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Private collections

Over the course of its history, the ULB has taken receipt of the private collections of a great many leading local figures and corporations. These holdings are listed in the Kalliope Union Catalogue and can be searched for there. In some cases, there are also finding aids available for searching – online or in a paper format in the Special Reading Room.

The list below, ordered by the last name of the private collection’s original owner, offers brief information on the background to and content of the private collections as well as to the indexing status and options for accessing each of the private collections.

The originals can be consulted in the Special Reading Room under professional supervision.

Background

Johann Friedrich Benzenberg was a mathematician and astronomer as well as the founder of the Düsseldorf-Bilk Observatory. His private collection came to the ULB as the Benzenberg Library. Among others, it includes physical records, designs for the Düsseldorf-Bilk Observatory, correspondence, diaries and documents about his public commitment to the emerging railway network (compilation period: 1798–1845).

Content

1.5 linear metres

Indexing and usage

Direct link to the collection in the Kalliope Union Catalogue.
Call number: slg 50/Dok
Please request the resources by telephone or email for use in the Special Reading Room.

Background

The private collection of the Boeddinghaus and Platte families, who were related by marriage, includes the diaries of Karl (1806–1879) and Maria Platte as well as other diaries, an address book, anthologies of poems and quotes, a bibliography, and a guest book of Julie Boeddinghaus (1872–around 1940). There is also an address book that is believed to have belonged to the Zapp family from Düsseldorf. (Compilation period: approx. 1830–1960)

Content

0.5 linear metres

Indexing and usage

Direct link to the collection in the Kalliope Union Catalogue.
Call number: slg 105/Dok
Please request the resources by telephone or email for use in the Special Reading Room.

Background

Robert Bückmann was born in Mönchengladbach on 24 September 1891. He received his musical education at a number of conservatories. Bückmann initially took on a teaching position at the Gladbach conservatory where he later became its deputy director. He was also director of Odenkirchen’s oratorio choir. The composer died on 23 December 1965, leaving behind an extensive body of work that includes almost all musical genres with the exception of dramatic music. The collection mainly comprises composition, but also sketches, newspaper clippings/critiques, directories of various works, and letters and postcards from Rita Reiners. The private collections of other musicians from ULB’s holdings that could be used for complementary research purposes, are those of Gerd Froesch and Hermann Große-Schware (currently being indexed).

Content

Approx. 5 linear metres

Indexing and usage

Direct link to the private collection in the Kalliope Union Catalogue.
Call number: slg 216/Dok
Please request the resources by telephone or email for use in the Special Reading Room.

Background

From 1842 to 1844, Heinrich Joseph Floß was chaplain to Anton Joseph Binterim in Düsseldorf-Bilk. From 1858, he was then a professor of Catholic church history and moral theology in Bonn. Considered one of the founders of the Lower Rhine Historical Society (Historischer Verein für den Niederrhein) in 1854, he served as the society’s vice president from 1870 to 1881. The private collection has been considered lost since the Second World War. The existing fragmentary collection is probably the last remnant. It contains correspondence, source extracts, manuscripts, and records relating to matters of the Faculty of Catholic Theology in Bonn (compilation period: 1780–1880).

Content

0.5 linear metres

Indexing and usage

Direct link to the collection in the Kalliope Union Catalogue.
Call number: slg 55/Dok
Please request the resources by telephone or email for use in the Special Reading Room.

Background

The private collection of the composer, choir director and music teacher Gerd Froesch mainly comprises his compositions: scores (in part embellished with handwritten notes), fragmentary compositions and scores for open singing. A smaller portion of the private collection comprises correspondence, press releases, concert programmes and two jubilee magazines on the occasion of his 70th birthday. An extensive collection of playbills held by ULB as well as the private collection of the theatre director Fritz Kranz, who managed the theatre in Mönchengladbach-Rheydt between 1945 and 1964, can also be consulted.

