Hahn Family Collection

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The Bad Hersfeld materials include clippings, postcards from Frances Hahn Stewart's visit in 1965, and an unpublished description and drawings of the Bad Hersfeld synagogue.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.