Kurt Tucholsky Museum Tour

Little is known about this Claire, who was named Else Weil in reality and later became Tucholsky’s first wife

We started retracing her steps after reading an entry in our visitor’s book.

An in-law niece has looked forward to this exhibition and was not disappointed. Gabriele Weil, London.

An in-law? Research had only revealed that Else Weil had a brother before. That this brother, Kurt Weil, had a daughter obviously slipped by the biographers.

We called her in London and received a parcel three weeks later containing documents about Else Weil: her birth- and marriage-certificates, a few job-references and letters. That was all Else Weil left to her niece – everything else had been confiscated by Nazis during the emigration in 1939 and had disappeared.

The parcel also contained two pictures, showing young Else Weil around 1910. The first photos that exist! You can see them in the display cabinet.

In summer 2008 we visited Gabrielle Weil in London. She handed the museum extraordinary documents from family history: for example a letter of naturalization from 1824 Prenzlau or her fathers ancestor passport.

With these materials we can document Else Weil’s background and life as it was never possible before.