecting money and stock transfers in the late 1930s, and restitution files.
Materials concerning the Hahn's relatives and ancestors include many Voehl family documents, which relate to ancestors of Ilse's stepfather Leopold Voehl. The Voehls were a commercially-active family in the towns of Gedern and Nidda in Oberhessen, Germany, and this collection contains 19th-century letters, commercial contracts, legal documents, and a certificate (1867) of military service for Josef Voehl. Highlights include a 1785 printed decree by Ludwig, Landgraf of Hessen, limiting use of Hebrew and Judeo-German to religious services, and particularly banning their use in any contract or agreement; an 1805 marriage contract, in German, between Schutzjude Samuel Wolff Kahn and Juedele Samuelin, in Gedern; and an 1805 decree by Christian Friedrich, Graf of Stolberg, proscribing Jewish participation in commerce.
Other items relating to Ilse Hahn's family include a large scrapbook of 70th birthday telegrams and letters belonging to her grandmother Franziska Levi (1871-1933); clippings about financier and art collector Jacob Goldschmidt, a cousin of her mother's; documents about Ilse Hahn's parents such as a Familienstammbuch (family register) filled out for their marriage, and a eulogy for her father Leopold Meyer.
The Bad Hersfeld materials include clippings, postcards from Frances Hahn Stewart's visit in 1965, and an unpublished description and drawings of the Bad Hersfeld synagogue. Genealogical documents include Levi, Hahn, and Voehl genealogical tables, as well as a short narrative description of Ilse and Isfried Hahn's family.
The collection also contains photographs. Many are labeled with names, and some also have dates and locations. Most are small black & white silver gelatin prints, but there are also some card-mounted photographs and color snapshots. The photographs are mostly portraits and group shots, both formal and informal. There are also a few photos of family grave stones, and of the Hahn family house and bank in Bad Hersfeld.
Dates
- 1780-2011
Creator
- Stewart, Frances Hahn, 1943- (Person)
Language of Materials
This collection is in German and English.
Access Restrictions
This collection is open to researchers.
Access Information
Collection is digitized. Follow the links in the Container List to access the digitized materials.
Biographical Note<extptr actuate="onload" altrender="Isfried Hahn (1897-1960)" href="http://digital.cjh.org/webclient/DeliveryManager?pid=1387353" show="embed" title="Isfried Hahn (1897-1960)"/><extptr actuate="onload" altrender="Ilse Hahn (1914-2007)" href="http://digital.cjh.org/webclient/DeliveryManager?pid=1417771" show="embed" title="Ilse Hahn (1914-2007)"/>
Isfried (Fred) Hahn (1897-1960) was born in Hersfeld, Germany to Jacob Hahn and Julianne née Liebstaedter. The Hahns of Bad Hersfeld were bankers by trade, and had been there for generations. His siblings were Rudolph (born 1901, immigrated to England), Arthur (born 1899, immigrated to the United States), and Bettina (born 1904, immigrated to England). In 1936, Isfried married Ilse Meyer (1914-2007). Ilse was born in Zierenberg, Germany to Leopold Meyer (1877-1933) and Jette (Henny) née Levi (1889-1969). The Hahns had one child, Frances Hahn Stewart (1943- ), named after her great-grandmother Franziska Levi.
Ilse Hahn's mother Jette remarried, to her widowed brother-in-law Leopold Voehl, and took the name Henny Voehl. The Voehl family was commercially active in the towns of Gedern and Nidda in Oberhessen, Germany, at least as far back as the 18th century. Ilse Hahn's maternal grandparents were Selig Levi (1847-1916), the first Jewish mayor of Rhina, Hessen and Franziska Levi née Bacharach (1871-1931).
Ilse and Isfried Hahn left Germany in 1939 for the United States, via England. They settled in Paterson, New Jersey and became American citizens in 1945, and were involved in German Jewish life in the New York and New Jersey areas (Temple Emanu-El in Paterson, Congregation Habonim, Leo Baeck lodge). They, and their mothers Henny Voehl and Julia Hahn, are buried in Cedar Park Cemetery in Westwood, New Jersey.
Other relatives referred to in this collection include Ilse Hahn's uncle Sally Levi, who immigrated to the United States in the 1920s, and her sister Irmgard Meyer. Banker and art collector Jacob Goldschmidt was cousin of Ilse Hahn's mother Jette (Henny) Voehl.
Extent
1 Linear Feet
Abstract
This collection contains materials relating to Isfried and Ilse Hahn and their family. It includes official and educational documents relating directly to Isfried and Ilse Hahn, such as property lists, residence permits, military service papers, and immigration and naturalization papers, as well as restitution and financial documents. Among the materials concerning the Hahn's relatives and ancestors are 19th-century commercial documents from the Voehl family of Gedern and Nidda in Oberhessen, Germany, as well as other correspondence, photographs, and genealogical materials relating to the Hahn, Meyer, Levi, and Voehl families.
Arrangement
This collection is divided into two series. Within each series, the folders are arranged alphabetically.
Separated Material
Printed materials were removed to the LBI Library, including:
- Friedhofgebete. Gebete bei der Beerdigung und beim Besuch der Graeber Mit deutscher Uebersetzung von S. Baer
- Das Buch Esther uebersetzt und mit einer Einleitung versehen von A. Sulzbach; mit Illustrationen und dem Abendgebete am Purimfeste
Isfried Hahn's German army medals for World War One service were removed to LBI Arts and Objects.
Processing Information
The materials were rearranged, and rehoused in acid-free folders. The photographs were grouped by size and rehoused.
- Title
- Guide to the Hahn Family Collection Undated, 1780-2011 AR 25457
- Status
- Completed
- Author
- Processed by Kevin Schlottmann
- Date
- © 2011
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
- Language of description note
- Description is in English.
- Sponsor
- as part of the Leon Levy Archival Processing Initiative, made possible by the Leon Levy Foundation
Revision Statements
- May 2014:: Links to digital objects added in Container List.
Repository Details
Part of the Leo Baeck Institute Repository
