The largest portion of this collection is made up of family and personal correspondence Series I. The restitution material Series III is also primarily composed of correspondence, but of a more bureaucratic and legal nature.
The rest of the collection Series II is a mix of artifacts and documents passed down or collected by various family members. Some are beloved mementos, and some are content-rich with historical detail. Other papers have been assembled during the course of genealogical research in the manner of an artificial collection. Although individual items survive as relics of life in Neustadt, the scope of the collection altogether is more a document of complex family relationships, the displacement of war, and the lives of emigrants in post-war Europe.
Collection is digitized. Follow the links in the Container List to access the digitized materials. The factory was called S. The business survives today as Frotex Industries.
Prior to this, many members of the wealthy family were prominent in the cultural and political life of Neustadt and the surrounding area. Most notable was Max Pinkus son of Joseph , patron of the arts, philanthropist, and friend of the author and Nobel laureate Gerhart Hauptmann. Paul Ehrlich, winner of the Nobel Prize in Medicine. The two central characters present in this collection come from the following generations: Hans Hubert Pinkus son of Max and Howard John Peters son of Hans.
They are the main correspondents found in Series I and appear to be responsible for compiling genealogical materials and preserving the family heirlooms found here. A veteran of the First World War when he spent three years imprisoned as a POW , Hans Hubert was twice married and the father of three by the time he was forced off the board of S. His first marriage, to widowed baroness Elfriede von Vietinghoff-Scheel, produced son John born Hans Joseph Pinkus and ended in an amicable divorce.
