The William H. Rey Library is the Germanics Department’s main reference facility as well as our departmental seminar room. The core of the Library is the donated collection of Professor and Chair Emeritus Willy Rey, who passed away in the Spring of 2007. Professor Rey was an internationally celebrated scholar, prolific author and literary-cultural critic on German and Austrian thought of the 19th and 20th centuries. He was the recipient of the German Bundesverdienstkreuz among many other honors.
Professor Rey first established the collection in the late 1970’s and continued to contribute volumes until his death. The collection was further enhanced through generous donations in honor of Professor Ernst Behler and through a major gift from Professor Emeritus Ludwig Kahn of Columbia University. The collection continues to grow both through gifts of books and monetary donations to the W. H. Rey Library Fund, administered by the Department of Germanics. The Rey Fund allowed the Department to hire a librarian, Kris Unsworth, to create an electronic catalogue of the entire collection. She worked closely with Professor Rey on this project and continues to consult with Professor Emeritus Gunter Hertling as the library evolves and grows. The facility was renovated in 2003 and now hosts the Germanics Lecture Series, seminars, and receptions for distinguished visitors. |
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The Lowenfeld Collection was donated by the heirs of Dr. Berthold Lowenfeld (1901-1994). Dr. Lowenfeld was born and raised in Vienna, Austria, and, by the time he emigrated in 1938, had become a friend of the literati who would later be known as the Viennese Modernists. In the United States, Dr. Lowenfeld became a key researcher with the American Foundation for the Blind and, from 1949 to his retirement in 1964, was the Superintendent of the California School for the Blind. For further information on Dr. Lowenfeld’s long and notable career, please see http://www.aph.org/hall_fame/bios/lowenfeld.html.
Dr. Lowenfeld’s library includes first editions of the works of early twentieth-century modernists such as Stefan Zweig, Hugo von Hofmannsthal, Arthur Schnitzler, Peter Altenberg, Richard Beer-Hofmann and Robert Musil. Included as well are the collected works of Goethe, Heinrich Heine, Nestroy, Thomas Mann and Rainer-Marie Rilke. The highlight of the collection is the complete 37-year run of Karl Kraus’ satirical journal Die Fackel, as well as first editions of the works Kraus chose to publish in collections.
The Lowenfeld Collection came to the Department of Germanics in 1995 through the efforts of Dr. Lowenfeld’s nephew, F. Anthony Placzek. Tony continues to support the collection through his Placzek Family Foundation. With this support, the Department was able to hire a librarian, Kris Unsworth, who catalogued the works and brought the library facilities up to archival standards. Both the collection and the continued generosity of the Placzek Family Foundation enhance one of the Department’s major research and teaching strengths, namely the study of early twentieth century literary and cultural movements. |
