Fiedler Harding Letters

Letters to and from H.G. Fiedler and Charles Harding. Their correspondents include Joseph Chamberlain and Andrew Carnegie. The letters contain important material on the founding of the University of Birmingham, particularly the establishment of a school of Modern Languages

This collection forms part of the official archive of the University of Birmingham.

Open

Access to all registered researchers.

Permission to make any published use of any material from the collection must be sought in advance in writing from the University Archivist, Special Collections. Identification of copyright holders of unpublished material is often difficult. Special Collections will assist where possible with identifying copyright owners, but responsibility for ensuring copyright clearance rests with the user of the material.

This collection was deposited by 1969.

Hermann Georg Fiedler (1862-1945) was lecturer in German at Mason College, Birmingham (a predecessor college of the University of Birmingham), with a doctorate from Leipzig. He was instrumental in the setting up of University of Birmingham as a member of the initial committee of 9 set up in 1894 by Robert Heath the Principal of Mason College for the promotion of a Midland University, and was a member of subsequent committees devoted to expanding the activity of Mason College.

Charles Harding was a significant contributor to the Mason College fund designed to establish the University at Birmingham. His daughter married Hermann Georg Fiedler.

Reference: Eric Ives, The First Civic University: Birmingham 1880-1980 (University of Birmingham, 2000).