Rudolf Kommer Collection

Series I, which constitutes the bulk of the collection, contains primarily letters (transcripts) by Rudolf Kommer to various people, including:

Cooper, Alfred Duff; Einstein, Albert; Galsworthy, John; Gest, Morris; Hofmannsthal, Hugo von; Kahn, Otto; Kaiser, Georg; Kerr, Alfred; Massary, Fritzi; Maurier, Daphne du; Mendelssohn, Eleonora; Pallenberg, Max; Polgar, Alfred; Reinhardt, Max; Snowden, Ethel; Thimig, Helene; Werfel, Franz; Woolcott, Alexander. A larger amount of letters is addressed to the actress and writer Diana Cooper, Viscountess of Norwich (1892-1986) (23 letters).

In these letters Kommer writes about performances of "The Miracle" and other theatre and film productions especially of director Max Reinhardt in Hollywood, New York, Vienna, London, and especially Salzburg, including the Salzburg festival (Salzburger Festspiele). Most of the letters refer to vaious plays and playwrights, actors, directors, theater critics, and other figures who were connected to the world of theater in Europe and the USA (e.g. Hugo von Hofmansthal, Alfred Kerr, and especially Max Reinhardt). In these letters Kommer writes among other things about his trips to Spain, Germany, Austria, Italy, and Greece and describes his career as journalist and upbringing in Chernivtsi.

The series also contains the transcript of a long letter by Max Reinhardt to Kommer from 1942 (15 pp.) reflecting on their cooperation.

Series II contains manuscripts by R. Kommer including poems and the typescript "Erzbischof Firmian, Max Reinhardt und Morris Gest. Aus den 'Mirakel' Tagen auf Schloss Leopoldskron" (9 pp.) recalling the cooperation with Max Reinhardt in Salzburg, and various clippings of theater reviews and other articles by Kommer and articles pertaining to him from 1908 to 1926.

Series III contains various materials (correspondence, clippings, photographs etc.) pertaining to R. Kommer and his collection, including correspondence between Salomon Adler-Rudel (LBI Jerusalem) and Rudolf Hirsch about letters of R. Kommer.