Cologne (Germany)

The collection mainly pertains to Abraham Liebmann and his son Wilhelm, as well as on Abraham's grandson Siegfried and his great-grandson Albert, including their wives. It contains various documents, poetry and a large amount of correspondence from the 19th century. Prominent topics are related to the education, professional and military careers, politics, and marital lives of the family members. Also included are two restitution cases.

This collection consists of a memory book and letters to Dr. Pinckus Wolf of the Talmud Thora in Cologne. In 1936, on the eve of his departure for Erez, Israel, his students of the Talmud Torah of Cologne offered this Sepher ha-Zichronoth or book of memories. As the introduction to the book explains, the Talmud Torah of Cologne was founded by Pinchas father, Rabbi Ze'ev Wolf. Each student offered a verse from the bible, which he or she signed. Accompanying this book is a folder of letters written to Dr. Wolf, after his emigration, while he was in Erez. The letters convey a sense that learning has continued among the students, however they miss him and mention deteriorating conditions in Cologne. One letter says "Die Torah bewahren wir in unserem Herzen. Da kann sie niemand zerstören. Das bleibt!" (The Torah lives in our hearts. Because nobody can destroy it. That remains!).

The collection contains material created by and pertaining to Bruno Hirsch.

This collection contains a broad range of materials offering insights into the Jewish community of Cologne throughout the 19th and 20th century. Included are a few original documents from 1880 to the 1930s, photocopies of various community and legal documents, as well as brochures and booklets pertaining to Cologne community and welfare organizations.

Various archival materials from archives in Hesse, Nuremberg, Trier, Oldenburg, Regensburg, Maarburg, Mecklenburg, Frankfurt, Cologne, and Luebeck, pertaining mainly to the history of conversion and assimilation of Jews in Germany. The materials were collected by Deborah Hertz for her research on the book “How Jews Became Germans”.

This collection comprises deportation lists from several German cities to Riga.

Berta Emilie Kuckertz, née Frank was born in Germany, the daughter of a Jewish father. The family lived in Cologne, where they survived the Nazi regime and World War II.

The Erich Jacobs collection contains documents and correspondence, as well as genealogical tables of both the Jacobs and Neumann families. There are several documents regarding emigration attempts, as well as receipts, passport and naturalization forms, registrations to various organizations, and certificates. Much of the collection includes facsimiles of the original records with translations attached.

This collection holds personal and official documents, correspondence, genealogical information, biographical manuscripts and photographs related to the Feith, Lyon and Katz families. Most of the documents pertain to Erna Bonette, Fred Gustav and their son Henry Arthur Katz. The collection focuses on their lives in Germany and the United States as well as their emigration via Luxemburg and Portugal. It also holds materials pertaining to members of the extended Katz and Lyon families and their ancestors, including the Feith family. Also included is material about a Mikveh from the 15th century in Siegburg, Germany.

This collection documents the life of the violinist Ernest Drucker, with a larger focus on his professional work in various orchestras and ensembles. The bulk of the collection consists of a large body of correspondence of friends and colleagues, most of them other musicians. Other papers in the collection include official documents, newspaper clippings of reviews and concert announcements, programs for performances, a few copies of photographs and some sketches.

This collection documents the history of the Weiss family with a focus on Gerald Weiss’ parents Jacob and Selma Weiss née Falk and their siblings. Jacob (alternatively Köbes) Weiss (1883-1965) was born the second of nine children to the cattle dealer Albert Weiss and his wife Mathilde Amalie née Michel. As a young man, he lived in Cologne and started a bed linen manufacturing business, S & J Weiss, with his brother Siegmund. As the situation for Jews in Germany worsened in the 1930s, he and Siegmund smuggled money from the business to banks in Holland to aid in the Weiss family’s emigration. Jacob Weiss emigrated with his wife and children in 1939 and settled in New York. This collection contains family trees, family correspondence, translations of family correspondence, vital records, immigration and naturalization records, correspondence and legal documents concerning restitution claims, correspondence and legal documents concerning the estate of Hermann and Carolina Michel née Frank, and correspondence and photographs concerning family gravesites and the restoration of a Jewish cemetery.

The collection contains autograph letters collected by Gertrude Lobbenberg, including letters written and signed by Berthold Auerbach, Béla Bartók, Ludwig Börne, Georg Morris Cohen Brandes, Heinrich Heine, Julius Korngold, Ferdinand Lasalle, Max Liebermann, Rosa Luxemburg, Arthur Schnitzler, and Stefan Zweig.

Documents pertaining to Gisela Bloch and her ancestors, consisting of an 18th century travel journal, two friendship books, diaries, and some official records.

This collection contains official documents, vital records, family trees, correspondence, original and photocopied photographs, ephemera, historical documentation and family papers pertaining to the Goldschmidt-Stierstadt Family of Witzenhausen.

The Gruen-Gruenebaum Family Collection documents the experiences of family members during the 1930s and 1940s as well as provides some information on the community of Altenkirchen, Germany. The bulk of the collection consists of personal correspondence sent to Walter Gruen (previously Grünebaum). Other material consists of drafts of essays on genealogy and official documents of family members.

