Guide to the Papers of the Mosse Family,
1676-2001 (bulk 1828-1982)
AR 25184

Subgroup I: Personal papers, 1676-2001.

Arrangement:

Arranged in alphabetical order by the name of the family member. The members of the Mosse family precede those from the Lachmann-Mosse family .

Scope and Content:

These documents came to the Leo Baeck Institute Archives at various ways in different times, usually as addenda. Sometimes the provenance of these documents is not well documented. In general, the papers of the individual family members provide researchers with often intimate views into the life of a Jewish family, even if the Mosse family was not typical of other German Jewish families. The destinies of various members of the family, who became entrepreneurs, lawyers, and scholars demonstrate well professional alleys many Jews in Germany took moving up on the social ladder during the economic and cultural boom after 1871.

Series 1 contains personal items, correspondence, newspaper clippings, and several images of Albert Mosse. Most documents relate to his appointment as a legal expert to the Japanese government in the years 1886-1890. His letters offer a unique perspective into the functioning of Japanese society on the brink of the 20th century as seen through the eyes of a German legal expert. They also disclose the personal and professional character of Albert Mosse.

Series 2 documents the life of Marcus Mosse. Researchers can find material related to his studies, his medical practice, and also to his political involvement in 1848 here. Next to the personal documents, and an extensive correspondence to Marcus Mosse's children, the series includes a shorter essay on the Jewish question and several reports. Given the later prominence of the many offspring of Marcus and Ulrike Mosse, his correspondence to his children can serve as a great source for understanding the educational and cultural background for the research of the family ascent up the social ladder of Imperial Germany.

Series 3 conveys the entrepreneurial achievements and charitable activities of Rudolf Mosse, the founder and owner of the Berliner Tageblatt. The series includes material related to the Emilie – und Rudolf Mosse Stiftung and the hospital in Grätz, some documents acknowledging the significance and contributions of Rudolf Mosse, and correspondence.

The property of the family of Rudolf Mosse was seized by the Nazis soon after their take-over. The family left Germany almost immediately. The correspondence of Rudolf Mosse's daughter Felicia Lachmann-Mosse reflects some aspects of emigré life, but mainly material in series 4 relates to the restitution of the family property in Germany during the 1950s, and her own estate.

Series 5 contains the papers of Hans Lachmann-Mosse, son-in-law of Rudolf Mosse and husband of his only daughter Felicia. Next to the correspondence, it contains several personal items, including souvenirs and memorabilia of Hans Lachmann and Felicia Mosse's wedding, and newspaper clippings. Several items related to the history of the Lachmann family can also be found here.

Series 6: Personal items and correspondence of Hilde L. Mosse documents her avid interest in social and contemporary political issues. She actively participated in the Jugendgemeinschaft der Jüdischen Reformgemeinde (Youth group of the Reform Jewish Community) in Berlin and this series holds several items related to the Berlin Jewish community and the broader Liberal and Reform streams within European Judaism.

Her correspondence reflects the upheavals on the European continent. It mirrors the life of a young medical student in Switzerland concerned about the development in Europe, the transition in emigration, and difficulty reconnecting with former friends in post-war Germany. Hilde Lachmann Mosse's letters also attest to her deep concern about the political developments in Europe, in the United States, and in civil and human rights.

Series 7 contains documents relevant to the family as a whole as well as various family histories of family members whose papers are scarce or unsubstantial. The papers of Martha Mosse can be of interest to researchers, since they contain personal accounts of her behavior in the concentration camp Terezín/Teresienstadt. Her correspondence also reflects the uneasy integration into post-war German society.

Series 1: Mosse, Albert,  1866-1997.

Arrangement:

Arranged by topic.

Scope and Content:

This series contains personal items, correspondence, newspaper clippings, and several images of Albert Mosse. Most of the material relates to his function as a consultant of the Japanese government implementing legal reform in Japan, but his political and religious involvement is also documented here.

