Collection context
Summary
- Creators:
- Reimann, Günter, 1904-2005
- Abstract:
- Includes correspondence, writings, notes, and printed matter, relating to international economic conditions, and to national socialism and communism in Germany.
- Extent:
- 69 manuscript boxes (27.6 Linear Feet)
- Language:
- German
- Preferred citation:
-
[Identification of item], Günter Reimann papers, [Box no., Folder no. or title], Hoover Institution Library & Archives
Background
- Scope and content:
-
Acquired by the Hoover Institution in 2008, the Günter Reimann papers describe the life of a German-American journalist, author, economist and intellectual. Living from 1904 until 2005, Reimann bore witness to and participated in many pivotal events of 20th century German history. These events included World War I and the collapse of the German Empire, the years of the Weimar Republic, the rise of Hitler and Nazism, World War II and the life of an émigré in exile, the Cold War division of Germany, and the collapse of the German Democratic Republic and reunification of Germany in 1990.
As a member of the Communist Party in Germany during the 1920s and 1930s, he was particularly active in resisting the rise of Nazism as well as becoming an opponent of Stalinism within the Communist Party during the 1930s, which subsequently led him to give up membership in the party. Although most of his papers from this phase of his career had to be abandoned when he fled Germany in 1934, much of his later correspondence and writings reflect on this period, and provide ample source material for the researcher.
Reimann published several works about Nazi Germany prior to and during the war years, but in 1947 he established a financial newsletter, the International Reports on Finance and Currencies, and his editorial work on this publication as well as economic and business consulting absorbed much of his time in the following decades. With the collapse of East Germany and the unification of Germany in 1990, his activities in the Communist Party during the 1930s received new scholarly attention in the former East Germany, and led Reimann to write and publish several books about that period of his life during the 1990s. In addition to his book Berlin-Moskau 1932, which was an account of his trip to the Soviet Union and his disillusionment with the ascendant Stalinism of this period, he also published a collection of his correspondence from the 1940s with Herbert Wehner, the former communist who became an influential leader in the Social Democratic Party in West Germany during the 1960s and 1970s. Reimann's papers contain many manuscript drafts and fragments of the texts for these books, as well as autobiographical vignettes used in some of his writings, and subject material he collected while working on these books.
Günter Reimann was born Hans Steinicke. In consequence of his political activities he assumed various pseudonyms in his life. Most of all he used his official adopted name Günter Reimann. Other pseudonyms were Robert Braun and Hans Anders. Alternatively he applied several spellings of the mentioned names. Therefore you will find in the papers the following versions of his name: a) Günt(h)er (German version) or Guent(h)er (English version) b) Reiman(n) or Reimen(n) c) R(obert) Braun or R(obert) Brown d) Hans Anders.
The collection is divided into six series and includes a variety of material such as correspondences, speeches, writings, articles, newspapers and books.
- Biographical / historical:
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Date Event 1904 November 13 Born, Hans Steinicke, Angermünde, Germany1919 Member, Free Socialist Youth1920-1924 Member, Communist Youth League1923-1926 Student, Berlin School of Economics (Degree in Micro and Macro Economics) and Berlin University1924-1935 Member, Communist Party of Germany (with the pseudonym Günter Reimann)1925-1926 Leader, Revolutionary Students League1925-1930 Editor, economic section, Die Rote Fahne (central newspaper of Communist Party of Germany)Since 1930 Freelance writer, numerous articles about the world economy1930 and 1932 Research study trips, USSR1931 Economic Advisor, Western European Trade Delegation of the USSR, Berlin1932 Investigation on the changes in the structure of the working class after the Great Depression and its impact on labor organizations (performed at the request of the Comintern)1933-1934 Organiser, underground resistance, Berlin Editor, Gegen den Terror (underground weekly)1934-1937 Residence in London (after flight via Prague, Vienna, Paris), research studies about the international finance system1938 Emigration to New York, USAAuthor, <title render="italic">Germany – World Empire or World Revolution</title>1939-1945 Director of International Research, International Statistical Bureau, New York, and Editor, Foreign Letter1939 Author, The Vampire Economy – Doing Business under Facism1941 Author, The Myth of the Total State1942 Author, Patents for Hitler1944 Acquired U.S. citizenship1945-1947 Opposition to Trading with the Enemy Act in order to allow CARE-packages for Germany1947-1983 Founder and Editor-in-Chief, International Reports on Finance and Currencies (1983 sale to Financial Times, London)1966 Author, The Challenge of International Finance1968 Author, Der Rote Profit – Preise, Märkte, Kredite im Osten1973 Author, The Future of The DollarSince 1984 Biographical and historical works, travels to Europe and Asia1993 Author, Die Ohnmacht der Mächtigen and Berlin-Moskau 1932. Das Jahr der Entscheidung2004 February 19 Awarded the German Federal Cross of Merit (First Class), New York2005 February 5 Died, New York - Acquisition information:
- Materials were acquired by the Hoover Institution Library Archives in 2008.
- Arrangement:
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The collection is organized into 6 series: Biographical File, Correspondence, Writings, Autobiography/Memoirs, International Reports on Finance and Currencies, and Printed Matter.
- Physical location:
- Hoover Institution Library & Archives
- Rules or conventions:
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Access and use
- Restrictions:
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The collection is open for research; materials must be requested in advance via our reservation system. If there are audiovisual or digital media material in the collection, they must be reformatted before providing access.
- Terms of access:
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For copyright status, please contact the Hoover Institution Library & Archives.
- Preferred citation:
-
[Identification of item], Günter Reimann papers, [Box no., Folder no. or title], Hoover Institution Library & Archives
- Location of this collection:
-
Hoover Institution Library & Archives, Stanford UniversityStanford, CA 94305-6003, US
- Contact:
- (650) 723-3563