Beer-Meyerbeer Family Collection
Scope and Content Note
Much of the collection consists of photocopies and reproductions of documents, photographs, and artworks pertaining to various branches of the Beer-Meyerbeer family. These materials were largely assembled by Lee Francis Waller Chudson during the mid- to late-1960s, apparently in the course of a genealogical research project. The collection accordingly contains several family trees and histories going back as far as 1677. Another substantial portion of the collection consists of correspondence between Chudson and various repositories created in the course of this research, as well as correspondence between Chudson and contemporary descendendants of the Beer-Meyerbeer family. Some original materials are scattered throughout the collection, notably Giacomo Meyerbeer's birth certificate and photographs from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The largest series pertain to Giacomo Meyerbeer and to the Gustav Richter family.
Dates
- 1667-1996
Creator
- Beer family (Family)
- Meyerbeer family (Family)
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
The Beers were a prominent Jewish family in Berlin in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Jakob Herz Beer was a banker in Berlin and was married to Amalia Beer (1776-1854), a famous saloniere. The three sons:
Jakob Meyer Beer, better known as Giacomo Meyerbeer (1791-1864), was a composer, remembered mainly for his grand operas. In 1842 he became the director of the Berlin Opera.
Michael Beer (1800-1833) was a poet and playwright. Beer's plays were performed at the Berlin Hoftheater and in Vienna.
Wilhelm Beer (1797-1850) was an astronomer, best known for his research on the surface of the moon; he joined and later succeeded his father in the family banking house.
Extent
0.25 Linear Feet
Abstract
Much of the collection consists of photocopies and reproductions of documents, photographs, and artworks pertaining to various branches of the Beer-Meyerbeer family. The collection also contains several family trees and histories going back as far as 1677.
Other Finding Aid
A 12-page inventory is available in folder 0
Separated Material
Photographs removed to Photograph Collection.
Series XI (Richard-Rosenthal Family medals and decorations) removed to Art and Objects Collection.
On 2010 July 6, four coins(1667-1693) minted by Court Jew Jost Liebmann the Elder (1640-1702) for the Great Kurfürst of Berlin were removed to the Art and Objects Collection.
- Andrian-Werburg, Ferdinand, Freiherr von, 1835-1914
- Archival materials
- Barnett family
- Beer family
- Beer, Amalia, 1767-1854
- Beer, Jacob Herz, 1769-1825
- Beer, Michael, 1800-1833
- Beer, Wilhelm, 1797-1850
- Ephraim family
- Genealogical tables
- Genealogy
- Haber family
- Korff, Immanuel von
- Manuscripts (documents)
- Medals
- Meyerbeer family
- Meyerbeer, Giacomo, 1791-1864
- Moscheles
- Photographs
- Richter family
- Richter, Gustav, 1823-1884
- Richter, John Henry, 1919-
- Rosenthal family
- Sonnenfels family
- Waller family
- Title
- Guide to the Beer-Meyerbeer Family Collection, 1667-1996 AR 3185
- Status
- Completed
- Author
- Processed by Turnheim
- Date
- © 2009
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
- Language of description note
- Finding aid written in English.
Revision Statements
- December 09, 2011 : Links to digital objects added in Container List.
Repository Details
Part of the Leo Baeck Institute Repository
