Landau Family Collection

The Landau Family Collection holds documents pertaining to the restitution claims for the estate of Marianne Landau, including their property located at Pariser Platz 6a in Berlin. The correspondence in the collection details the efforts, sought out by the heirs of the Landau family, to receive compensation for a number of assets lost during the Nazi's reign and World War II. Also included are photographs, as well as legal, financial, and genealogical documents relating to specific members of the family.

The collection is arranged in two series and three subseries that closely reflect the original order of the materials designated by the donor. The first series demonstrates the Landau's attempts to receive restitution and to document family history. It contains correspondence from multiple members of the Landau family, along with individuals who were close to the family and likewise related to family matters. The folders of correspondence are complimented by the documents found in Subseries 2. There are financial records, estates, wills, and genealogical notes for a select number of individuals within the family. The photographs in Subseries 3 illustrate the pre- and postwar lives of the Landau family. They include photographs of the earliest members of the Landau family and the three succeeding generations of Johanna and Leopold Landau.

The second series holds documentation on the properties at Pariser Platz 6a and Philipstrasse 21, both owned by the Landau family in Berlin. The correspondence within this series records the decade-long struggle of Heinrich Wefelschied, Elizabeth Brody, and her sister, Beatrice Rago, to reclaim the ownership rights and appropriate restitution for the Pariser Platz building. The information shared between Elizabeth Brody and the assisting legal firms include restitution claims filed with the Foreign Claims Settlement Commission, petitions to prove succession rights, property appraisals, offers and negotiations from building developers, and the final sale of the property in 1995.

Many nicknames are used amongst the Landau family members that are found throughout the collection. In the letters to her daughters, son-in-law, and grandchildren, Marianne Landau signs as "Mutti." Charlotte Schoenberg (née Landau) goes by the nickname "Dolli." Isaac Schoenberg signs letters to his family as "Iso," and will sometimes refer to himself as "Dai" when writing to his daughter Elizabeth Brody. Dolli Schoenberg is not to be confused with Isaac's second wife, Charlotte van Der Hoop, who is called "Dolly." The childhood nickname "Toffee," given to Elizabeth Brody by her grandmother, Johanna Landau, also appears in the collection occasionally.