Werner Stein Collection

This collection documents the history of the Jewish community of Burgsinn (Bavaria, Germany) and the Stein, Hamburger, and Heinemann families that took an active role in this community from the late 18th century through the beginning of the 20th century.

An included timeline of the history of Burgsinn spans the years 1921-1997. The Burgsinn Jewish community papers cover the general history of the community and highlight the role the Stein, Hamburger, and Heinemann families played in it. These materials include copies of official documents such as pleas to barons and royal offices regarding permission to practice Jewish ceremonies and build or improve facilities for Jewish institutions including synagogues, schools, and mikvehs. These papers also cover elections of officers for the Jewish community (Cultusgemeinde) of Burgsinn. A selection of the birth, marriage, and death records of the Jewish community of Burgsinn from 1816-1863 is also included, as well as a few pages of the directory of Burgsinn property owners from 1881. Among the Stein, Heinemann, and Hamburger family papers are correspondence, school records, building and rental agreements, a few personal papers belonging to Arnold Stein, a map of Burgsinn, and a directory of the Altengronau cemetery where members of the Burgsinn Jewish community were buried. The second folder of Stein, Heinemann, and Hamburger family papers were originally held together in a binder and include receipts, contracts of sale, and a directory of residents of Burgsinn. Also originally held in the same binder was a complete copy of the 1926-1933 records of the Soldiers’ Club of Burgsinn (Protokollbuch des Soldaten Vereins Burgsinn). The materials related to the New World Club include a collection of reports on visits of former Jewish-Germans to their former cities in Germany in the early 1990s and a few related clippings. The miscellaneous materials include a flyer written by an author protesting that his books were not chosen to be burned in 1933, a copy of a 1938 letter regarding the actions planned for Kristallnacht, a speech by Michael Daxner titled “Die neue Judenliebe,” and various materials on the Berlin Jewish community. The photographs in the collection depict Burgsinn and some of the Stein, Heinemann, and Hamburger family members.

Most of the materials in the collection are photocopies. Typed transcriptions accompany most of the handwritten documents.