Heinz (Heinrich) Auerbach Collection

This collection contains a large amount of business and legal correspondence and documents pertaining to Auerbach's tenure with Tri-Ergon AG and Tobis Tonbild Syndikat AG, most of which revolve around legal proceedings (patent and civil) in Germany, Switzerland, and the United States concerning Tri-Ergon's sound-on-film technologies which had become film industry standard. The collection also has a folder of Auerbach's personal papers, a considerable number of family and personal photographs (some arranged in albums), some personal correspondence, and a few manuscripts for film projects.

The first series includes not only papers pertaining to Auerbach's schooling and military service, but also some family papers and memorabilia, including marriage announcements and estate documents, largely stemming from the Kuznitzky family. The second folder consists entirely of congratulatory telegrams sent on the occasion of Paul Auerbach and Regina Grünfeld's wedding (1889). Auerbach's personal correspondence is filed in folder 3. The second and third boxes consist entirely of photos, by and large posed, unlabeled studio portraits of various family members, both individual and in groups, most of which were arranged in handsome photoalbums featuring Jugendstil decorative motifs. There are, however, some photographic postcards with notes or other information, and some of the photographs show scenes from the family's daily life. Many of the photos appear to date to the 19th century. The first photo-album also contains a separate compartment, in which are some signed photographs of cabaret or film performers, and a few loose photographs are filed separately in box 2 folder 2.

Series 2 extensively documents Auerbach's work in the motion picture industry first with Tobis and later with Tri-Ergon. Box 1 folder 4 contains contains correspondence with Leon Zeitlin, Robert Iklé, Decca Record Company, and others pertaining to business and legal affairs of Tobis and Tri-Ergon. Folder 5 dates to the Auerbach's time as Tri-Ergon's legal agent in New York, and there are also letters from former German ministers Albert Grzesinski and Hermann Barlak. In addition to correspondence, both folders contain business reports and a few other similar documents; at the end of folder 4 there is also a handwritten statement (circa 23 pages) detailing Auerbach's involvement in the affairs of Tri-Ergon and Tobis. In folder 6 are undated reports and memoranda relating to Tri-Ergon's patent infringement case against Fox Film Corporation. Folder 7 contains an annual report (1929) of the Telegraphon AG and an additional report from Tobis (1930), while folder 8 consists entirely of clippings from German and American film industry publications. The final folders of this series house various manuscripts, both typescript and handwritten, which evidently contain fictional narratives, perhaps intended for development as motion pictures or as novelizations of screenplays. Some of these manuscripts, particularly those handwritten, are fragmentary, while the typescripts appear more complete.