Leo Baeck Institute works to preserve and promote the history and culture of German-speaking Jews.
Aufbau
Lives in Limbo: Jewish Refugees in Portugal, 1940–1945
Refuge in the Heights: The German Jews of Washington Heights
Help LBI keep the past present with a financial donation or by contributing historical materials.
LBI has digitized the entire series of Aufbau, the leading journal for German-speaking Jews worldwide, founded in 1934 by the German-Jewish Club in New York and published until 2004. View Collection
Works by Eduard Magnes, Max Liebermann, and other artists in the LBI’s art storage facility at the Center for Jewish History in New York. Photo by Jon Pack. View Collection
LBI presents the year 1938 through the eyes of Jews, whose personal documents detail their experiences and the hardships they suffered as well as the diminishing hope for Jews in Germany and Austria. View Project
LBI collections grew out of our founders’ effort to salvage the material and intellectual culture of German-speaking Jews that was nearly lost in the Holocaust. Today, these collections are an essential resource for scholars, genealogists, families, educators, students, and the public. Browse highlights of the collections below, or see our research and reference guidelines for information on using LBI’s collections online or in the Center for Jewish History.
The Leo Baeck Institute is continually collecting new archival materials related to the history of German-speaking Jews.
The Leo Baeck Institute often adds to its collection new art pieces and objects that refer to German-speaking Jewish history and culture. On this website you will find a selection …
The LBI Library collects publications related to the history and culture of German-speaking Jews as outlined in its Collection Development Policy . A rotating selection of recent highlights from among …
LBI's collection of newspapers and magazines includes 1,600 titles ranging from Enlightenment-era pamphlets to congregation bulletins to papers published by German-Jewish exiles in the 20th century.
LBI has digitized the entire series of “Aufbau”, the leading journal for German-speaking Jews worldwide, founded in 1934 by the German-Jewish Club in New York and published until 2004.
The Leo Baeck Institute’s extensive periodicals collection was an integral part of LBI’s original collection and was built up from scratch by the Institute's founders in the post-war era. The …
In 2011, the Library began a project to digitize the Library's periodical collection in order to increase access while at the same time preserving the original volumes—over 300 are now online.
The LBI's rare book collection consists of ca. 3,000 volumes primarily in the field of German Judaica, dating from the earliest period of printing in the 15th century through the Third Reich.
This collection of more than 300 books, book covers, and individual graphic designs shows the scope and development of the eclectic design talent of George Salter. George Salter is recognized …
A collection focused on the famous Renaissance controversy between the Christian Hebraist Johannes Reuchlin and the anti-Jewish agitator Johannes Pfefferkorn.
The LBI Archives contain over 25,000 photographs ranging from family snapshots to the estates of professional photographers to albums assembled by Jewish communal institutions.
The Austrian Heritage Collection documents the history of Austrian-Jewish émigrés who fled to the US during the Nazi years through oral history interviews and collection of archival materials.
LBI presents the year 1938 through the eyes of Jews, whose personal documents detail their experiences and the hardships they suffered as well as the growing tensions in Europe.
DigiBaeck is your gateway to LBI's digital collections, a growing treasury of artifacts that document the rich heritage of German-speaking Jewry in the modern era.
The Edythe Griffinger Art Catalog provides online access to over 1,200 items in LBI's Art and Objects Collection, with more added continually.
This survey of the materials related to Jewish life in the collections of the Romanian National Archive repositories has resulted in an online catalog.
A new website highlights the stories of German-Jewish musicians, conductors, and composers based on items in the LBI’s art, archival, and library collections.
A curated selection of additional documents and links related to the Kindertransport to complement LBI and Yeshiva University Museum's exhibition.
The LBI works with other libraries and consortia to integrate our collections into their search portals so that they are discoverable in context with other similar materials.
In addition to books and archival collections devoted to music and musicians, LBI has a small collection of recorded music.
Please find books, portraits, photographs and archival materials by or about Nobel laureates from the LBI Library, its Archives and its Art and Objects Collection. True to the Leo Baeck …
The LBI archives preserve over 2,000 memoirs, 25,000 photographs, and millions of pages of correspondence, genealogical materials, and business and civil records that touch upon virtually every aspect of the German-Jewish experience. Entrusted to LBI by refugees from Nazi-occupied Europe and their descendants, these papers document the lives and work of luminaries such as Albert Einstein and Joseph Roth as well as ordinary people from all walks of life since the 18th century.
Many archival collections are described in Finding Aids that include their scope and a historical or biographical note, as well as their size, date range, subject coverage, and arrangement.
LBI’s 80,000-volume library is internationally recognized as the world’s foremost collection focused on the history of German-speaking Jews. Rich in rarities including early Renaissance-era pamphlets, first editions of works by Moses Mendelssohn, Heinrich Heine, and Franz Kafka, and limited edition art books, the Library also collects the latest scholarship in the field. A comprehensive collection of periodicals encompasses publications ranging from congregation bulletins to the major émigré paper, Aufbau.
Library Collection Development Policy
From engravings depicting Jewish life in German lands in the 16th century to abstract works by German-Jewish émigrés in the second half of the 20th century, the works in the art collection complement the archival and library collections as a visual record of German-Jewish history. Among the thousands of paintings, sculptures, watercolors, drawings, and prints are many fine works of great artistic and historical significance. More importantly, the art collection in its totality forms an unparalleled documentation of the material culture of German-speaking Jewry.
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