There are two groups of correspondence in this series. One is related to Albert Mosse's stay in Japan and one contains letters to his daughter Dora Panofsky. The letters of Albert Mosse to his wife, parents, and siblings illustrate the personal and professional character of Albert Mosse's activities in Japan. The original letters are bound in two volumes. One holds correspondence to Albert Mosse's wife Caroline and the other letters to his parents, brothers, and sisters. The series also includes typed transcripts of the correspondence.

The other set of letters are addressed to Dora and Erwin Panofsky and are written by Albert Mosse and Caroline Mosse. These letters span from the end of the First World War until the death of Albert Mosse in 1926, and the letters from Caroline Mosse one year later, until 1927.

The subseries pertaining to Albert Mosse's activity in Japan gathers several original documents, the Order of the Rising Sun, and several publications reflecting his work in Japan.

Subseries A: Personal,  1866-1926.

Arrangement:

The material arranged alphabetically by the folder title.

Scope and Content:

This subseries contains several personal items of Albert Mosse which shed light on his political and professional activities. Besides some biographical notes, condolence and congratulatory letters, the series also includes a list of candidates of the Liberal party seeking election into the representative body of the Berlin Jewish community.

Albert Mosse also received an honorary citizenship from the city of Ortelsburg (then East Prussia, Germany; now Szczytno, Poland), which was badly damaged by the Russian army during the First World War. As a way to help Ortelsburg and other similarly affected settlements recover, a network of patron cities (Pathenstadt) was created that tried to facilitate rebuilding of the areas. Albert Mosse was one of the Berlin City Council members and became deputy president of the Kriegshilfsverein Berlin für den Kreis Ortelsburg (Ortelsburg War Relief Association). As an acknowledgment of Alfred Mosse's effort on behalf of the region he was named an honorary citizen.

Subseries B: Correspondence,  1870-1926.

Arrangement:

This subseries is arranged alphabetically by name of the correspondent.

Scope and Content:

The correspondence of Albert Mosse provides an excellent source of information about his and his family's experiences in Japan, especially the letters to Albert Mosse's parents and siblings. The subseries also contains letters from Albert Mosse and Caroline Mosse to their daughter Dora, who married art historian Erwin Panofsky, and several letters to the widow Caroline Mosse and son Walter from the officials of the Tokyo Institute for Municipal Research.

The letters from Japan both to Albert Mosse's wife Caroline and his parents are bound. The other correspondence is on loose leaves.

Subseries C: Japan,  1870-1926.

Arrangement:

Arranged alphabetically by folder title.

Scope and Content:

This subseries holds material that reflects the work of Albert Mosse in Japan. It contains a copy of the Law on Organization of the City and Town Administration (Local Self-Government law, Gesetz über Organization der Verwaltung von Städten und Dörfen) that was authored by Albert Mosse, and his memorandum to the Japanese ambassador on the commercial pact between Germany and Japan. In 1938 the fifty year anniversary of the Local Self-Government Law was celebrated and resulted in several articles in the professional as well as the regular daily press. The articles and newspaper clippings from the Journal of the Tokyo Institute for Municipal Research and Tokyo Asahi Shimbun can be found here.

The success of Albert Mosse's activity can be proven by the Order of Rising Sun which he was awarded, as well as by several extensions of his contract that are part of this subseries as well. Eventually several books on the topic of the modernization of legislature in Japan, mentioning the role of Albert Mosse, appeared. Researchers can see the reviews of some of them here, together with several articles by a historian of the Meiji period, Yukichi Sakai.

Series 2: Mosse, Marcus,  1828-1976.

Arrangement:

Arranged by topic.

Scope and Content:

The personal items and documents of Marcus Mosse related to his studies, his medical work and practice, and his political activities in 1848 are part of this series. It also contains a short essay on the Jewish question.

