Elisabeth Lunau Collection

The Elisabeth Lunau Collection documents Elisabeth Lunau’s personal life and her research on her father, Ludwig Marum, a Minister in the Weimer Republic and a prominent figure in the Socialist movement; the collection also documents Elisabeth Lunau’s research on her family’s genealogy.

The collection consists of correspondence, vital-, immigration-, and financial documents, photographs, lists, genealogical tables, manuscripts, notes, and printed materials.

The bulk of the collection consists of correspondence, which can be found throughout the collection.

Personal correspondence includes letters from friends and family members, most notably from her husband, Heinz Lunau, her brother, Hans Marum, and her mother, Johanna Marum. There is also a substantial amount of correspondence between her parents, Johanna and Ludwig Marum. Most of the correspondence was generated between 1933 and 1934, during Ludwig Marum’s imprisonment.

Additionally, there is correspondence between Elisabeth Lunau and various refugee organization and government agencies, American and European, as part of her efforts to bring her family members to the US.

The bulk of the correspondence concerning Elisabeth Lunau’s genealogical research can be found in Subseries 2: Genealogy. Correspondence dealing with Elisabeth Lunau’s genealogical research constitutes a smaller portion of the materials concerning her family history. The bulk of the materials dealing with genealogy consist of vital documents, such as birth and death certificates, marriage certificates, manuscripts, notes, some printed materials, and genealogical tables.

Genealogical materials collected here are research files and include very few originals. With the exception of correspondence, notes, some genealogical tables and manuscripts, almost all the materials here are photocopies.

In addition to the research files dealing with genealogical research, there are also research files on Ludwig Marum and the Marum family which consists of printed materials, notes on the correspondence, and manuscripts by other authors, in particular by Monika Pohl. Other materials include research materials on the Jews from Karlsruher and Kirchheim, and materials on the Gurs Concentration Camp.

The bulk of these materials are photocopies with original materials constituting just a fraction of all the materials.

The collection also includes printed materials collected by Elisabeth Lunau. These materials include a collection of Ludwig Marum’s speeches at the Reichstag (parliament) published in parliament bulletins, and clippings about Ludwig Marum, Elisabeth and Heinz Lunau and other materials.

With the exception of correspondence, there are almost no personal materials of Elisabeth Lunau or other family members in the collection. Aside from the correspondence, some documents and notes, there are no original materials.