Estates in D Special Archives

Collection

Web address:: https://www.sta.be.ch/sta/de/index/staatsarchiv/staatsarchiv.html

Creator/accumulator:: Gerber, Eduard; Nelson, Erich; Debrunner, Albert; Bloeschs, Hansjörg; Hofers, Walther

Scope and content:: The Special Archives contain the estates of non-governmental organisations of various kinds and of individuals. Among others, they contain numerous sources on the Christian-Jewish Association (CJA), whose holdings from the period between 1955 until 1988 can be consulted. They are part of the of the estate of Eduard Gerber (1934-2010). Most of the documents relating to his work in the Christian-Jewish Task Force are held in the Archive of Contemporary History at ETH Zurich. In addition, the estate of artist Erich Nelson (1897-1980) can be found in the Special Archives. Born in Berlin, Nelson trained as an artist after the First World War, but had to leave his home country in 1933 due to his Jewish origins and found a new home in Switzerland after a stopover in South Tyrol. In the estate of the linguist Albert Debrunner (1884-1958) there are some manuscripts of lectures on Jewish, Hellenic and Christian subjects. The estate of the numismatist Hansjörg Bloeschs (1912-1992) contains a document entitled “Schreiben eines reisenden Juden aus der Vorzeit im Jahr 33 nach der Geburt Jesu Christi. Ein Geschenk dem jüdischen Volke gewidmet“. In the estate of the historian Walther Hofers (1920-2013) there is a file on the persecution of Jews during the Second World War. [Nachlass 2 Walther Hofer; Nachlass 13 Nachlass Erich Nelson; N Debrunner 70; N Legat Bloesch 7; N Weingart 45 Varia E-P; N E. Gerber 103; N E. Gerber 104; N E. Gerber 117; N E. Gerber 118]

Archival history:: The collections of this part of the archive came into the possession of the State Archive at different times.

Administrative/biographical history:: The State Archive of Bern is the repository of all state archival holdings worthy of preservation. Since the 15th century, the Bernese archives have been housed in the vaults of the town hall. In 1713 a permanent archive commission was set up. The archives of the perished city and Republic of Bern went to the newly created Canton of Bern in 1803, and partly to the Cantons of Aargau and Vaud. Until 1891, the administration of the National Archive was the responsibility of the respective state scribe.

Subject terms:: Art; Art--Artists; Historical research; Jewish-Christian relations

Finding aids:: An online finding aid is available, although the information is often rudimentary.

Author of the description:: Severin Holzknecht; Jewish Museum of Hohenems; 2020