Given the later prominence of the many offspring of Marcus and Ulrike Mosse, his correspondence to his children can serve as an excellent source for research on a Jewish family household and the study of upwards mobility of the Jews in Prussia and the German Empire.

The letters are usually handwritten. The series also contains typed transcripts, not only of the correspondence, but also the essay on the Jewish question. Several letters are also translated. The series includes correspondence between several relatives of Marcus Mosse who took it upon themselves to prepar a transcription of his original letters.

Subseries A: Personal,  1828-1865, 1909, 1976.

Arrangement:

Arranged alphabetically by folder title.

Scope and Content:

The personal items and documents of Marcus Mosse can be found in this subseries. The subseries documents his education well. It contains his leaving exam certificate from the grammar school (Gymnasium) in Luckau, Lower Lusatia, and circa twenty loose leaves from an autograph book with quotations and poems in Latin, Greek, and German. They are mostly dated Luckau 1828, but also contain entries from Berlin, Calau, and Cottbus from later years.

Marcus Mosse's career as a physician is evinced by his medical licenses (Approbation), his dissertation De transpirationis et sudoris dignitate, the degree of Doctor medicinae et chirurgiae he received, his commission as a municipal physician, and several shorter reports Marcus Mosse wrote in his professional capacity.

Marcus Mosse's engagement during the revolutionary years 1848/1849 is proven by the freeze on his mortgage and his account of the criminal investigation against him. The series also contains a family tree chart, a naturalization patent, and two biographical articles, though one of them is purely anecdotal and has only loose a connection to the personality of Marcus Mosse. The short essay on the Jewish question Zur jüdishen Frage can also be found here.

Subseries B: Correspondence,  1830-1865, 1965-1966.

Arrangement:

Arranged alphabetically by last name of the recipiant.

Scope and Content:

This subseries contains letters written by Marcus Mosse mainly to his children. While most of the letters are handwritten those written to Rudolf Mosse are typed. The extensive correspondence to Carl Litthauer and his daughter Therese provides a good insight into the everyday life of Marcus Mosse as a country physician, including his practice and events in the family. The letters to unidentified family members contain letters by Marcus Mosse where the addressees are not disclosed. The letter to Marcus Mosse's mother I. Fuchs was copied by Simon Fuchs.

Most of the letters were transcribed and typed in several copies. The final steps of the transcription process are hinted at the letters of Eva Noack-Mosse, Martha Mosse, Käthe Olschki, and Walter Mosse, all part of this subseries.

Series 3: Mosse, Rudolf,  1860-1977.

Arrangement:

Arranged alphabetically by folder title.

Scope and Content:

This series contains several documents related to Rudolf Mosse and to his entrepreneurial achievements, out of which the Berliner Tageblatt is the most prominent. The series also documents several of his philanthropic activities, for instance donations to the University of Heidelberg, the children's home "Emilie–und Rudolf Mosse Stiftung", and the hospital in Grätz (then Germany, now Grodzisk Wielkopolski). Rudolf Mosse's deeds were publicly acknowledged and several streets and squares named after him, including one in Berlin. During the Nazi-period all these places were renamed, but in the 1950s this was corrected. The other group of materials deals with the commemoration of Rudolf Mosse's life and activities after his death, in obituaries in newspapers and memorial speeches by Julius Jelski of the Jüdisches Reformgemeinde in Berlin. Finally, the series includes several letters, some of them from members of the broader Mosse family, addressed to George L. Mosse from various scholars or researchers interested in the life of Rudolf Mosse.

Series 4: Lachmann-Mosse, Felicia,  1890-1980.

Arrangement:

Arranged alphabetically by folder title.

