Werner von Boltenstern Travel Records Collection
Clay Stalls
William H. Hannon Library
Loyola Marymount University
One LMU Drive, MS 8200
Los Angeles, CA 90045-8200
Phone: (310) 338-5710
Fax: (310) 338-5895
Email: special.collections@lmu.edu
URL: http://library.lmu.edu/
© 2015
Loyola Marymount University. All rights reserved.
Werner von Boltenstern Travel Records Collection
Collection number: MS119
William H. Hannon Library
Loyola Marymount University
Los Angeles, California
- Processed by:
- Clay Stalls
- Date Completed:
- May 2015
- Encoded by:
- Clay Stalls
© 2015 Loyola Marymount University. All rights reserved.
Descriptive Summary
Title: Werner von Boltenstern travel records collection
Dates: 1929-1975
Collection number: MS119
Creator:
Werner von Boltenstern
Collection Size:
2 archival document boxes; 1 oversize box (2.1 linear feet)
Repository:
Loyola Marymount University. Library. Department of Archives and Special Collections.
Los Angeles, California 90045-2659
Abstract: The Werner von Boltenstern Travel Records Collection chiefly consists of government travel documents and the personal record-keeping
that von Boltenstern maintained during his world-wide travels.
Languages:
Languages represented in the collection:
English,
Latin,
German,
Chinese
Access
Collection is open to research under the terms of use of the Department of Archives and Special Collections, Loyola Marymount
University.
Publication Rights
Materials in the Department of Archives and Special Collections may be subject to copyright. Unless explicitly stated otherwise,
Loyola Marymount University does not claim ownership of the copyright of any materials in its collections. The user or publisher
must secure permission to publish from the copyright owner. Loyola Marymount University does not assume any responsibility
for infringement of copyright or of publication rights held by the original author or artists or his/her heirs, assigns, or
executors.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], Box and Folder number, Werner von Boltenstern Travel Records Collection, MS119, Department of Archives
and Special Collections, William H. Hannon Library, Loyola Marymount University.
Acquisition Information
Gift of Erica von Boltenstern, 2014. Accession number: 2014.49.
Werner von Boltenstern Biography
Werner von Boltenstern (1904-1978) was born in Berlin, Germany, and supposedly earned two doctorates. He also developed a
keen interest in photography and postcards. A world traveler beginning in 1929, von Boltenstern travelled through Africa,
the Middle East, India, Southeast Asia, and China.
Von Boltenstern moved to the United States by 1950 (Los Angeles). Von Boltenstern was a keen collector of postcards, and his
passion for them was realized here. He became the program director of the Southern California Postcard Club and authored
numerous pieces on postcards, including the pamphlet "An Introduction to Postcard Collecting," a fine guide to this pursuit.
His own collecting was prodigious, as evidenced by his million postcard collection, which he donated to Loyola Marymount University
in 1967, where it is now the
"Werner von Boltenstern Postcard Collection."
Chronology
| 1904 |
Birth of Werner von Boltenstern in Berlin, Germany. |
| 1929 |
Werner von Boltenstern begins his world-wide travels, arriving in Portugal. |
| 1929-1935 |
Von Boltenstern reaches Africa. Travels to all parts of the continent over the next six years. |
| 1935 |
Von Boltenstern arrives in Ramadi, Iraq. |
| 1935 |
Von Boltenstern travels through the Middle East, reaching India (Jodhpur). |
| 1937 |
After spending two years in India, von Boltenstern moves on to Burma (Myanmar) and then proceeds to Thailand and next to
Vietnam. He also probably travels through Cambodia.
|
| 1938 |
Von Boltenstern arrives in the Philippines. |
| 1939 |
Von Boltenstern travels to China, reaching Shanghai, where he will live for the next ten years. |
| 1949 |
Von Boltenstern leaves Shanghai for Taiwan. |
| 1949 |
Von Boltenstern arrives in Hong Kong. |
| 1950 |
Von Boltenstern immigrates to the United States, where he lives (Los Angeles) until his death in 1978. |
Collection Description
The Werner von Boltenstern Travel Records Collection consists of government identity and travel documents, letters of reference
for Werner von Boltenstern, his travel logs, and some personal items. A German citizen born in Berlin in 1904, Werner von
Boltenstern undertook his world travel in 1929, travelling through Europe, Africa, the Middle East, India, Southeast Asia,
and China. In 1939 he reached Shanghai, where he lived until 1949. Perhaps caused by the Chinese Communist takeover of Shanghai
in 1949, he left the city that same year and eventually came to the United States in 1950, where he settled in Los Angeles.
