Julian Spiegel Family Collection
Scope and Content Note
The Julian Spiegel Family Collection predominantly consists of family correspondence and documents. Also included are papers about the professional life of engineer Julian Spiegel, restitution for the family losses under Nazi Germany, the family's emigration and genealogy. The collection contains photocopies of personal, legal and official correspondence, official documents such as birth, marriage and death certificates, educational and professional papers and various other personal papers.
Series I consists of the family's correspondence, especially personal letters to and from Julian and Kaethe Spiegel with family news and greetings and including letters regarding their emigration to the United States. Some legal correspondence about restitution and financial matters is also present.
The second series holds the family's papers, including documentation of Julian Spiegel's education as a mechanical engineer in Berlin and references from employers in Germany and the United States. In this series are also family trees that show the relationships between the Spiegel, Placzek, Ohlmann and other families. Another folder contains an assortment of family documents for members of all these families, including biographical dates for many family members.
Users of the collection should note that it consists entirely of photocopies.
Dates
- 1883-1961
Creator
- Franklin, Karen Spiegel, 1954- (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 LBI Online Catalog and click on the "Reserve" button.
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 or Historical here] Note
Julian Spiegel was born in Bradford, England in 1883 to the German Jewish merchant Felix Spiegel and his wife Sophie Spiegel (née Ohlmann). The Spiegels returned to Germany before 1893. In 1907 Julius Spiegel received his degree in engineering from the Königliche Technische Hochschule zu Berlin. He worked for various firms in Germany and specialized in automotive and aeronautical engineering, especially with their construction as well as the construction of combustion engines; among his employers was the company Rumpler-Werke. In 1919 he married Kaethe Placzek; they had one child, Walter, born in 1922.
In 1931 the family immigrated to the United States, with Julian arriving first and Kaethe and Walter following in May 1931. Julian first found a position with Fokker Aircraft Corporation before the family moved to Philadelphia. Julian Spiegel died in 1963.
Extent
0.25 Linear Feet
Abstract
This collection contains the family correspondence and papers of the engineer Julian Spiegel. About half the collection consists of copies of the family's letters to Julian and Kaethe Spiegel. In addition the collection includes copies of legal and official correspondence, official documents, family trees, educational and professional papers and various other personal papers.
Arrangement
The collection is arranged in two series:
Other Finding Aid
A 2-page earlier inventory lists each folder in the collection.
Digitization Note
The collection was digitized and made accessible in its entirety.
Processing Information
The collection was first processed by Alan Divack on October 12, 1983, when an inventory was created.
The collection was reprocessed in November 2013 in preparation of the online finding aid. At this time, folders were organized into series and given shorter titles.
- Correspondence
- Essays
- Genealogical tables
- Jewish families
- Jews -- Genealogy
- Mechanical engineers
- Official documents
- Photocopies
- Placzek family
- Placzek, Hermann, 1857-1947
- Restitution -- Germany
- Spiegel family
- Spiegel, Julian, 1884-1963
- Spiegel, Kaethe
- Spiegel, Sophie, 1860-1949
- United States -- Emigration and immigration
- Title
- Guide to the Papers of the Julian Spiegel Family 1883-1961 AR 7235
- Status
- Completed
- Author
- Processed by Dianne Ritchey and LBI Staff
- Date
- © 2013
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
- Language of description note
- Description is in English.
- Sponsor
- Digitization made possible by the Conference on Jewish Material Claims against Germany.
Revision Statements
- April 2015: dao links and digitization information added by Leanora Lange.
Repository Details
Part of the Leo Baeck Institute Repository