Scope and Content:

Most of the material in the series of Felicia Lachmann-Mosse pertains to the restitution of the family property in Germany in the 1950s and the inheritance process after her death on February 13, 1972. The inheritance process involved correspondence with family lawyers and bankers. Part of this series is also a report written probably by Hilde Lachmann-Mosse that throws some light on the life of the family Lachmann-Mosse before the Second World War and its further destiny during emigration. This report together with medical and psychological opinions was part of the restitution efforts of the family. Apart from her legal correspondence, mostly with her lawyer Leonard Leighton and her children, there are several letters from her friends and an album with letters and short poems written by Alfred Traeger.

Series 5: Lachmann-Mosse, Hans,  1676, 1802, 1892-1949.

Arrangement:

Arranged by folder title.

Scope and Content:

This series contains the papers of Hans Lachmann-Mosse. In addition to the correspondence, it contains several personal items, and newspaper clippings that usually present him as an heir to the great publishing enterprise out of which he was ousted by the Nazi-regime. The series contains two merits from the Red Cross and Red Crescent, respectively. There is a short article on the history of the Lachmann family, but this account is rather anecdotal and far from comprehensive. There is a copy of the marriage certificate of his second marriage in this series, along with the illustrated wedding chronicle of the wedding of Hans Lachmann and Felicia Mosse in 1909 and also of Hans Lachmann's sister Olga Lachmann and Herbert Gingsburg (later Gilbert) in 1910. While the former one attempted to emulate the daily the Berliner Tageblatt, the latter mimicked its satirical supplement ULK.

The collection also contains several letters to Hans Lachmann that terminate club memberships due to the Nuremberg laws, i.e Deutsche Orient-Gesellschaft and Gesellschaft für Ostasiatische Kunst. An album with illustrated postcards of various German towns dated 1892 through 1900 that are mostly addressed to Hans Lachmann can also be found in this series. There is correspondence with the representative of the Liberal Jewish Synagogue in London, Israel Mattuk, whose advice Hans Lachmann-Mosse sought in finding an appropriate educational institution for his son George (Gerhard). Hans Lachmann-Mosse was also active in the Jüdische Reformgemeinde Berlin. An image of the arrival of the wedding guests to his and Felicia Mosse's wedding is in the oversized box.

A folder with the concert program of Yvette Guilbert belongs to the collection, but its relation to any member of the family is not clear. The same can be said of the marital contract between Johann Philipp Strack and Barbara Längfelder(?) of 1676, a letter by Ludwig Lorie (?) from 1802, and a sonatina authored by Hedda Wagner. These items came with the collection and were mentioned as such in the correspondence of the heir George L. Mosse and the secretary of the Leo Back Institute.

Series 6: Lachmann-Mosse, Hilde,  1926-1988.

Arrangement:

Arranged by folder title.

Scope and Content:

This series holds a variety of materials that relate to her studies in Germany and Switzerland and partly also documents her academic interest in child psychiatry. However, there is no material pertaining to her research and professional work except some correspondence and several articles. The series conveys Hilde Lachmann Mosse's interest in social and political problems and also her involvement in Reform Judaism, at least in her youth when she participated in the Jugendgemeinschaft der Jüdischen Reformgemeinde (Berlin Jewish Reform Community). Material on her emigration to the United States can also be found here.

The personality of Hilde Lachmann-Mosse is best reflected in her correspondence both to her family and friends. Her letters reveal to researchers her views on the political situation in the United States and in the world in general in the mid-1960s and 1970s, reflections of her professional work, as well as information about her personal life. The correspondence with her father Hans Lachmann-Mosse covers the time she left her Berlin home pursuing her studies in 1931 until his death in 1944, hence one can see the personal and intellectual development of Hilde Lachmann-Mosse. Many correspondents of Hilde Lachmann-Mosse were her friends from pre-war Germany and she kept in touch with them after 1945. Many of them lived in East Germany, so this correspondence can also contain some hints about everyday life in that part of Germany.

Subseries A: Personal,  1926-1988.

Arrangement:

Arranged alphabetically by folder title.