Content

3 linear metres

Indexing and usage

A catalogue of works provides access to the private collection.
Direct link to the collection in the Kalliope Union Catalogue.
Call number: slg/215/Dok
Please request the resources by telephone or email for use in the Special Reading Room.

Background

Particularly in the 1950s and 1960s, the Munich artist Gabriele Goßner was responsible for contributing the plant illustrations to identification books such as the Kosmos nature guide ‘Pilze Mitteleuropas’ on the mushrooms found in Central Europe. The paintings and illustrations in the collection mostly depict species of roses, along with other plants. Goßner also created numerous calendar pictures for the Kunstverlag Michel fine art publisher based in Nuremberg and the Kronen-Verlag publishing house in Hamburg. The collection moreover includes a number of thank-you letters addressed to Ms Goßner for sending her book ‘Vielfalt der Rosen’ on rose varieties.

Content

0.3 linear metres

Indexing and usage

Direct link to the collection in the Kalliope Union Catalogue. The books in the private collection can be searched in the ULB catalogue.
Call number: slg 40 (books), slg 40/Dok (collection resources)
Please request the resources by telephone or email for use in the Special Reading Room.

Background

In addition to a number of biographical documents such as certificates, proof of ancestry and a family register, the private collection of the actor and theatre director Fritz Kranz also includes correspondence from between 1918 and 1980 as well as photographs and negatives (including a number of glass plate negatives) from the same period.

Content

0,6 linear metres

Indexing and usage

Direct link to the collection in the Kalliope Union Catalogue.
Call number: slg 115/Dok
Please request the resources by telephone or email for use in the Special Reading Room.

Background

Established in 1854 in Elberfeld, the company Ed. Liesegang OHG achieved international fame with the development of various projectors, transportable cameras, and its renowned photographic paper. Up until the early 20th century, Liesegang remained a family-owned enterprise with managing directors whose innovations and publications still remain relevant in the world of photography today. In 2004, the company had to file for bankruptcy. It was subsequently re-established as part of the TAS Media Group however and is currently based in Mülheim an der Ruhr.

In addition to patents, photographs, correspondence, and house purchase agreements, the private collection also contains documents belonging to the company’s founder Friedrich Wilhelm Eduard Liesegang, his son Dr Paul Eduard Liesegang († 1896) and the grandchildren of the founder, Raphael Liesegang († 1947, particularly known for his breakthroughs in physics research) and Franz Paul Liesegang (1847–1949), who wrote a number of texts about photography.

Content

1 linear metre

Indexing and usage

Direct link to the collection in the Kalliope Union Catalogue.
Call number: slg 305/Dok
Please request the resources by telephone or email for use in the Special Reading Room.

Background

Serge Maiwald was, among other things, co-founders and publisher of ‘Universitas’ scientific magazine. The private collection mainly comprises manuscripts relating to aspects of constitutional law and international law (compilation period: 1946–1952).

Content

1 linear metre

Indexing and usage

Direct link to the collection in the Kalliope Union Catalogue.
Call number: slg 80/Dok
Please request the resources by telephone or email for use in the Special Reading Room.

Background

The private collection of the Thomas Mann bibliographer Harry Matter, which forms part of the Thomas Mann Collection, includes his correspondence, among others with numerous East German writers, as well as a chronological collection of newspaper clippings that particularly reflect the reception of Thomas Mann’s work in the former German Democratic Republic.

Content, cataloguing and usage

The private collection has not been indexed yet and therefore cannot be used.

Background

The Thomas Mann Collection includes the private collection of the collection’s founder, the Düsseldorf historian, Germanist and bookseller Dr Hans-Otto Mayer. His private collection mainly consists of preparatory work for the ‘Briefregestenwerk’ volumes as well as extensive correspondence.

Content, cataloguing and usage

The private collection has not been indexed yet and therefore cannot be used.

Background

The private collection of Dr Constantin Nörrenberg, who was the director of the former Düsseldorf State and City Library from 1904 to 1928, contains resources relating to both his historical, cultural-historical and philological research as well as his library-related activities such as correspondence, library movement (Bücherhallenbewegung), national education system, etc. (compilation period: 1882–1937).

