Scope and Contents
The H. F. Broch de Rothermann Papers are composed primarily of correspondence which documents the life and career of the Austrian writer Hermann Broch, the father of Hermann Friedrich Broch de Rothermann. The collection spans the years 1916 to circa 2001, with the bulk of the material falling between 1953 and 1986. Major topics include republication of Hermann Broch's writings, Broch scholarship, and other aspects of the reception history of Broch's works. Also present are materials relating to Broch de Rothermann's work in the United States Office of Strategic Services (OSS) during World War II, writings and drawings by Broch de Rothermann, and other papers relating to him.
Series I, Correspondence, (Boxes 1-8) consists of correspondence between Broch de Rothermann and editors, publishers, scholars, and friends of Hermann Broch, including correspondence with Dániel and Daisy Bródy, Pantheon Books, Rhein-Verlag, and Suhrkamp Verlag. The letters of prominent Broch scholars, such as Manfred Durzak and Paul Michael Lützeler, shed light on the author's current importance as a literary figure. Also present are the letters of Broch de Rothermann's grandparents, uncle, mother, and stepmother (Annemarie Meier-Graefe Broch), as well as those of friends, including Hannah Arendt, Marion Canby, Erich and Alice Loewy Kahler, Edith Levy, Edith Ludovyk-Gyömröi, Robert Pick, Jean Starr Untermeyer, and Hermann J. Weigand.
Series II, Addition (Boxes 9-11), is divided into three subseries. Correspondence, circa 1970s-circa 2001, consists mainly of letters between Broch de Rothermann and correspondents also represented in Series I, including Annemarie Meier-Graefe Broch, Franziska von Rothermann Broch (accompanied by photographs and identification documents), other Broch family members, Alice Loewy Kahler, Edith Ludovyk-Gyömröi, Paul Michael Lützeler, and Suhrkamp Verlag. Also present are some additional correspondents and unidentified letters.
United States Office of Strategic Services, circa 1944-circa 1946, consists of papers relating to Broch de Rothermann’s work in the OSS Morale Operations Branch during World War II. Papers include reports on the development and effectiveness of propaganda, American support for resistance in areas occupied by Germany, American occupation of Italy and Germany, and interrogation of German soldiers and other prisoners by the American army; samples of military and civilian propaganda in German, Italian, French, Russian, and other languages; correspondence and documents about Broch de Rothermann’s service, discharge, and return to the United States after the war; and a photograph of unidentified soldiers, possibly including Broch de Rothermann. Propaganda samples include drawings made by artist Saul Steinberg.
Other Papers, most undated, include drafts of a short story, a screenplay, and other writings by Broch de Rothermann; drawings by Broch de Rothermann and Gregor von Rezzori; and videocassette and audiocassette interviews with Broch de Rothermann.
Series I, Correspondence, (Boxes 1-8) consists of correspondence between Broch de Rothermann and editors, publishers, scholars, and friends of Hermann Broch, including correspondence with Dániel and Daisy Bródy, Pantheon Books, Rhein-Verlag, and Suhrkamp Verlag. The letters of prominent Broch scholars, such as Manfred Durzak and Paul Michael Lützeler, shed light on the author's current importance as a literary figure. Also present are the letters of Broch de Rothermann's grandparents, uncle, mother, and stepmother (Annemarie Meier-Graefe Broch), as well as those of friends, including Hannah Arendt, Marion Canby, Erich and Alice Loewy Kahler, Edith Levy, Edith Ludovyk-Gyömröi, Robert Pick, Jean Starr Untermeyer, and Hermann J. Weigand.
Series II, Addition (Boxes 9-11), is divided into three subseries. Correspondence, circa 1970s-circa 2001, consists mainly of letters between Broch de Rothermann and correspondents also represented in Series I, including Annemarie Meier-Graefe Broch, Franziska von Rothermann Broch (accompanied by photographs and identification documents), other Broch family members, Alice Loewy Kahler, Edith Ludovyk-Gyömröi, Paul Michael Lützeler, and Suhrkamp Verlag. Also present are some additional correspondents and unidentified letters.