Scope and Content:

This subseries contains personal documents of Hilde Lachmann-Mosse. One can find her school records and essays from the Staatliche Augusta-Schule in Berlin, which she attended between the years 1918-1931, as well as her report books from universities in Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany and Basel, Switzerland. After graduation from the Staatliche Augusta-Schule, Hilde Lachmann-Mosse went for a summer semester to a Woodbrooke settlement in England.

Hilde Lachmann-Mosse took active part in the youth group of the Jugendgemeinschaft der Jüdischen Reformgemeinde (Berlin Jewish Reform Community). The series contains several newsletters of the community, several prayer books, and pamphlets addressing various issues of Jewish life from the perspective of Reform Judaism, and the speech Hilde Lachmann Mosse gave at the 2nd World Union for Progressive Judaism in London in 1930.

The original medical specialization of Hilde Lachmann-Mosse was pediatrics, but after her emigration to the United States, she became more involved in child psychiatry. Several of her articles found here deal with child psychiatry, and the relationship between mass media and violence.

Subseries B: Correspondence,  1928-1979.

Arrangement:

Arranged alphabetically by last name of the correspondent.

Scope and Content:

The correspondence of Hilde Lachmann-Mosse contains both letters from and to her family and letters written to or from her colleagues. The letters from her father span from 1931, when she left Berlin for her studies, to 1944 when Hans Lachmann-Mosse died. Hilde L. Mosse continued to correspond with his second wife Karola, who ran a home for children in Lafayette, California after her father's death as well.

The letters from Rudolf L. Mosse span from 1930 through 1958 when he died. They include letters from his military service in the U.S. Army, several newspaper clippings, and correspondence with the U.S. Consular officials in Switzerland, where Rudolf Lachmann-Mosse lived with his mother Felicia Lachmann-Mosse before they emigrated to the United States in 1940. The exchange with her niece, Joy Mosse, the daughter of Rudolf Lachmann-Mosse, is comprised of newspaper clippings and letters.

The correspondence with her younger brother George L. Mosse also includes his letters to their mother Felicia Lachmann-Mosse from 1972. Besides the letters from her family, the correspondence with other relatives, i.e. Ellen Mankiewitz, Olga Staadecker, Werner Mosse, and her step-brother Karl Strauch is also included.

The other part of her correspondence are letters from colleagues and friends, in general almost exclusively personal. One folder, originally titled Danny, probably contains letters to Clesbie Daniels, her close friend. Other correspondents are friends from pre-war Germany, even classmates from the August-Schule, i.e. Ursula Amann and possibly Carla Schlichting. Henrietta Bender neé Wicher, who married the para-psychologist and former professor of the University of Strasbourg, Hans Bender, was Hilde Lachmann Mosse's friend from the 1930s. Hilde Lachmann-Mosse, however, refused to renew their friendship after the war due to what she perceived as a questionable conduct of Hans Bender in the years 1933-1945.

Most of Hilde Lachmann Mosse's friends lived in Soviet-occupied territory that later became the German Democratic Republic. Correspondence with Tabita Petran, Carla Schlichting, and particularly Georg F. Alexan who wrote propagandistic articles for the GDR press discloses some of Hilde Lachmann Mosse's political convictions. The war in Vietnam, the presidential elections, the situation in Israel and the fate of Palestinian refugees were openly discussed in her letters to and from Tabita Petran. Unsurprisingly, in letters from East Berlin similar openness is missing.

a) Family

b) Friends and colleagues

Subseries C: Audio,  1977, 1982.

Arrangement:

Arranged alphabetically by folder title.

Scope and Content:

Subseries C: Audio is comprised of two audio tapes. The first records Hilde L. Mosse on the Sherrye Henry Show on February 16, 1977 on the WOR Radio. Hilde L. Mosse spoke of the relationship of violence in mass media to aggression in society. Her talk lasted approximately 21 minutes.

The other tape is a record of the memorial service after Hilde L. Mosse's death. Her brother, George L. Mosse, was the main speaker along with others, mostly colleagues.

