Archival Research in Berlin
Budget / SalaryHourly project
TypeFreelance project
LocationRemote
Posted2 hours ago
Berlin Archival Research — Gregor Harlip / Atelier Harlip, Kurfürstendamm 24, Berlin, c.1924–1937
I am seeking a Berlin-based researcher with experience in Weimar-era archives to assist with specific enquiries relating to a society photographer who operated in Berlin from the early 1920s until 1937 for a book I am writing. (He was my greta uncle.)
Background
Gregor Harlip (born Grigory Kharlip, Odessa, 1893; died London, 1945) ran Atelier Harlip at Kurfürstendamm 24. Under a UFA contract he photographed the major stars of German cinema and attracted a prominent clientele from Berlin cultural and political life. He was simultaneously a practising lawyer and member of the Union of Russian Sworn Advocates in Germany from 1927 to 1933. He married twice in Charlottenburg — in 1926 to Anna Sophie Mücke (dissolved 1929) and in 1929 to Monte Rosa Hachnochi, from a prominent Berlin Jewish family. He left Berlin in 1937 and established a studio at 161 New Bond Street, London.
The Research Tasks
1. Personal and Professional Records — Landesarchiv Berlin
Alien registration records for Gregor Harlip as a Russian national resident in Berlin from approximately 1922 to 1937. Business registration records for Atelier Harlip at Kurfürstendamm 24. Court records from the Berlin Landgericht III relating to the dissolution of the first marriage in January 1929. Any police records or correspondence relating to the studio or its proprietor.
2. The Nazi Period 1933–1937 — Bundesarchiv Berlin-Lichterfelde
Records of the Reichskammer der bildenden Künste relating to Harlip as a commercial photographer operating after January 1933 — whether he applied for membership, was excluded, sought exemption, or is otherwise referenced. Records of the Reich Propaganda Ministry (Reichsministerium für Volksaufklärung und Propaganda) relating to the Atelier Harlip, to Harlip personally, or to the regulation of portrait photography studios on the Kurfürstendamm in the period 1933–1937. Any Gestapo records relating to Harlip or the studio.
3. The Goebbels Connection
The family account holds that Joseph Goebbels personally intervened in connection with Harlip's departure from Germany in 1937 — specifically that Goebbels warned him to leave because of his Jewish wife. Any documentary evidence of contact between Harlip and the Propaganda Ministry at senior level — correspondence, internal memoranda, files — would be significant. The Goebbels diaries (Institut für Zeitgeschichte, Munich, published in full) should be searched for any mention of Harlip or Atelier Harlip. Any Propaganda Ministry files referencing the studio would also be relevant.
4. Senior Nazi Contacts
The studio visitors' book contains a 1933 entry by Staatssekretar Dr Otto Meissner, head of the Presidential Chancellery under both Hindenburg and Hitler. Are there any records in the Bundesarchiv or elsewhere of contact between Meissner and the Atelier Harlip, or of other senior officials of the Nazi state using the studio professionally? More broadly, how did a prominent portrait studio on the Kurfürstendamm manage its relationships with the new regime's officials while also serving clients who were subject to Nazi persecution?
5. The UFA Contract — Deutsche Kinemathek
UFA production and personnel files relating to the Atelier Harlip contract. The precise nature of the commercial arrangement — staff photographer or freelance contractor, scope and duration — is not currently established. Any UFA correspondence or commissioning records mentioning Harlip or the studio.
6. The Illustrated Press — Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin
A systematic search of the Berliner Illustrierte Zeitung, Uhu, Dame and other major Weimar illustrated magazines from 1924 to 1937 for photographs credited to Harlip or Atelier Harlip. This would establish the extent and character of the studio's published work and its public profile during the Berlin period.
7. Disposal of the Studio, 1937
Any records relating to the transfer, disposal or closure of the Atelier Harlip premises or business assets following departure from Germany in 1937. Were the studio's assets subject to any confiscation, forced sale or Aryanisation process? Is there any record of what happened to the studio's client files, negatives or equipment?
8. General Questions
How did a Jewish photographer with a Jewish wife maintain a prominent commercial studio on the Kurfürstendamm from 1933 to 1937? What was the regulatory environment for portrait photographers of foreign nationality during this period?
