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Changes to opening hours in Leipzig

Friday, 4 April: Due to the events of the Night of Libraries, the reading rooms of the German National Library in Leipzig will close at 21:30.

News from the exile collections

Ausschnitt der illustrierten Titelseite des London Diary von Lili Cassel. Ein zeichnendes Mädchen sitzt zwischen Wolken vermutlich auf einem Sperrballon zur Abwehr von Luftangriffen. Die Illustrationen sind mit Tusche und Wasserfarben gemalt.

Questionnaires as a source for researching German-speaking exile – using Alfred Kantorowicz as an example

Excerpt of a letter from Alfred Kantorowicz to Hubertus Friedrich Prinz zu Löwenstein

“Never again will I fill out a questionnaire, no matter which institution it comes from – there comes a time when enough is enough,” wrote jurist, writer and literary scholar Alfred Kantorowicz to librarian and exile researcher Ernst Loewy in November 1975.

Fortunately, however, a lot of questionnaires were completed, also by Alfred Kantorowicz. Many of these remarkable documents are stored at the German National Library in the collection of the German Exile Archive 1933–1945. They offer unique insights into the lives and work of German speakers in exile. Hundreds of these questionnaires are stored in the archive of the German Academy in Exile / American Guild for German Cultural Freedom. They provide information about when and why the respondents fled into exile, their experiences in exile, how exile affected their creative output, politicisation in exile, networking and many other topics. Questionnaires stored in the archives of exile researchers, such as those in the estates of Ernst Loewy oder Wilhelm Sternfeld, also yield interesting insights. They show how the focus of exile research changed over time and how its key areas changed depending on the researcher’s nationality. They also shed light on how exile researchers constantly had to defend themselves against restrictions on the objects of their research.

In „Pässe, Reisekoffer und andere ‚Asservate‘. Archivalische Erinnerungen ans Leben“ (Sichtungen. Archiv – Bibliothek – Literaturwissenschaft, 18./19. Jahrgang, 2021) Sylvia Asmus, Director of the German Exile Archive 1933–1945, reported on this.

Pagination

Content

  1. Dr. Vincent C. Frank Steiner (1930–2025) – In memoriam
  2. Hans Günter Flieg (1923–2024) – in memoriam
  3. Dr. Ruth K. Westheimer (1928–2024) – in memoriam
  4. Guy Stern (1922–2023) – in memoriam
  5. Trude Simonsohn (1921-2022) – in memoriam
  6. “Child Emigration from Frankfurt am Main. Stories of rescue, loss and remembrance”
  7. Questionnaires as a source for researching German-speaking exile – using Alfred Kantorowicz as an example
  8. Professor Dr. John M. Spalek (1928-2021) in memoriam
  9. Lieselotte Maas (1937-2020) – In memoriam
  10. Ruth Klüger (1931-2020) – in memoriam
  11. "What should I cook?" Recipes from the German Exile Archive 1933-1945
  12. Hellmut Stern (1928-2020) - In memoriam
  13. Thomas Mann: German listeners! – listening station on the topic of exile outside our Frankfurt building
  14. Publication of exhibition catalogue “Exile. Experience and Testimony”
  15. Focusing on the topic of exile – the history magazine "Damals" ("Yesteryear") is published in collaboration with the German Exile Archive 1933–1945
  16. Dora Schindel (1915–2018) – In memoriam
  17. Werner Berthold (1921–2017) – In memoriam
  18. Rolf Kralovitz (1925 - 2015) – In memoriam
  19. Buddy Elias – In memoriam
  20. Arts in Exile – virtual exhibition and network
  21. Brigitte Kralovitz-Meckauer (1925–2014) – in memoriam
  22. Ludwig Werner Kahn - 100th birthday
  23. Goethe Medal and honorary membership of the Gesellschaft für Exilforschung e.V. awarded to Professor John M. Spalek
  24. "Nestor of German finance" - Fritz Neumark's 110th birthday
  25. Book donation for the German National Library
  26. "A prisoner of Stalin and Hitler" - 20 years since the death of Margarete Buber-Neumann
  27. The founder of futurology – the 100th birthday of Ossip K. Flechtheim
  28. On the death of lyricist Emma Kann
  29. Nestor of exile research 1933–1945 in the USA - the 80th birthday of Prof. Dr. John M. Spalek
  30. Pre-mortem legacy of politologist John G. Stoessinger in the German Exile Archive 1933-1945
  31. Lili Cassel Wronker: A London Diary, 1939-1940
  32. Chronicler of her century – 90th birthday of Anja Lundholm
  33. Reichsausbürgerungskartei
  34. Hans Gustav Güterbock
  35. Geneviève Pitot: The Mauritian-Shekel

Last changes: 11.03.2025

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