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Margarete Berent Collection

 Collection
Identifier: AR 2861 / AR 2862 / MF 592

Scope and Content Note

Folder 1 also contains a list of the 90 some-odd members of the Deutscher Juristinnenverein, e.V. (Association for German Women Lawyers) in 1919, with names, position, and addresses. Berent served as treasurer.

Folder 2 “Writings” contains, among other pieces:

“Zivilprozessische Übungen” // 1913

Edition of "Die Frau der Gegenwart“ // 1917

"Vorschläge zur Abänderung des Familienrechts und verwandter Gebiete“ // 1921

"Die rechtliche Stellung des jüdischen Kindes“ // 1925

"Was koche ich am Sonntag: Erläuterungen zum Eherecht (for radio broadcast) // 1926

"Die Frau in der Rechtspflege“ // 1927

Edition of "Eisenacher Tagespost“ // 1927

Edition of „Nachrichtenblatt des Bundes Deutscher Frauenvereine“ // 1931

"Die Neugestaltung des Familienrechts“ // 1931

“Das Recht der Frau auf Mitarbeit in der Gemeinde” // undated

“Wie mache ich mein Testament” (for radio broadcast?) // undated

Folder 3, "Correspondence" contains letters from, among others, Dr. Fritz Rathenau, Dr. Alice Solomon, Martin Wolff, Josephine Levy-Rathenau, M. Scherk, Hanna Karminski, Leo Baeck, Maria Elisabeth Lueders, Elisabeth v. Harnack, Zentralwohlfahrtsstelle der deutschen Juden, Zentralinstitut für Erziehung und Unterricht, Akademie für soziale und pädagogische Frauenarbeit, Hans Bredow-Schule für Volkswirtschaft, Deutscher Juristinnen-Verein. Photographs are of Poppelauer, Levy-Rathenau, and Margarete Berent.

See Inventory List.

Dates

  • 1906-1965

Creator

Language of Materials

This collection is in German and English.

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

Margarete Berent was born in Berlin in 1887 and was to become the first female lawyer in Prussia. After schooling in Berlin, she studied law and received her doctorate magna cum laude in 1914, writing her dissertation on the “Die Zugewinngemeinschaft der Ehegatten” which became the basis for the reformation of the inheritance laws in Germany in 1958. Nevertheless, women were not allowed to take the bar or become lawyers until 1919. Once they were permitted, she quickly took the bar, passed, and established her own practice. In addition to her legal work she was very active in feminist circles and a member of numerous feminist associations and societies. In 1933 with the rise of the Nazis, she lost her right to practice law and after working for Jewish community organizations, eventually succeeded in emigrating first to Chile, then New York. In the new country she began studying law at NYU and after passing the NY State bar exam, began working as a lawyer again in 1950 at the age of 63. She died in 1965.

Extent

4 Folders

Abstract

Folder 1 also contains a list of the 90 some-odd members of the Deutscher Juristinnenverein, e.V. (Association for German Women Lawyers) in 1919, with names, position, and addresses. Berent served as treasurer.

Other Finding Aid

5-page inventory.

Bibliography

Photographs removed to Photograph Collection
Title
Guide to the Margarete Berent Collection, 1906-1965  AR 2861 / AR 2862 / MF 592
Status
Completed
Author
Processed by LBI Staff
Date
© 2014
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin
Language of description note
Finding aid written in English.

Repository Details

Part of the Leo Baeck Institute Repository

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