What can we find abourt his reputation and profile in general .
I am seeking a Berlin-based researcher with experience in Weimar-era archives to assist with specific enquiries relating to a society photographer who operated in Berlin from the early 1920s until 1937 for a book I am writing. (He was my greta uncle.)
Background
Gregor Harlip (born Grigory Kharlip, Odessa, 1893; died London, 1945) ran Atelier Harlip at Kurfürstendamm 24. Under a UFA contract he photographed the major stars of German cinema and attracted a prominent clientele from Berlin cultural and political life. He was simultaneously a practising lawyer and member of the Union of Russian Sworn Advocates in Germany from 1927 to 1933. He married twice in Charlottenburg — in 1926 to Anna Sophie Mücke (dissolved 1929) and in 1929 to Monte Rosa Hachnochi, from a prominent Berlin Jewish family. He left Berlin in 1937 and established a studio at 161 New Bond Street, London.
The Research Tasks
1. Personal and Professional Records — Landesarchiv Berlin
Alien registration records for Gregor Harlip as a Russian national resident in Berlin from approximately 1922 to 1937. Business registration records for Atelier Harlip at Kurfürstendamm 24. Court records from the Berlin Landgericht III relating to the dissolution of the first marriage in January 1929. Any police records or correspondence relating to the studio or its proprietor.
2. The Nazi Period 1933–1937 — Bundesarchiv Berlin-Lichterfelde
Records of the Reichskammer der bildenden Künste relating to Harlip as a commercial photographer operating after January 1933 — whether he applied for membership, was excluded, sought exemption, or is otherwise referenced. Records of the Reich Propaganda Ministry (Reichsministerium für Volksaufklärung und Propaganda) relating to the Atelier Harlip, to Harlip personally, or to the regulation of portrait photography studios on the Kurfürstendamm in the period 1933–1937. Any Gestapo records relating to Harlip or the studio.
3. The Goebbels Connection
The family account holds that Joseph Goebbels personally intervened in connection with Harlip's departure from Germany in 1937 — specifically that Goebbels warned him to leave because of his Jewish wife. Any documentary evidence of contact between Harlip and the Propaganda Ministry at senior level — correspondence, internal memoranda, files — would be significant. The Goebbels diaries (Institut für Zeitgeschichte, Munich, published in full) should be searched for any mention of Harlip or Atelier Harlip. Any Propaganda Ministry files referencing the studio would also be relevant.
4. Senior Nazi Contacts
The studio visitors' book contains a 1933 entry by Staatssekretar Dr Otto Meissner, head of the Presidential Chancellery under both Hindenburg and Hitler. Are there any records in the Bundesarchiv or elsewhere of contact between Meissner and the Atelier Harlip, or of other senior officials of the Nazi state using the studio professionally? More broadly, how did a prominent portrait studio on the Kurfürstendamm manage its relationships with the new regime's officials while also serving clients who were subject to Nazi persecution?
5. The UFA Contract — Deutsche Kinemathek
UFA production and personnel files relating to the Atelier Harlip contract. The precise nature of the commercial arrangement — staff photographer or freelance contractor, scope and duration — is not currently established. Any UFA correspondence or commissioning records mentioning Harlip or the studio.
6. The Illustrated Press — Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin
A systematic search of the Berliner Illustrierte Zeitung, Uhu, Dame and other major Weimar illustrated magazines from 1924 to 1937 for photographs credited to Harlip or Atelier Harlip. This would establish the extent and character of the studio's published work and its public profile during the Berlin period.
7. Disposal of the Studio, 1937
Any records relating to the transfer, disposal or closure of the Atelier Harlip premises or business assets following departure from Germany in 1937. Were the studio's assets subject to any confiscation, forced sale or Aryanisation process? Is there any record of what happened to the studio's client files, negatives or equipment?
8. General Questions
How did a Jewish photographer with a Jewish wife maintain a prominent commercial studio on the Kurfürstendamm from 1933 to 1937? What was the regulatory environment for portrait photographers of foreign nationality during this period?
What can we find abourt his reputation and profile in general .
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