Weinberg-Oppenheimer Family Collection
Scope and Content Note
The Weinberg Oppenheimer Family Collection holds the papers of members of the related Weinberg and Oppenheimer families. Much of the collection documents the emigration of Hermann and Bella Weinberg and their children, but other papers relate to the World War I military service of Hermann Weinberg and Leopold Oppenheimer, or to the death of Zacharias Oppenheimer. The collection includes official documents; correspondence; financial documents and correspondence; a photo album and photographic postcards; and other papers.
Documentation of the Oppenheimer family primarily centers on the lives of Zacharias Oppenheimer and his son Leopold. Series I contains papers and correspondence of Leopold Oppenheimer, among them school certificates and correspondence while he was in World War I. Series II, which holds the collection's photographs, includes Leopold Oppenheimer's photo album, which primarily holds photographs of members of his fraternity. Papers relating to Zacharias Oppenheimer largely relate to his death; Series I includes correspondence and documents about his estate as well as notifications and condolences after his death.
Weinberg family documents include those of Hermann Weinberg and his wife Bella (née Oppenheimer). Several folders in Series I pertain to their emigration to the United States, including correspondence with the American consulate and with Jacob May, who provided an affidavit of support for them. Their official documents and diary pages by Hermann about their upcoming emigration are also present in Series I. Many photographs of Hermann Weinberg during World War I are present in Series II, in addition to photos of their daughters and many unidentified photos.
Dates
- 1899-1993
- Majority of material found in 1911-1918, 1930-1939
Creator
- Adler, Inge (Person)
Language of Materials
The collection is in German and English.
Access Restrictions
Open to researchers.
Access Information
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
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
Zacharias Oppenheimer was a businessman who lived in the small town of Schriesheim, Germany, born in 1861. There he owned a wholesale firm that sold products for milling, groceries and animal feed. Zacharias and his wife Bertha (née Karlsberg) had two children, Leopold (born May 24, 1889) and Bella (born June 9, 1893). Zacharias was a prominent member of the town's Jewish community and rarely failed to attend synagogue services. He died in 1934.
After completing his high school (Gymnasium) studies in Heidelberg, Leopold began studying to become a teacher. While a student in Heidelberg he became a member of a Jewish fraternity there. In 1914 he left his studies to volunteer for World War I, where he served on the Western front. By August 1914 he was killed.
On January 11, 1922 Bella Oppenheimer married Hermann Weinberg (born April 20, 1893 in Röhlinghausen). Hermann Weinberg had served on the Eastern Front in World War I and was a salesman. Together he and Bella had two daughters: Inge and Else.
The Weinberg family and Bertha Oppenheimer emigrated to America in October 1938. Their emigration was assisted financially by the businessman Jacob May of Tennessee, who was the brother-in-law of Hermann Weinberg's deceased aunt.
Extent
0.5 Linear Feet
Abstract
The Weinberg Oppenheimer Family Collection contains the papers of these families, with documentation primarily about Zacharias Oppenheimer, Leopold Oppenheimer, and Hermann and Bella (née Oppenheimer) Weinberg. The collection centers on the Weinberg family members' emigration to America as well as Leopold Oppenheimer and Hermann Weinberg's time in World War I. The collection includes many family and wartime photographs and a photo album of Leopold Oppenheimer's fraternity brothers, official documents and other papers used in the Weinbergs' emigration, family and emigration correspondence, documents related to the death of Zacharias Oppenheimer, newspaper clippings, a few diary entries, and other papers.
Arrangement
The collection is arranged in two series:
Separated Material
A book, Kriegsbriefe gefallener Deutscher Juden (published by the Reichsbund jüdischer Frontsoldaten, Vortrup Verlag, Berlin, 1935) was removed from the archival collection during processing. Copies of this book are in the LBI Library: call number r 738; call number D 639 J4 R44 Copy 1
Processing Information
During processing of the archival collection, its papers were divided into two series by format of the documents. One folder in Series I was further divided by topic. Duplicate copies of papers in the collection were removed, as was a book in the collection.
- Clippings (information artifacts)
- Correspondence
- Diaries
- Emigration and immigration
- Financial records
- Jewish families
- Kartell-Convent der Verbindungen Deutscher Studenten Jüdischen Glaubens
- May, Jacob
- Official documents
- Oppenheimer family
- Oppenheimer, Leopold, 1889-1914
- Oppenheimer, Zacharias, 1861-
- Photographs
- Schriesheim (Germany)
- Students' societies -- Germany
- Weinberg family
- Weinberg, Bella, 1893-
- Weinberg, Hermann, 1893-
- World War, 1914-1918
- World War, 1914-1918 -- Russia
- Title
- Guide to the Papers of the Weinberg Oppenheimer Family 1899-1993 AR 25790
- Status
- Completed
- Author
- Processed by Dianne Ritchey
- Date
- © 2019
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
- Language of description note
- Description is in English.
- Edition statement
- This version was derived from Weinberg_Oppenheimer_Family
Repository Details
Part of the Leo Baeck Institute Repository
