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Collection Overview

Creator:
Kahler, Erich, 1885-1970
Title:
Erich Kahler Papers
Repository:
Manuscripts Division
Permanent URL:
http://arks.princeton.edu/ark:/88435/fx719m47n
Dates:
1900-1989 (mostly 1940-1970)
Size:
15 boxes and 5.6 linear feet
Storage Note:
  • Firestone Library (scamss): Box 1-15
Language:
English German

Abstract

Consists of writings, correspondence, and printed matter of the Jewish scholar, author, and lecturer Erich Kahler, including some magazines and newspaper articles collected for his research purposes. There is also material and correspondence assembled after his death by his wife, Alice Loewy Kahler.

Collection Description & Creator Information

Scope and Contents

The collection consists of works, correspondence, photographs, and printed matter of Kahler and some papers of other people. The collection contains typed manuscripts with the author's corrections of Der Deutsche Charakter in der Geschichte Europas , The Jews Among the Nations , Man theMeasure , The Meaning of History , Out of the Labyrinth , Die Philosophie von Hermann Broch , The Tower and the Abyss , and a new preface to Man the Measure , as well as addresses, articles, reports, essays, and lectures, many on Thomas Mann. There are letters to Kahler and his wife, Alice, by such correspondents as John Berryman, Jorge Guillen, Aldous Huxley, Lewis Mumford, and Sean O'Faolain, and copies of Kahler's letters to editors. Also included are original works of Lewis Mumford, Hermann Broch, and Thomas Mann, including a lecture (1936) by Mann on Freud. A recent accession is a group of approximately twenty letters relating to the festschrift for Kahler that was edited by Eleanor L. Wolff and published in 1951; among them is a fifteen-line carbon typescript of Albert Einstein's contribution entitled "Fleisszettel."

Collection Creator Biography:

Kahler, Erich, 1885-1970

Erich von Kahler was born on 14 October 1885 in Prague, Czechoslovakia. He studied Philosophy, Literature, Fine Arts, History, Sociology, and Psychology at the Universities of Vienna, Munich, Berlin, Heidelberg, and Freiburg before earning his Ph.D. at the University of Vienna in 1911. Thereafter he traveled in Europe, working as an author and lecturer until 1933 when he left Germany for good, following Hitler's rise to power. He immigrated to the U.S. in 1938 and became a U.S. citizen in 1944.

In the U.S. he worked primarily as a lecturer and visiting professor at a number of universities during the period 1940-1960. Among these are such universities as The New School for Social Research, Black Mountain College, Cornell, and Princeton University. His wide circle of friends, dubbed the "Kahler-Kreis" by Charles Bell, included Albert Einstein, Thomas Mann, and Hermann Broch (who wrote his novel Tod des Vergils at Kahler's Princeton house). He remained close to the Mann family after Mann's death, and his correspondence with Thomas Mann was published following his death in An Exceptional Friendship: The Correspondence of Thomas Mann and Erich Kahler . He lived the majority of his years in America in Princeton and was, like Einstein, a member of the Institute for Advanced Study. While living in Princeton he met and married Mrs. Alice (Lili) Loewy.

Kahler was a prolific writer, and the themes of his writings and lectures often reflected his political involvement, although he was a widely respected literary critic, especially of Thomas Mann. He explored the study of history, the new roles of science and technology, and the changing relationship of man to his changing world. Politically, he was an ardent supporter of the Zionist movement, a member of the Committee to Frame a World Constitution, and of the Emergency Civil Liberties Committee, as well as numerous anti-war / anti-bomb groups.

He died at home in Princeton in 1970 and was survived by his wife, Alice, and a step-daughter. Alice Loewy Kahler died in 1992.

1903 Books of poetry published 1916 Weltgesicht und Politik 1919 Das Geschlecht Habsburg 1920 Der Beruf der Wissenschaft 1936 Israel Unter den Vlkern 1937 Der Deutsche Charakter in der Geschichte Europas 1943 Man the Measure: A New Approach to History 1944 The Arabs in Palestine (with Albert Einstein) 1952 Die Verantwortung des Geistes 1953 Editor: Hermann Broch, Gedichte 1957 The Tower and the Abyss 1960 Contributor: Symbolism in Religion and Literature 1962 Die Philosophie von Hermann Broch 1964 The Meaning of History 1964 Stefan George 1967 The Jews Among the Nations 1967 Out of the Labyrinth: Essays in Clarification 1968 The Disintegration of Form in the Arts 1969 Orbit of Thomas Mann 1970? Die Verinnerung des Erzählens (posthumously) 1975 An Exceptional Friendship: The Correspondence of Thomas Mann and Erich Kahler (posthumously)

Collection History

Acquisition:

Alice Kahler donated the bulk of the papers to Princeton University during the years 1982, 1985, 1990, and 1991. Some originals of copies in this collection are housed in the Thomas Mann Archive, the Leo Baeck Institute, and with Albert Einstein's papers in Israel.

Two notebooks, some biographical information, and some correspondence with Marthe Agnes Frfr. v. Erffa were transferred from the Rare Books Division in 2012 (AM 2012-100).

Appraisal

No appraisal information is available.

Processing Information

This collection was processed by Krista Stroever in 1995 . Finding aid written by Krista Stroever in 1995 .

Access & Use

Conditions Governing Access

Collection is open for research use.

Conditions Governing Use

Single copies may be made for research purposes. To cite or publish quotations that fall within Fair Use, as defined under U. S. Copyright Law, no permission is required. For instances beyond Fair Use, it is the responsibility of the researcher to determine whether any permissions related to copyright, privacy, publicity, or any other rights are necessary for their intended use of the Library's materials, and to obtain all required permissions from any existing rights holders, if they have not already done so. Princeton University Library's Special Collections does not charge any permission or use fees for the publication of images of materials from our collections, nor does it require researchers to obtain its permission for said use. The department does request that its collections be properly cited and images credited. More detailed information can be found on the Copyright, Credit and Citations Guidelines page on our website. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us through the Ask Us! form.

Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements

For preservation reasons, original analog and digital media may not be read or played back in the reading room. Users may visually inspect physical media but may not remove it from its enclosure. All analog audiovisual media must be digitized to preservation-quality standards prior to use. Audiovisual digitization requests are processed by an approved third-party vendor. Please note, the transfer time required can be as little as several weeks to as long as several months and there may be financial costs associated with the process. Requests should be directed through the Ask Us Form.

Credit this material:

Erich Kahler Papers; Manuscripts Division, Department of Special Collections, Princeton University Library

Permanent URL:
http://arks.princeton.edu/ark:/88435/fx719m47n
Location:
Firestone Library
One Washington Road
Princeton, NJ 08544, USA
(609) 258-3184
Storage Note:
  • Firestone Library (scamss): Box 1-15

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Bibliography

The manuscripts found in draft form in the collection came to print in the following publications: Der Deutsche Charakter in der Geschichte Europas (Zurich: Europa, 1937); The Jews Among the Nations (New York: Frederick Ungar, 1967); Man the Measure (New York: G. Braziller, 1956); The Meaning of History (New York: G. Braziller, 1964); Out of the Labyrinth (New York: G. Braziller, 1967); Die Philosophie von Hermann Broch (Tubingen: JCB Mohr, 1962); The Tower and the Abyss (New York: G. Braziller, 1957).

Subject Terms:
Historians -- United States -- 20th century.
Humanists -- New Jersey -- Princeton -- 20th century.
Genre Terms:
Correspondence -- 20th century
Drafts (preliminary version).
Names:
Freud, Sigmund, 1856-1939.
Mann, Thomas, 1875-1955.