Literary archive of the German emigre author and playwright Julius Berstl (1883-1975). The collection includes typescripts, manuscripts, personal and professional correspondence, personal and biographical documents, theater memorabilia, and a small number of literary journals, both in English and in German. Julius Berstl was born on August 6, 1883 in Bernburg, Germany to a theatrical family. Upon graduation from university, he became the dramaturg, or literary advisor, of the renowned Barnowsky Theaters in Berlin from 1909-1924. From 1924-1936, Berstl worked as dramaturg for the Berlin Gustav Kiepenheuer Theaters. During this period, Berstl wrote two of his most well-known plays: "Chu the Sinner" and "Dover-Calais." But with the rise of Hitler and the increasing restrictions on the creative arts, Berstl emigrated in 1936 to England. In 1943 he became a scriptwriter for the London BBC, for which he wrote over 60 radio dramas. He retired from his work at the BBC in 1951 and moved to New York City, where he began to write novels in earnest. His wife told him that after she died he should move to Santa Barbara; after she passed away in 1964, he kept with her wishes and moved. He lived in Santa Barbara until he passed away in 1975.

Julius Berstl was born on 1883 August 6 in Bernburg, Germany to a theatrical family. On 1883 September 11, he was baptized in the Lutheran church (Schlosskirche St. Aegidien, Bernburg). Julius and his father only obtained German citizenship in 1898, even though the family had lived there since Julius' birth. His father, Norbert Berstl (Austrian), and his mother, Franziska Schreiner, were both actors and later directors in the 1870s-1890s. His mother had also come from a theatrical family, and her own mother and father had been actors and directors in German theater during the 1850s and 1860s.

12.43 Linear Feet 29 boxes

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