Both tapes are in good quality.

Series 7: Other family members,  1866-2001.

Arrangement:

Arranged topically.

Scope and Content:

Series 7: Other family members, contains documents relevant either to the family as a whole or to those family members whose papers are scarce or not in substantial amount. The documents serving for restitution of the family property, a topic frequently occurring in family correspondence, were filed in this series, together with several artistic creations that were commissioned either by Rudolf Mosse or his son-in-law Hans Lachmann-Mosse. A study by Piotr Bartkowiak that analyzes the Rudolf Mosse Foundation can also be found here.

The papers of Martha Mosse, part of this series, can be found here. Her papers contain personal testimonies and affidavits testifying her unquestionable conduct during the Nazi-period in German and later in the concentration camp Terezín/Teresienstadt. Two of her accounts reflect the situation at that time. There is correspondence with her sister Dora Panofsky as well.

Series 7 contains various photocopies, correspondence, and newspaper clippings, and photographs. Documents found their way into the Leo Baeck Institute Archives in various ways at different times, usually as addenda, but sometimes their provenance is not well documented.

Subseries A: General,  undated, 1931-2001.

Arrangement:

Arranged alphabetically by folder title.

Scope and Content:

This subseries contains material related to the Mosse family as a whole or to several family members. Restitutions are the prominent topic of this part of the collection. It contains a letter from George L. Mosse to the embassy of the Soviet Union, inquiring about the destiny of the property once in the possession of the Mosse family and now under Soviet administration. The folder labeled Dyrotz and Schenkendorf holds various materials, mostly newspaper clippings, on two real estate properties that were owned before the Second World War by the family. Other material depicts the history of the family, usually dating back to the patriarch of the family, Marcus Mosse. Among these material is also a copy from the antisemitic encyclopedia Sigilla veri. O. Neumann's article Rudolf Mosse's Ahnen was published in Jüdische Familien- Forschung in 1935.

Several other documents refer to the artifacts owned and commissioned by Rudolf Mosse, i.e. the fountain titled The Three Dancing Maidens by Werner Shott and the canvas Das Gastmahl der Familie Mosse by Anton von Werner. Material on the tomb of Rudolf Mosse documents projected preservation work on the family grave at the Weissensee Jewish Cemetery, Berlin, Germany.

Subseries B: Individual members,  1866-1993.

Arrangement:

Arranged alphabetically by last name.

Scope and Content:

The Mosse family was an extended family and due to its prominence interest in the family history is understandable. This subseries contains material on family members that are not part of the family line of Marcus Mosse - Rudolf Mosse, which constitutes the centerpiece of this collection, but are offspring of Rudolf Mosse's brothers Albert and Emile Mosse. The material, however, does not exceed several folders and is often rather incidental.

Documents related to Martha Mosse, one of the daughters of Albert Mosse, can be of particular interest to researchers. Martha Mosse worked for the Prussian Police before 1933, but was released after the Gesetz zur Wiederherstellung des Berufsbeamtentums (Civil Service Law) was enacted on April 1933. She then worked for the Berlin Jewish community. After her transport to the concentration camp Terezín/Teresienstadt, she was involved with the camp's police force. This engagement caused accusations of collaboration with the Nazis. One of the folders contains several testimonies and affidavits in her favor, rejecting those recriminations. Besides these accounts, the subseries also contains two reports Martha Mosse wrote. One of them deals with the life of the Berlin Jewish community and the other one with the conditions in the camp Terezín/Teresienstadt. Martha Mosse's correspondence to her sister Dora Panofsky provides a first hand documentary about the situation in the concentration camp and about post-war integration into the German society.

Theodor Wolff was for a long time the editor-in-chief of the Berliner Tageblatt, but he was also a cousin of Rudolf Mosse. The newspaper clippings in this collection, however, relate to his function as an editor-in-chief and his cultural and journalistic activity.