United States Office of Strategic Services, circa 1944-circa 1946, consists of papers relating to Broch de Rothermann’s work in the OSS Morale Operations Branch during World War II. Papers include reports on the development and effectiveness of propaganda, American support for resistance in areas occupied by Germany, American occupation of Italy and Germany, and interrogation of German soldiers and other prisoners by the American army; samples of military and civilian propaganda in German, Italian, French, Russian, and other languages; correspondence and documents about Broch de Rothermann’s service, discharge, and return to the United States after the war; and a photograph of unidentified soldiers, possibly including Broch de Rothermann. Propaganda samples include drawings made by artist Saul Steinberg.
Other Papers, most undated, include drafts of a short story, a screenplay, and other writings by Broch de Rothermann; drawings by Broch de Rothermann and Gregor von Rezzori; and videocassette and audiocassette interviews with Broch de Rothermann.
Dates
- 1916 - 2001
- Majority of material found within 1953 - 1986
Creator
Conditions Governing Access
The materials are open for research.
Box 12 (audiocassette and videocassettes): Restricted fragile material. Reference copies may be requested. Consult Access Services for further information.
Box 12 (audiocassette and videocassettes): Restricted fragile material. Reference copies may be requested. Consult Access Services for further information.
Conditions Governing Use
The H. F. Broch de Rothermann Papers are the physical property of the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University. Literary rights, including copyright, belong to the authors or their legal heirs and assigns. For further information, consult the appropriate curator.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
The papers were collected by Broch de Rothermann in his capacity as literary executor for his father's works and primarily deal with aspects of Broch's life and works after his death in 1951. The papers were donated to the Beinecke Library in installments by H. F. Broch de Rothermann between 1970 and 1990.
Materials in the Addition Series were gifts of H. F. Broch de Rothermann, 1990-1994; gift of Sachiko Yoshizawa Broch de Rothermann, 1997; gift of Bradford McCormick, 1997, and transferred from Yale University Manuscripts and Archives, 1992. Material transferred from Yale University Manuscripts and Archives was purchased from Sachiko Yoshizawa Broch de Rothermann by Michael Keller in 1991. For further information, consult the appropriate curator.
Materials in the Addition Series were gifts of H. F. Broch de Rothermann, 1990-1994; gift of Sachiko Yoshizawa Broch de Rothermann, 1997; gift of Bradford McCormick, 1997, and transferred from Yale University Manuscripts and Archives, 1992. Material transferred from Yale University Manuscripts and Archives was purchased from Sachiko Yoshizawa Broch de Rothermann by Michael Keller in 1991. For further information, consult the appropriate curator.
Arrangement
Organized into two series: I. Correspondence, 1916-1990. II. Addition, circa 1944-circa 2001.
Extent
4.41 Linear Feet (12 boxes)
Language of Materials
English
Catalog Record
A record for this collection is available in Orbis, the Yale University Library catalog
Persistent URL
Overview
The H. F. Broch de Rothermann Papers are composed primarily of correspondence which documents the life and career of the Austrian writer Hermann Broch, the father of Hermann Friedrich Broch de Rothermann. The collection spans the years 1916 to circa 2001, with the bulk of the material falling between 1953 and 1986. Major topics include republication of Hermann Broch's writings, Broch scholarship, and other aspects of the reception history of Broch's works. Also present are materials relating to Broch de Rothermann's work in the United States Office of Strategic Services (OSS) during World War II, writings and drawings by Broch de Rothermann, and other papers relating to him. Papers relating to the OSS include reports on the development and effectiveness of propaganda, American support for resistance in areas occupied by Germany, American occupation of Italy and Germany, and interrogation of German soldiers and other prisoners by the American army; samples of military and civilian propaganda in German, Italian, French, Russian, and other languages; correspondence and documents about Broch de Rothermann’s service, discharge, and return to the United States after the war; and a photograph of unidentified soldiers, possibly including Broch de Rothermann. Propaganda samples include drawings made by artist Saul Steinberg.
H. F. BROCH DE ROTHERMANN (1910-1994)
Hermann Friedrich Broch de Rothermann was born in Vienna on October 4, 1910, the only child of Hermann Broch and Franziska von Rothermann Broch. He attended schools in Vienna, Switzerland, Great Britain, and France and received diplomas from Haute École des Sciences Politiques et Financières in Paris and the Academy of Commerce in Vienna. During the 1930s he travelled, served as secretary of the International Literary Agency, and worked as a correspondent for the Neue Freie Presse of Vienna. He was a patient in Sanatorium Löw in Vienna recovering from a skiing accident at the time of Anschluss. In June 1938 he was adopted by his uncle Rudolf von Rothermann in Hungary.
