Berger-Hamerschlag, Margarete

Identity Statement

Reference code(s)	: GB 0367 MBH
Held at	: Institute of Modern Languages   Click here to find out how to view this collection at http://modernlanguages.sas.ac.uk/library ›
Full title	: Berger-Hamerschlag, Margarete
Date(s)	: [1902-2008]
Level of description	: Fonds
Extent	: 8 archive boxes, 3 over-sized archive boxes
Name of creator(s)	: Hamerschlag | Margarete Berger- | 1902-1958 | artist and writer
Detailed catalogue	: Click here to view repository detailed catalogue

Context

Administrative/Biographical history:

Margarete Berger-Hamerschlag studied at the Kunstgewebeschule in Vienna and then began a career as an illustrator and artist. Berger-Hamerschlag also designed costumes for the theatre. Berger-Hamerschlag fled Austria as Nazism began to take a grip on the country. She and her husband Josef Berger arrived in Britain in 1936. After the outbreak of the Second World War, Josef Berger was interned for a while in the Isle of Wight. Berger-Hamerschlag taught in local youth clubs. In 1955, Berger-Hamerschlag's diaries and drawings were published as "Journey into the Fog". She was particularly well-known for her paintings of teddy boys.

Content

Scope and content/abstract:

This archive contains the personal papers of the Austrian-British artist and designer Margarete Berger-Hamerschlag. Just over half the collection consists of her artwork, which includes designs and sketches for costumes for theatre or dance performances or as fashion wear; handmade picture books and illustrated poetry books; sketches and pastel drawings of theatre scenes sketched either during performances or from memory; and portraits and illustrations for her own and other writers' stories. Notable theatre costumes include designs for the Schauspielhaus in Vienna in 1928; the Teatro degli Indipendenti in Rome in 1928 and 1930; the pioneer of modern Israeli dance, Yardena Cohen in 1935; Italian revue theatre in 1954; Austrian choreographer Gisa Geert in 1954; and the Austrian exile puppeteer Bruno Tublin. There are also a number of fashion designs for the actor Elisabeth Bergner. In addition to the artwork, there are over two boxes of typescripts and manuscripts of MBH's writing, most of which remained unpublished. This includes her children's stories such as 'The Bungalow at Boxhill' and 'The Lost Tune', stories incorporating elements of MBH's autobiography, and a large number of poems reflecting on her experiences in Palestine in the 1930s and her life in the UK after 1936. There is also a set of paintings depicting key moments of MBH's childhood and an autobiographical text covering the period 1902-1918. As well as her artwork and literary writing, there are 14 folders of correspondence, the majority of which is that exchanged by MBH and her husband, Josef Berger, during the numerous periods when they were separated, including his internment as an enemy alien in 1940. There are also some letters to and from other members of the Berger family and various friends and officials, particularly concerning Berger's release from internment. The archive also contains a small number of official documents and fragments of MBH's diaristic writing.

Access & Use

Language/scripts of material:

English

German

Italian

French

Hebrew

System of arrangement:

The records in this archive have been ordered into the following series: 1) Personal papers; 2) Correspondence; 3) Autobiography (both text and image); 4) Literary writing; 5) Handmade picture and poetry books and cards; 6) Illustrations for children's stories; 7) Fashion and theatre costums; 8) Theatre sketches; 9) Other artwork; 10) Youth club work; 11) Records of exhibitions and publications; 12) Other miscellaneous items. As far as possible the principle of original order was followed to create these series and where it was necessary to make more coherent groupings of material, chronological order was also taken into account.

Conditions governing access:

Open. At least 48 hours notice should be given before a research visit with exact details of files to be consulted.

Conditions governing reproduction:

Finding aids:

Listed to file level.

Archival Information

Archival history:

Immediate source of acquisition:

Allied Materials

Related material:

Publication note:

Description Notes

Archivist's note:

Rules or conventions:
Compiled in compliance with General International Standard Archival Description, ISAD(G), second edition, 2000; National Council on Archives Rules for the Construction of Personal, Place and Corporate Names, 1997.

Date(s) of descriptions:
2010-12-01; revised May 2020.