Heinz (Heinrich) Auerbach Collection
Scope and Content Note
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.
Dates
- circa 1850-1968
Creator
Language of Materials
This collection is in German, English, and some French and Polish.
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
Heinrich Joachim Auerbach was born in Breslau in 1890 and studied law. He served in the German army during the first World War, and afterwards became involved in the film industry. In 1929 he was elected by the board of Tobis Tonbild Syndikat to the position of chief executive (Generaldirektor), but was forced to resign the following year. Despite ill health he remained involved in the legal disputes surrounding Tobis, Tri-Ergon, Western Electric, and Fox Film Corporation regarding the use of and possible patent infringement on the Tri-Ergon sound-on-film technology. This work brought him to the United States during the 1930s as an agent of the Tri-Ergon Switzerland AG.
Historical Note
Tri-Ergon and Tobis Tonbild Syndikat were instrumental in the development of sound-on-film technology, which quickly led to a revolution in the motion picture that ushered in the end of the silent film era. The sound-on-film technology was at the center of a contentious series of lawsuits and negotiations involving many individuals, notably William Fox, corporations such as Tri-Ergon, Fox Film, and AEG, and the governments of several different countries. The legal and commercial issues took nearly a decade to resolve. For a fuller account see Douglas Gomery's article Tri-Ergon, Tobis-Klangfilm, and the Coming of Sound in Cinema Journal v. 16.1 (1976), pages 51-61 .
Extent
1.5 Linear Feet
Abstract
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.
- Albums (books)
- Black-and-white photographs
- Business records
- Clippings (information artifacts)
- Correspondence
- Fox Film Corporation
- Germany -- History -- 1871-1918
- Jewish lawyers
- Jews -- Germany
- Kuznitzky family
- Legal documents
- Manuscripts (documents)
- Motion picture industry -- History
- Motion picture industry -- Law and legislation
- Patent infringement
- Patents
- Portraits
- Saint Gall (Switzerland)
- Sound motion pictures
- Tobis Tonbild Syndikat AG
- Tri-Ergon AG
- Zeitlin, Leon, 1876-
- Title
- Guide to the Heinz (Heinrich) Auerbach Collection, circa 1850-1968 AR 7098
- Status
- Completed
- Author
- Processed by Timothy Ryan Mendenhall
- Date
- © 2011
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
- Language of description note
- Finding aid written in English.
Revision Statements
- October 24, 2014 : Links to digital objects added in Container List.
Repository Details
Part of the Leo Baeck Institute Repository