The collection consists of the business and personal papers of the Tillmann family, mostly of Georg Tillman, and also of his wife Dorothy and son Wolf. A large part of the collection is business correspondence and financial records. There are also family photographs, and a number of commemorative coins and medals.
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Georg Tillmann collection
7 boxes
Georg Tillmann (born February 1882) was the son of Ludwig Tillmann, who had founded a private bank in Hamburg in 1894, and his wife Rosa Tillmann née Baer. The family was part of the Jewish community of Hamburg. Georg joined the business as a partner in 1911, after completing a commercial apprenticeship. His father’s employees Gustav (Gustave) M. Altmann and Otto Strassburger were also made partners. Georg served in the First World War, and was awarded the Iron Cross 1st and 2nd Class, and the Hanseatic Cross. Though the bank initially did well after the war, the Great Depression led to the dissolution of the company. Growing antisemitism in Germany led Georg to move his own business to Amsterdam, founding the investment company N. V. Beleggings Maatschappij Ingela in 1932. Georg married Dorothy Wolf, whom he met while in America, in 1911. Their son Wolf was born in Hamburg in 1912. Wolf went to Britain in 1933, and Georg and Dorothy joined him in 1939. The family later moved to the United States, and settled in New York. Georg Tillman died in November, 1941.