Wilhelm Levison Collection 1823-1977 Bulk dates: 1930s

The collection documents Wilhelm Levison’s personal life through family documents and correspondence. The biggest part of the collection contains circulars, announcements and declarations of the “Grossloge” (of the Independent Order of B’nai B’rith )collected by Josef Freundlich.Series I contains personal documents, such as correspondence regarding private, but mostly work-related letters; documents with personal information on Wilhelm Levison and his parents; and a biography that focuses on his professional life.Series II contains correspondence concerning the genealogy of his wife, Ella(?) Freundlich.Series III contains documents from the early time of National Socialism, mostly circulars from the University of Bonn.Series IV contains circulars and protocols of the "Grossloge fuer Deutschland" of the Independent Order of B’nai B’rith, collected by its member Josef Freundlich, Wilhelm Levison's father-in-law.Article about Wilhelm Levison by Hans Liebeschuetz, 'University remembers Historian' AJR Information, September 1977.Wilhelm Levison (1876-1947) was a German historian from Duesseldorf, Germany. His family was originally from Siegburg, Germany. He studied History and Classical Philology at the Universities of Bonn and Berlin and then started to work for the publication series “Monumenta Germaniae Historica” under Bruno Kusch (1857-1940). In 1903 he became a lecturer at the University of Bonn in “History of the medieval ages” and “Auxiliary Historic Sciences.” In 1909 he was given the title of “Professor” and in 1931 he was made a “Doctor of letters honoris causa” by the University of Durham, England. He requested to emigrate in 1935, but was denied and sent into retirement. He was able to leave for Durham in 1939. His work mainly concerned shedding light on the “Dark Ages”. Wilhelm Levison died in Durham, Great Britain, on January 17, 1947.In Bonn there is a street named after him: the Wilhelm-Levison-Strasse near the Poppelsdorfer Schloss.9-page inventory.ProcesseddigitizedMeyer, Arnold Oskar. Verband deutscher Historiker. Verband Nationaldeutscher Juden. Agnetendorf. ORT (Organization for Rehabilitation through Training). Philippson, Alfred