Metadata: Estate of Georg Guggenheim
Collection
- Country:
- Switzerland
- Holding institution:
- Archives of Contemporary History at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich
- Holding institution (official language):
- Archiv für Zeitgeschichte der ETH Zürich
- Postal address:
- Hirschengraben 62, CH-8092 Zurich
- Phone number:
- +41 44 632 40 03
- Web address:
- https://www.afz.ethz.ch/
- Email:
- afz@history.gess.ethz.ch
- Reference number:
- NL Georg Guggenheim
- Title:
- Estate of Georg Guggenheim
- Title (official language):
- Nachlass Georg Guggenheim
- Creator/accumulator:
- Guggenheim, Georg
- Date(s):
- 1872/2005
- Language:
- German
- Extent:
- 2.65 shelf metres
- Type of material:
- Textual material
- Physical condition:
- good
- Scope and content:
- The bequest of the SIG (Swiss Federation of Jewish Communities) documents Guggenheim's functions in the SIG's “Defence and Reconnaissance” department and his various activities on the board of the Jewish Community of Zurich, of which he was president from 1943 to 1955. Guggenheim's proximity to the World Jewish Congress (WJC) resulted not only from his commitment to the SIG's accession to this association, but also from the fact that his brother, the lawyer Paul Guggenheim, was an important advisor to the WJC in Geneva. It is noteworthy that, in addition to the manifold private relationships of the couple, their activities as art collectors and patrons are also to some extent reflected in the estate.
- Archival history:
- The estate was assembled from two different provenances. After the death of Josi Guggenheim, Georg Guggenheim's widow, Ms. Mariette Herzig, secretary of the Dr. Georg and Josi Guggenheim Foundation, handed over the privately kept parts (especially no. 1-3 and 8-10 of the inventory) to the AfZ in various deliveries between 2000 and 2006. They also contain documents that came about after Georg Guggenheim's death, namely, the correspondence continued by Josi Guggenheim with the couple’s friends and acquaintances. Various materials relating to Georg Guggenheim's activities in the Swiss Federation of Jewish Communities (SIG) (especially no. 4-7 of the inventory) were handed over to the AfZ by the SIG after the takeover of the SIG archive and integrated into the estate.
- Administrative/biographical history:
- Georg Guggenheim was born in Zurich on 27 August 1897 and died there on 9 January 1987. He was the son of Hermann Guggenheim (president of the Swiss Federation of Jewish Communities, SIG, from 1904 to 1914) and Leonide Guggenheim-Nordmann. His younger brother was the professor of constitutional law Paul Guggenheim. They spent their childhood in Zurich-Enge. Guggenheim studied law in Zurich, Geneva, Bern, and Leipzig between 1917 and 1922 and earned his doctorate in 1922. In 1917, he attended recruit school and in 1918 NCO school in Zurich. Beginning in 1922, Guggenheim was employed in his father's law office (among others, in 1926 defence of his brother Paul Guggenheim). In 1931, he married Josephine (Josi) Guggenheim-Strauss, daughter of Carl and Rosie Strauss. He was also active in Zurich's Jewish public life since the 1920s. In 1922, Guggenheim became a member of the Jewish Community (ICZ) where he was involved in the planning of a new synagogue and the redesign of the cemetery. In 1928, he was named delegate of the ICZ to the Swiss Federation of Jewish Communities (SIG) and between 1930 and 1944, he was a member of the SIG central committee. From 1936 to 1942, Guggenheim was a member of the SIG executive committee and simultaneously its actuary. In 1936, he cofounded and started managing the SIG press office, JUNA (Jewish News). From 1943 to 1955, he was president of the ICZ and from 1947 to 1967 member of the SIG executive committee and head of the “Defence and Reconnaissance“ department. In addition to his commitment to combating antisemitism, Georg Guggenheim also advocated, among other things, the SIG's accession to the WJC and an active information policy of the SIG. As a member of the “progressive“ wing within the SIG management, he and his brother Paul Guggenheim made a significant contribution to bring about a change in the SIG's policy. Together with his wife Josi, Georg Guggenheim collected contemporary art.
- Access points: locations:
- Switzerland
- Zurich
- Access points: persons/families:
- Guggenheim
- Herzig
- Subject terms:
- Jewish community
- Personal records
- Access, restrictions:
- Partially restricted. Subject to application.
- Finding aids:
- An online finding aid is available.
- Links to finding aids:
- http://onlinearchives.ethz.ch/
- Yerusha Network member:
- Jewish Museum Hohenems
- Author of the description:
- Severin Holzknecht; Jewish Museum of Hohenems; 2019
