Identity area
Reference code
Title
Date(s)
- 1912-1939 / (Creation)
Level of description
File
Extent and medium
183 ff. (67 items, numbered 2-68) ; 250 x 200 mm. Guarded and bound at NLW in 1966.
Context area
Name of creator
Biographical history
Archival history
Immediate source of acquisition or transfer
Mrs F. J. Griffin (née Violet Reeks) (per Major Herbert J. Lloyd-Johnes, Coates, near Cirencester); Monmouth; Donation; July 1962
Content and structure area
Scope and content
Sixty-seven letters, 1912-1939, nearly all in German, mostly from Berta von Schiltberg, Munich, to the sisters Lilian and Violet Reeks at Appleton Manor, Berkshire, and Oxford, and later to Violet at Bristol and Monmouth. Schiltberg ran a pension (boarding house) for young ladies in Munich and the correspondence follows the two girls' stay with her.
The letters reflect Schiltberg's active and happy life before 1914 with many references to Munich high society and the music scene. There are numerous references to acquaintances such as the pianist Anna Hirzel-Langenhan (items 3-66 passim) and the composer and conductor Ludwig Berberich (items 8, 38, 43, 45-66 passim). Schiltberg writes on the social and economic misery in Germany during the First World War, the financial crisis of the 1920s and 1930s and her own increasing poverty. The post-war political upheavals and the disappointments and confusion of the time are also described (item 53). A frequent social guest at this time was a Herr Drexler (items 43-53 passim), possibly to be identified as Anton Drexler, founder of the German Workers' Party (DAP). Among Schiltberg's tenants from 1918 to 1923 was Leutnant Rudolf Hess, the future Nazi Party deputy leader, who is mentioned in two letters, dated 16 May 1919 (item 54) and 29 December 1935 (item 63); his future wife also lived at the pension. Six group and individual photographs, 1915-1919, mostly identifiable, are also included (items 38, 41, 44, 54).
Appraisal, destruction and scheduling
Accruals
System of arrangement
Arranged chronologically at NLW.
Conditions of access and use area
Conditions governing access
Readers consulting modern papers in the National Library of Wales are required to abide by the conditions noted on the 'Modern papers - data protection' form issued with their readers' tickets.
Conditions governing reproduction
Usual copyright laws apply.
Language of material
- German
- English
Script of material
Language and script notes
German, English.
Physical characteristics and technical requirements
Finding aids
Allied materials area
Existence and location of originals
Existence and location of copies
Related units of description
Notes area
Note
Title based on contents.
Note
Preferred citation: NLW MS 18122C.
Alternative identifier(s)
Virtua system control number
Access points
Place access points
Name access points
- Schiltberg, Berta von -- Correspondence. (Subject)
- Hess, Rudolf, 1894-1987. (Subject)
- Hirzel-Langenhan, Anna, 1874-1951. (Subject)
- Berberich, Ludwig. (Subject)
- Drexler, Anton, 1884-1942. (Subject)
- Reeks, Lilian, 1893-1971 (Subject)
- Reeks, Violet Madeline, 1895-1973. (Subject)
Genre access points
Description control area
Description identifier
Institution identifier
Rules and/or conventions used
Description follows NLW guidelines based on ISAD(G) 2nd ed.; AACR2; and LCSH
Status
Level of detail
Dates of creation revision deletion
August 2008.
Language(s)
- English
Script(s)
Sources
Archivist's note
Description compiled by Rebekka Schmich, Alexander Diethard and Rhys Morgan Jones;