Content

3 linear metres

Indexing and usage

Direct link to the collection in the Kalliope Union Catalogue.
Call number(s): slg 45 (books) and slg 45/Dok (collection resources)
Please request the resources by telephone or email for use in the Special Reading Room.

Background

The private collection of Thomas Mann bibliographer Georg Potempa has been included in the Thomas Mann Collection since 2013. It comprises correspondence, notes and preparatory work for Potempa’s publications.

Content, cataloguing and usage

The private collection is currently being indexed and cannot be used yet.

Background

Dr Hermann Reuter worked alongside Constantin Nörrenberg in the scientific division of Düsseldorf State and City Library until Nörrenberg ’s retirement in 1928. Reuter was the library’s director from 1928 until 1950. In addition to library work, he devoted himself to linguistic research throughout his life and in particular to the dialect of his native Siegerland. He wrote the ‘Siegerländer Wörterbuch’ (Siegerland Dictionary) together with Jakob Heinzerling.

The private collection grants insights into his research: it contains resources about dialects, folk songs and poems, the artistic and cultural history of Düsseldorf, and the history of Düsseldorf State and City Library. It provides very little information on any specific library work however.

Content

0.5 linear metres

Indexing and usage

Direct link to the collection in the Kalliope Union Catalogue.
Call number: slg 48/Dok
Please request the resources by telephone or email for use in the Special Reading Room.

Background

At the end of 1960, HHU’s Department of History purchased the extensive library of historian Gerhard Ritter, thus laying the foundations for the History Library. In addition to the book collection, print resources (mainly offprints), a number of letters and manuscripts, and catalogues of Ritter’s library were brought to ULB.

Content

0.9 linear metres (collection resources)

Indexing and usage

Direct link to the collection in the Kalliope Union Catalogue. The books in Ritter’s private collection can be searched in the ULB catalogue.
Call number: slg 10 (books), slg 10/Dok (collection resources)
Please request the resources by telephone or email for use in the Special Reading Room.

Background

The partial private collection of Würzburg zoologist Karl Semper comprises 15 manuscripts and other originals including letters from Charles Darwin and his son Francis Darwin as well as from the architect Gottfried Semper, Rudolf Virchow and countless others.

Content

0.4 linear metres

Indexing and usage

Direkt-Link zum Nachlass im Katalog des Kalliope-Verbunds.
Der Nachlass ist zudem im o.g. Findbuch beschrieben.
Die Briefe von Charles und Francis Darwin sind in unseren Digitalen Sammlungen frei zugänglich.
Signatur: slg 60/Dok
Bitte bestellen Sie die Materialien telefonisch oder per E-Mail in den Sonderlesesaal.

Direct link to the collection in the Kalliope Union Catalogue.
The private collection is also described in the aforementioned finding aid.
The letters from Charles and Francis Darwin are publicly available in our Digital Collections.
Call number: slg 60/Dok
Please request the resources by telephone or email for use in the Special Reading Room.
 

Background

The historian, local researcher, and journalist Hans Stöcker worked as a local editor for the ‘Rheinische Post’ newspaper and was the local manager until 1965. In 1952, he became a member of the Düsseldorfer Jonges e. V. local history society and acted as editor of ‘Das Tor’, the society’s magazine, from 1957 to 1986.

The private collection contains handwritten descriptions of Düsseldorf newspapers and magazines (forming the basis of his two publications on the history of Düsseldorf newspapers), source material for his dissertation on the journalist Nivard Krämer, notes about Düsseldorf printers and publishers, newspaper clippings, and articles about the history of Düsseldorf newspapers.

Content

0.21 linear metres

Indexing and usage

Direct link to the collection in the Kalliope Union Catalogue.
Call number: slg 75/Dok
Please request the resources by telephone or email for use in the Special Reading Room.

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