Broch de Rothermann left Austria in March 1939, lived in French internment camps from September 1939 to June 1940, spent a year in the French Foreign Legion, and emigrated to the United States in September 1941. Shortly thereafter he married Eva Wassermann, but was divorced in 1949. In 1942 he became head of the Short Wave Listening Post for the New York Daily News and from 1943-46 served in the United States Office of Strategic Services (OSS) in Italy and Austria, leaving that service with the rank of lieutenant colonel. After 1947 he held a number of conference interpreter positions for the United Nations and on a free-lance basis. He married Sachiko Yoshizawa in 1961.
During his later life, Broch de Rothermann published translations, devoted a great deal of his time to discussing Hermann Broch with scholars, advised the Library and the curator of the Yale Collection of German Literature, and was a generous donor to the Broch Archive. Broch de Rothermann died in 1994.
Broch de Rothermann left Austria in March 1939, lived in French internment camps from September 1939 to June 1940, spent a year in the French Foreign Legion, and emigrated to the United States in September 1941. Shortly thereafter he married Eva Wassermann, but was divorced in 1949. In 1942 he became head of the Short Wave Listening Post for the New York Daily News and from 1943-46 served in the United States Office of Strategic Services (OSS) in Italy and Austria, leaving that service with the rank of lieutenant colonel. After 1947 he held a number of conference interpreter positions for the United Nations and on a free-lance basis. He married Sachiko Yoshizawa in 1961.
During his later life, Broch de Rothermann published translations, devoted a great deal of his time to discussing Hermann Broch with scholars, advised the Library and the curator of the Yale Collection of German Literature, and was a generous donor to the Broch Archive. Broch de Rothermann died in 1994.
Processing Information
Series II, Addition, consists of materials acquired since 1991, formerly classed as Uncat Zg Ms 9, Uncat Zg Ms 27, and Uncat Zg Ms 85. This series was processed in 2011 at a baseline level. Folder titles assigned by creators or during accessioning by the Library have been preserved, followed by related unsorted or unidentified material.
- Arendt, Hannah, 1906-1975
- Audiocassettes
- Audiovisual materials
- Austrian literature
- Authors and publishers -- Austria
- Authors and publishers -- Germany
- Authors, Austrian -- 20th Century -- Archives
- Broch de Rothermann, H. F.
- Broch family
- Broch, Franziska von Rothermann
- Broch, Hermann, 1886-1951
- Broch, Johanna Schnabel
- Broch, Josef
- Brody, Daniel, 1883-1969
- Bródy, Daisy
- Canby, Marion G. (Marion Gause), 1885-1974
- Critics -- Austria
- Critics -- Germany
- Critics -- United States
- Durzak, Manfred, 1938-
- Kahler, Alice Loewy
- Kahler, Erich, 1885-1970
- Krafft-Kennedy, Ludwig
- Levy, Edith Jonas
- Ludovyk-Gyömröi, Edith
- Lützeler, Paul Michael, 1943-
- Meier-Graefe, Annemarie, 1905-1994
- Pantheon Books
- Pick, Robert, 1898-
- Publishers and publishing -- Austria
- Publishers and publishing -- Germany
- Rhein Verlag
- Schlant, Ernestine
- Steinberg, Saul, 1914-1999
- Suhrkamp Verlag
- United States. Office of Strategic Services
- United States. War Department. Strategic Services Unit
- Untermeyer, Jean Starr, 1886-1970
- Videocassettes
- Weigand, Hermann J. (Hermann John), 1892-1985
- Wellwarth, George E., 1932-
- World War, 1939-1945 -- Personal narratives, American
- World War, 1939-1945 -- Prisoners and prisons
- World War, 1939-1945 -- Propaganda
- World War, 1939-1945 -- Underground literature
- Yamaguchi, Kōichi
- Title
- Guide to the H.F. Broch De Rothermann Papers
- Status
- Under Revision
- Author
- by T. Michael Womack
- Date
- February 1991
- Description rules
- Beinecke Manuscript Unit Archival Processing Manual
- Language of description note
- Finding aid written in English.
Part of the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library Repository
Location
121 Wall Street
New Haven, CT 06511
Opening Hours
Access Information
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