NEUMANN AND MENDEL BUSINESS AND FAMILY PAPERS, 1850-1984

This collection of family papers and business papers comprises several separate deposits, made some time after Luise Neumann's death in the 1980s. There is an additional deposit relating to the family at WL Doc Collection 1016.

This is a good example of a collection of business papers of an aryanised German Jewish company, containing a range of records one would expect to see in a business archive as well as documents referring specifically to the persecution of the owners on the grounds of race [1023/1/39 and 1023/1/13]. The collection also contains papers which document the experiences of the family as they were forced into exile in the late 1930s, including a considerable amount of correspondence, much of it written in a mixture of German and English, an indication of the Anglicanisation of the family, particularly Luise [1023/1/38]. The overwhelming majority of the material is written in German.

The several deposits have been arranged into those relating to the family (1023/1/1-41); those relating to the family business Neumann and Mendel (1023/2/1-17) and Ephemera and photographs (1023/3/1-3). Material has been arranged chronologically within each folder except where it was felt that disruption of the original order might destroy the historical context eg. the alphabetical filing system at 1023/2/15; or the size and format of the material precluded such an approach (1023/1/38).

<p>For a photograph of Ludwig Neumann after his release from Dachau see Wiener Library Photographic Collection.</p>

NB093;?

The Business

The industrial clothing company, Neumann and Mendel, was founded in early 1889 by Emil Neumann and Carl Mendel, the latter dying shortly afterwards, the former retaining sole ownership. At the beginning of the 1890s a sister company was founded at Rhendt which later moved to Mönchen Gladbach. In 1908 the Essen firm moved to new, larger premises in the same city. By 1914, the 25th Jubilee year, the company employed 1100 people. For an appreciation of the international extent of the business see the volume of contacts of distributors and agents at 1023/2/7. By 1929, the year of the 40th Jubilee, the firm employed about half as many [see 1023/2/11 for material re both Jubilee celebrations]. According to a Notarial Document, dated 30 November 1928, Ernst Hirschland is said to have left the business on 2 August 1911. It is not clear quite what the nature of the partnership was nor if Ernst Hirschland was a member of the famous Essen banking family.

After Emil Neumann's death in 1923, his son Ludwig became the sole owner. In addition to the core business papers such as reports, accounts, property papers and correspondence, there are also papers relating to the enforced sale including correspondence to, from and about Joseph Herbring, the new, non-Jewish owner in October 1938 [1023/2/13; 1023/2/15].

After the war Ludwig Neumann returned to Germany to reclaim what was rightfully his. The Essen branch of the firm along with most of Essen had been completely destroyed in the bombing during the war. He managed to secure a loan from his sister's frozen German bank account in order to re-establish the business in Germany in 1950. The business had fallen into difficulties and by 1949 was no longer functioning. Ludwig Neumann managed to obtain a work permit and remained for approximately 4 years in M.- Gladbach building up the company once more. Interestingly, in the third bundle of papers relating to Ludwig's time in Germany after the war there is a permit for a 'pistol for self-defence', dated 14 April 1951 [1023/1/37]. Whether this was obtained in response to a specific threat or as a general protection may be ascertained from the file of family correspondence [1023/1/38]. It is not clear what the fate of the company was after Ludwig's attempts to rejuvenate it. A letter dated September 1954, shortly after the death of his mother, Dina Neumann, states that they were trying to find a buyer for the machinery. It is probable therefore that the company was broken up and its assets sold off at about this time.

The Family

Emil Neumann, born in Hammerstein Provinz, West Prussia in 1861 and living in Essen at the time of his marriage in 1892, married Dina Stern from Felsberg, Hessen, born in 1868. Louis Stern, her brother also worked for the company. He died in 1932. Emil and Dina had 2 children, Ludwig (aka Lutz) born in 1896 and Luise (aka Liesel, aka Louise) born in 1893). Having served and been wounded during the First World War (for which he was decorated), he studied at the technical Institute for Textile Industries, Württemberg, 1919-1920, and became the sole owner of the company Neumann and Mendel and manager of the associated export firm of Schrey and Co. in 1923 after the death of his father. Luise worked as a nurse in the Friedrich Krupp Krankenhaus, Essen, throughout most of the war. In 1919 she married Richard Elkisch, a Jewish businessman born in Berlin. Hardly anything is known about the latter. Luise was forced to leave her Berlin flat, Kaiseralle 203, in 1938 [1023/1/39].

In 1938, having been forced to sell the company, Ludwig was interned in Dachau for a couple of months, and released on the understanding that he would leave the country immediately. On his arrival in Great Britain after a period of internment as an enemy alien, he held a number of posts as a production manager in the clothing industry before his return to Germany in 1950 to resume the management of the family business. There is a considerable amount of correspondence during this period between him and his sister. Luise and her mother came over at about the same time time and the family settled in Birkenhead where they remained. Dina died in 1954, Ludwig in 1970 and Luise in the 1980s. Since neither Ludwig nor Luise had any children the material is thought to have ended up with distant family members who deposited it at the Wiener Library.