Subgroup II: Rudolf Mosse (Firm), 1896-1960.

Arrangement:

The Berlin central office of the Rudolf Mosse company material is arranged as the first series, then the individual branches follow, and after those other related businesses.

Scope and Content:

The end of the 1920s proved to be a difficult time for the Rudolf Mosse concern. The economic crisis caused by the changed economic and political conditions in Germany after the First World War and then later by the economic depression were even more aggravated by political pressures after 1933. The most prominent feature of this part of the collection is its focus on securing the further existence of the Rudolf Mosse enterprise. The most conducive part of these activities was carried out by the director of the branch in Zürich, Switzerland, Alfred Schwabacher. He ensured several loans and credits to the Rudolf Mosse branches and the Berlin central office and supervised many of the activities in other company divisions in Europe. After 1933, when the family Lachmann-Mosse lost its influence over the German core of its firm, the branch in Zürich took over most of its obligations.

The companies Orbis and Treuga served as a vehicle for managing various financial and fiscal transactions of the Rudolf Mosse company abroad. They were instrumental in ensuring loans, redistributions, and securing company assets abroad.

After the Second World War the heirs of Rudolf Mosse and Hans Lachmann-Mosse attempted to restart the broken tradition of the family business in 1953 in Munich, founding Rudolf Mosse GmbH. Despite some initial success the whole undertaking did not prove viable and the company was closed in 1960.

This subgroup contains mostly correspondence between the central office in Berlin or the Zürich branch and other divisions, alter also correspondence with various legal representatives. Contacts, calculations, receipts, annual reports, and audits can also be found here.

Series 1: Berlin - Central office,  1909-1977.

Arrangement:

Arranged alphabetically by subseries title.

Scope and Content:

The main focus of this series is the effort of the management in the Berlin central office to manage the concern under the difficult economic and gradually also political conditions. It contains material on ensuring loans from various bank institutions, redistributions, and securing of company assets abroad. Several folders hold communication between the central office and local branches throughout Europe.

One of the subseries contains publications either published by companies involved in the publishing industry or describing the nature of business of the Rudolf Mosse company, including a commemorative print published in 1917 on the 50th anniversary of the Rudolf Mosse advertisement agency Festschrift zur Feier des fünfzigjährigen Bestehens der Annoncen-Expedition Rudolf Mosse.

Subseries A: General,  undated, 1928?-1977.

Arrangement:

Arranged alphabetically by folder title.

Scope and Content:

Subseries contains several articles on various buildings owned by the Rudolf Mosse company, some of them designed by Erich Mendelsohn, one of the most distinguished German architects of his time. Images of the edifices of the various Rudolf Mosse branches can also be found here. Documents related to the transfer of the company records from a safe in Switzerland to the United States initiated by Rudolf Lachmann-Mosse are also part of this subseries.

Subseries B: Loans,  1929-1934.

Arrangement:

Arranged alphabetically by folder title.

Scope and Content:

This subseries contains material relating to efforts to solve the difficult economic situation of the Rudolf Mosse firm. The director of the Zürich office, Alfred Schwabacher, was a key person in ensuring credits and loans from Swiss financial institutions.

Subseries C: Operations abroad,  1923-1938.

Arrangement:

Arranged alphabetically by country.

Scope and Content:

This subseries documents the wide geographic range of activities of the Rudolf Mosse company. The concern stretched from Barcelona, Spain to several offices in Yugoslavia and other Central European branches in Czechoslovakia, Austria, and Hungary. The subseries also includes documents related to the constitution of the Aktiengesellschaft der Unternehmungen Rudolf Mosse in Zürich in 1933.

Subseries D: Publications,  1901-1927.

Arrangement:

Arranged alphabetically by folder title.

