Ludwig Misch Collection
Scope and Content Note
The Ludwig Misch Collection consists primarily of personal documents and articles regarding Jewish contributions to German culture. Most of the records are original papers. The bulk of the collection contains documents and correspondence regarding the struggle for survival under Hitler's regime.
Series I mainly contains autobiographical writings by Ludwig and Anni Misch regarding work-related restrictions of Jews. In addition, there are documents (such as notes from the superintendent, ration cards for food which were useless for Jews) which illustrate daily-life under Hitler's regime. Ludwig Misch's constant efforts to continue his career are documented in the correspondence that is to be found in Series II. The numerous essays, articles and reviews are results of his research in the field of music. These are included in Series III. Letters and testimonies from the Loewenthal and Perl families are compiled in Series IV.
Dates
- Creation: 1933-1967
- Creation: Majority of material found within 1930s-1940s
Creator
- Misch, Ludwig, 1887-1967 (Person)
Language of Materials
The collection is in German and English.
Access Restrictions
Open to researchers.
Access Information
Collection is digitized. Follow the links in the Container List to access the digitized materials.
Collection is microfilmed (MF 1084).
Readers may access the collection by visiting the Lillian Goldman Reading Room at the Center for Jewish History. We recommend reserving the collection in advance; please visit the LBI Online Catalog and click on the Reserve button.
Use Restrictions
There may be some restrictions on the use of the collection. For more information, contact:
Leo Baeck Institute, Center for Jewish History, 15 West 16th Street, New York, NY 10011
email: lbaeck@lbi.cjh.org
Biographical Note
Ludwig Misch was born in 1887 in Berlin. After graduating in musicology at the University of Berlin he continued his musical education at the Sternschen Konservatorium. In addition he received a doctorate in law in 1911. With his comprehensive academic training Ludwig Misch established himself as a music critic, conductor, teacher and an authority on Beethoven. With the Nazis' takeover in 1933 he was restricted in his public and creative work for being a Jew. In the first years of the 1930s Ludwig Misch founded his own a cappella choir, "Neue Madrigalvereinigung," later the "Juedische Madrigalvereinigung." They gave their first concert in 1934. In March 1943 he was forced to work for the Jewish library of the Reich Security Head Office.
Because of the fact that he was married to a Christian woman, Anni Brix, he was spared from deportation to a concentration camp and survived World War II. In 1947 he moved to New York City, where he continued working on writing about the life and work of Beethoven. He wrote 40 articles for several publications.
Ludwig Misch passed away 1967 in New York.
Extent
0.5 Linear Feet
Abstract
The Ludwig Misch Collection documents the musical career and life of the musicologist Ludwig Misch. Included in this collection are numerous essays and reviews about several composers, memoirs, personal correspondence and a small amount of family papers. Those documents give an impression of Ludwig Misch's varied activities in the field of music.
Arrangement
The collection is arranged in four series.
Other Finding Aid
An item-level inventory by Ilse Turnheim is available. Items in this inventory include numbers that refer to individual items of the collection.
Microfilm
Collection is available on 13 reels of microfilm (MF 1084).
Processing Information
The collection was arranged topically and alphabetically.. The original order has been slightly changed. The folders were separated by topic and a few were divided into specific folders. Now Series I is separated into two folders: one folder with mainly biographical writings and another one with general documents. A large amount of letters, containing correspondence between Ludwig Misch and his colleagues were added to Series II. Due to the major importance of his career as a musicologist Series III was divided into five folders. Each of them consists of different types of papers. The family folders have not been changed.
Subject
- Misch, Ludwig, 1887-1967 (Person)
- Misch, Anni (Person)
- Furtwängler, Wilhelm, 1886-1954 (Person)
- Unger, Max, 1883-1959 (Person)
- Walter, Bruno, 1876-1962 (Person)
- Lowenthal family (Family)
- Perl family (Family)
- Neue Madrigalvereinigung (Organization)
Genre / Form
Geographic
Occupation
Topical
- Title
- Guide to the Papers of Ludwig Misch (1887-1967) 1933-1967 AR 2073 / MF 1084
- Status
- Completed
- Author
- Processed by Ira Fiona Sebekow
- Date
- © 2010
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
- Language of description note
- Description is in English.
- Edition statement
- This version was derived from LudwigMisch.xml
Revision Statements
- September 2011:: Links to digital objects added in Container List.
Repository Details
Part of the Leo Baeck Institute Repository
