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Gunther Steinberg Collection

 Collection
Identifier: AR 25543

Scope and Content Note

The Gunther Steinberg Collection contains Steinberg's research and related documentation. Four folders hold family trees, including one folder of Steinberg family trees. The remainder of the collection consists of photocopies and some translations of memoirs, a mohel book, a diary, and family letters.

Erwin Adler's genealogical work in the first folder includes a lengthy narrative of family members in his direct ancestry, which provides information on family members and also discusses the emancipation and history of Jews in the locations where his family members resided. Genealogical material on the related Hallo and Rubensohn families consists of correspondence and research notes as well as two family trees, one oversized. The final folder of the collection, primarily consists of a lengthy family tree with index, and includes some correspondence in addition to the family tree. This tree was created by Ze'ev (William Samuel) Steinberg. It does not show Gunther Steinberg or his parents.

Much of the collection consists of translations or copies of family members' papers. Laura Falk's memoir, translated by Charles Regan, mentions various family members and branches of the family, among them the Falk family who lived near Hamburg, the Dux family of Hildesheim, the Ellrodt-Meyer family of Altenstein and Brunswick, and Wolf Dux and Henriette Ellrodt, who were the parents of Laura Falk. Henriette Ellrodt's childhood in Altenstein, Bavaria is also mentioned. These memoirs include an appendix with a list of family members, including biographical details of individuals. The translation of the mohel book of Isaak Kaufmann, originally of Blatzheim, Germany, provides biographical data on individuals from Blatzheim and the surrounding area from 1826-1858. The mohel book lists the son's name, father's name, family name, grandfather's name, date, the town, and any notes. The translation of the diary of Resi Regensburger, a cousin of Gunther Steinberg's mother Henriette Kohsen, provides information on her life. It describes her childhood, her schooling and education as a librarian, her work with Jewish organizations, her marriage and children, her immigration, and her later life in London. The photocopied Rowe letters, which are all handwritten, include a transcription of some letters in French.

One folder in the collection contains some material on the Jewish community in Bleicherode, Germany. This includes a booklet, "Dokumentation zur Geschichte der jüdischen Gemeinde von Bleicherode" (Documentation on the History of the Jewish Community of Bleicherode), which contains photocopies of newspaper clippings, official documents, and photographs of Jewish Bleicherode residents. A local newspaper article on the restored Alte Kanzlei building is also included in this folder. Accompanying these papers was a related DVD dated 2007 with a video of individuals visiting Bleicherode and attending a re-dedication of the Alte Kanzlei building in Bleicherode; this DVD has been removed to the LBI Audiovisual Collection. The building was significant to the Jewish history of the town, having been used from 1730-1882 as the town's first synagogue, and in 2007 held an exhibition on the 400 years of Jews in Bleicherode.

Dates

  • 1851-2010
  • Majority of material found within 1994-2010

Creator

Language of Materials

The collection is in English, German, Hebrew, and a small amount of French.

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

Gunther Steinberg was born in Cologne, Germany, the second son of Herbert Steinberg and Henriette (Hetty) Kohsen. When he was four, he moved with his mother and brother to Berlin, where he grew up and attended school. He left Germany for England in April 1938 and arrived in New York on August 1938. In 1940 the family moved to Los Angeles. During World War II he served in military intelligence and aerial photo interpretation. After the war he attended the University of California at Los Angeles, where he studied chemistry. He later worked for the Atomic Energy Project. He has conducted genealogical research on his family and written a manuscript (My Family and My Life, MS 821) that includes such research.

Extent

0.25 Linear Feet

Abstract

The Gunther Steinberg Collection contains Steinberg's research and related documentation. Four folders hold family trees, including one folder of Steinberg family trees. The remainder of the collection consists of photocopies and some translations of memoirs, a mohel book, a diary, and family letters. Most prominent among the many families mentioned in this collection are the following: Adler, Dux, Ellrodt, Falk, Hallo, Regensburger, Rowe, Rubensohn, and Steinberg.

Arrangement

The collection is arranged in one series.

Related Material

The LBI Archives include a manuscript by Gunther Steinberg, which contains further information on family members: My Family and My Life (MS 821) The Archives also hold a work by him on his mother's family: The Kohen/Kohsen family by generations 1746-2007 (MS 820).

The LBI Archives includes the Mohel Book: Blatzheim Collection (AR 2640), which has the original mohel book of Isaak Kaufmann.

Separated Material

A copy of the memoir The Hallos and Rubensohns: Three centuries of Jewish family life in Germany (ME 251) was removed to the LBI Memoir Collection.

Removed to the LBI Audiovisual Collection was a DVD with video of a visit to Bleicherode in Thuringia, including the dedication of the Alte Kanzlei building and associated events.

Title
Guide to the Papers of Gunther Steinberg 1851-2010 AR 25543
Status
Completed
Author
Processed by Dianne Ritchey
Date
© 2014
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin
Language of description note
Description is in English.
Edition statement
This version was derived from GuntherSteinberg.xml

Revision Statements

  • August 2014:: Links to digital objects added in Container List.

Repository Details

Part of the Leo Baeck Institute Repository

Contact:
15 West 16th Street
New York NY 10011 United States