His identity documents always list his occupation as photographer, and he probably earned money through this means, on his
travels. It was true for his ten-year residence in Shanghai, which resulted in a large number of photographs of the Jewish
refugee community there. The collection is now part of the holdings of the Department of Archives and Special Collections.
To consult the collection guide, select this title:
Collection 50, Shanghai Photograph and Negative Collection.
The ledger found in Box 2, Folder 1, served as a travel log for his world journey from 1929 to 1939. It contains governmental
stamps and written notices of von Boltenstern's stay at places along his travels. He probably secured such official notices
to receive authorization for his stay in a locale, as well as to document his travels.
Of particular interest are the letters of reference that von Boltenstern obtained from persons in Shanghai, including members
of the Jewish refugee community there. The letters testify to his good relations with the community and his anti-Nazi sentiments.
As such the letters stand as a source for understanding life in that important Jewish refugee community, composed of Jewish
exiles from Nazi-ruled Germany and Europe.
Arrangement
This small collection came with no original order. Too small for series, the materials have been grouped in the box and folder
list by subject, eg, passports are found in folders 1 and 2 of Box 1.
Indexing Terms
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in
the library's online public access catalog.
Boltenstern, Werner von, 1904-1978
Travel--Boltenstern, Werner von, 1904-1978
Jewish ghettos -- China -- Shanghai -- History -- 20th century -- sources
Jewish refugees -- China -- Shanghai -- History -- 20th century
Related Collections
Digital Collection
The photographs and negatives that Werner von Boltenstern took of Shanghai, including its Jewish refugee community, are now
Collection 50, Shanghai Photograph and Negative Collection, in the Department of Archives and Special Collection. They have been digitized and can be viewed by selecting the following
title:
Werner von Boltenstern Postcard Collection
Box:Folder 1:1
Werner von Boltenstern United States passport.
1974
Box:Folder 1:2
"Deutsches Reich" (German Reich) passport of Werner von Boltenstern. Photocopy substituted for original because of fragility.
1942-1945
Box:Folder 1:3
Identification card and pass of Werner von Boltenstern issued by Taipei, Taiwan, police.
1949
Box:Folder 1:4
United States "Document in Lieu of Passport" affidavit for Werner von Boltenstern.
1949
Box:Folder 1:5
Italian document re Werner von Boltenstern presence in Asmara, Eritrea.
1933
Box:Folder 1ov:1
International Red Cross identification document for Werner von Boltenstern. Place of issue: Hong Kong.
1949
Box:Folder 1ov:2
Statement re support for Shanghai Jews and anti-Nazi positions of Werner von Boltenstern. From fifteen Jewish residents of
Shanghai.
undated
Box:Folder 1:6
Letters of reference re character and anti-Nazi positions of Werner von Boltenstern. Written by Shanghai residents, including
Jewish residents. From envelope entitled "Shanghai Papers Historical value..."
1946-1949
Box:Folder 1:7
Road map of Europe. Guide in German to postmarks.
undated
Box:Folder 1:8
Letter to Werner von Boltenstern from daughter Erica von Boltenstern.
undated
Box:Folder 1:9
Day planner of Werner von Boltenstern. Note pad re trips and addresses.
1974-1975
Box:Folder 1:10
Verlaengerungen ("Extensions") document for travels of Werner von Boltenstern, containing official stamps and permissions
to stay.
1929-1935
Box:Folder 2ov:1
Travel ledger of Werner von Boltenstern containing official stamps and permissions to stay.
1929-1950