This collection contains the personal papers of Hannah Noether relating to her love of chamber music and her support of young musicians. Included are the files created by Hannah Noether and Lilli Bernstein while organizing chamber music concerts for the Larchmont Chamber Music Circle in Larchmont, NY and other gatherings.

Financial, business, and personal papers of the Eltzbacher family and related families, including correspondence, architectural plans, financial ledgers, wills and testaments, clippings, and eulogies; of particular interest is the business correspondence of Count Aloys zu Kaunitz-Rietberg with the banker Jacob Loeb Eltzbacher (1758-1825), who was based in Neuenkirchen, Westphalia, along with supporting documents and records; material on the career of the lawyer Carl Eltzbacher (1854-1936), including clippings on his candidacy to the Cologne city council in 1903 and correspondence, including a letter from Konrad Adenauer.

This collection holds materials relating to the life of Hedwig Strauss, a Jewish woman who perished during the Shoah. Although it is primarily composed of letters and postcards to her son Walter dealing with her life in Germany between 1939 to 1941 and her attempts to escape, it also includes further correspondence with and between family members as well as personal and official documents on Hedwig Strauss and her son Walter.

The collection mainly consists of Herbert Jonas' and his family members' private correspondence and personal documents. There are also some writings, photographs and a collection of newspaper clippings.

The Herz-Aschaffenburg Family Collection holds the personal and professional papers of members of the Herz and Aschaffenburg families, as well as related families. Most prominent among the individuals featured here are John (Hans) Herz and Gustav Aschaffenburg. In addition to the papers of family members, this collection holds material on genealogy and the family history. Included in this collection are family correspondence along with a smaller amount of professional correspondence, professional and official papers, family trees and related correspondence, published and unpublished writings, World War I diaries, and a few clippings.

This collection contains research assembled by Shulamit Magnus and consists entirely of photocopies of nineteenth century Prussian documents. Included are copies of address books for the city of Cologne as well as copies of transcriptions of Prussian government documents relating to Jews, including statistics of Jewish populations, government reports and official governmental correspondence.

This collection documents the professional and personal lives of John (Hans) and Trude Schiff, with emphasis on John Schiff's career as a professional photographer. Although the greater part of the collection focuses on his photography, the collection additionally holds papers pertaining to the Schiffs' immigration, legal and financial papers pertaining to restitution from Germany, documentation of Trude Schiff's early medical career, and personal correspondence and photographs. Aside from the preponderance of photographs, the collection holds letters, address books, exhibit catalogs, and official documents, and a few clippings.

This collection documents the life and work of the law librarian Kate Wallach. Contained in this collection are papers relating to her personal life, mainly her correspondence between her and her parents and her brother when she was already in the United States, as well as official documents and professional correspondence between her as a law librarian and members of other academic libraries. Kate Wallach was among the first 150 women to practice law in the state of Wisconsin.

The collection contains materials relating to Kurt Goldsmith, a New York-based photographer, and his wife Grete née Lendt. Kurt and his family escaped Nazi Germany to ultimately settle in New York City. The materials trace the journey that they and their family took to seek asylum in the United States. The collection is made up of personal documents, correspondence, photographs, and other archival materials.

The Lee Sommer Collection primarily consists of photographic material of the Lee Sommer family. In addition it contains a small amount of family correspondence, memorial albums, and articles about Hermann Schuelein.

The collection contains documents relating to Leo Blau's childhood and school days in Cologne including report cards and drivers licenses. There is also his journal from 1933 and a book of poems, also dated 1933. A thesis manuscript by Tatjana Lehmann which includes documents and information about Blau is in folder 3. Folders 4 and 5 contain correspondence from and to Blau regarding his suit to receive social security from Germany and his request to the Cologne mayor's office to be a participant in the official visitors program.

The Marianne Steinberg Ostrand Collection documents the education, emigration, and early professional life of the physician Marianne Steinberg Ostrand as well as the lives of members of her family, especially her husband, engineer Arnold Ostrand, and her mother and siblings, with much documentation of the emigration or attempted emigration from Germany of her family members. About half the collection is correspondence. In addition it contains many educational certificates, official documents, diaries, notebooks, notes, and a friendship album, travel memorabilia, and newspaper clippings and articles.

Two original German manuscripts and their English translations, describing the author’s escape from Nazi Germany (written in 1942) and her subsequent life underground (written in the 1960s).

This collection contains the correspondence of Paul A. Mayer. Most of it consists of correspondence with family members. Primary topics of the collection are the attempts of Ernst and Lisbeth Mayer to emigrate from Germany, Paul and Margaret Mayer's correspondence from their time in England, and Paul Mayer's correspondence to Margaret during his service in the United States Army in World War II.

The Robert Lowy Family Collection details the immigration of the Lowy family to the United States via Belgium. It also features the restitution of the family for its losses and the education of Robert (Ralph) Lowy. Many family members are remembered through the collection's numerous photographs. Aside from photographs and photo albums, the collection includes much correspondence, official documentation, notes and notebooks and some educational certificates of Robert Lowy.