Scope and Content:

The subseries contains commemorative publications of various establishments involved in the publishing industry, partly printing houses, partly newspaper publishers. Several publications on the Rudolf Mosse firm are also to be found in this subseries, as well as two pamphlets printed on the occasion of Arthur Levysohn's 25th anniversary at the company. Arthur Levysohn was the editor-in-chief of the Berliner Tageblatt . The folder labeled "Publications – Printed by Rudolf Mosse printing house," contains a list of publications that were presented to Rudolf Mosse in 1917 on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the firm Annoncen-Expedition Rudolf Mosse. The copies of these books were removed to the Leo Baeck Institute Library and are available on microfiche.

Series 2: Basel,  1917-1932.

Arrangement:

Arranged alphabetically by folder title.

Scope and Content:

Balance sheets, correspondence, and tax declarations together with tax instructions for both the canton of Basel-City (Basel-Stadt) and the Swiss Confederation are part of this series.

Series 3: Zürich,  1896-1933, 1957.

Arrangement:

Arranged alphabetically by folder title.

Scope and Content:

The Zürich branch of the Rudolf Mosse enterprise was the biggest branch outside of Germany. Its significance grew even more after the Lachmann-Mosse family lost control over its property in Germany almost immediately after the NSDAP take-over in Germany in 1933. The director of the Zürich branch was Alfred Schwabacher, who also coordinated other operations throughout Europe and was instrumental in attempts to secure some financial assets of the Rudolf Mosse firm. He was also involved in the activities of Treuga Holding A.G.. In the crisis of the Rudolf Mosse firm it was the branch in Zürich that took over most of the obligations of the central office in Berlin.

The series consists of bank account records, balance sheets documenting the period 1905 through 1932, contracts, and correspondence with the central office in Berlin that provides insight into some aspects of the functioning of the Rudolf Mosse enterprise.

Series 4: Orbis Finanzierungs- und Garantiegesellschaft für Verlags und Publizitätsunternehmungen (Vaduz, Liechtenstein),  1928-1939.

Arrangement:

Arranged alphabetically by folder title.

Scope and Content:

The company Orbis served as a vehicle for various financial and fiscal transaction of the Rudolf Mosse company abroad. Its main purpose was to financially secure the various enterprises of the Rudolf Mosse business group. Later on, this company also carried some of the payments to the former employees of the Rudolf Mosse firm and provided some financial means for the family of Hans Lachmann-Mosse after they left Germany.

The series includes bank statements, account journals, some correspondence pertaining to transfers and deposits of various commodities, protocols of the stock-holders' meetings, and copies of contracts between various Rudolf Mosse branches and Orbis.

Series 5: Treuga Holding- Aktiengesellschaft (Glarus, Switzerland),  1923-1939.

Arrangement:

Arranged alphabetically by folder title.

Scope and Content:

Treuga Holding was founded in Glarus, Switzerland in order to manage and administer the activities of the Rudolf Mosse company in other commercial activities. The series contains correspondence, financial journals, and protocols of the stock holders' assembly with related correspondence.

Series 6: Rudolf Mosse GmbH,  1953-1960.

Arrangement:

Arranged alphabetically by folder title.

Scope and Content:

The heirs of Rudolf Mosse and Hans Lachmann-Mosse attempted to revitalize the family business in 1953 in Munich when the Rudolf Mosse GmbH was founded. The new company was to capitalize on the rights of the Rudolf Mosse company that the heirs owned, among them the rights to the books published by the Rudolf Mosse company, a Mosse Code and the Address book (Reichs-Adressbuch). Even though the renewed publication of the address book had some success, the company folded in 1960.

This series contains mostly correspondence between the Mosse heirs and their lawyers, mostly Carl Herrmann, Richard O. Graw, and Leonard Leighton. The copy of the initial contract can also be found here, as well as the newspaper clippings announcing the end of this business undertaking. The folder labeled "Restitutions" contains a short pre-history of the Rudolf Mosse GmbH after the Second World War.