us-005578-irn618481
type: RecordSet
archival history: The bracelet was donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2018 by Pamela Norman, friend of Elizabeth Deutschhausen and Margarethe Steiner.
biographical history: Elizabeth Cecilia Gabrielle Weigl (later Deutschhausen, 1902-1994) was born in Vienna, Austria-Hungary (now Austria), to Alfred C. and Ida H. Kling (1877-1962) Weigl. Elizabeth often went by the nickname, Elsie, and had one younger brother, Alfred (1906-1969). Elizabeth graduated from the Vienna Art School, where she studied art and theater set and costume design. She also designed lace, clothing, decorative boxes, and greeting cards. In the 1920s, she married Wilhelm Hans Deutschhausen (later William, 1893-1967), who was also born in Vienna. Wilhelm attended a Lutheran school and college before serving in World War I (1914-1918). After the war, he continued his studies, received a doctorate, studied Lutheran theology, and spent two years as a vicar teaching religion at public schools and colleges. In 1929, Wilhelm was ordained as a Lutheran pastor. When German troops entered Austria on March 12, 1938, they received the enthusiastic support of most of the population, including many members of the Austrian Protestant Church. Austria was incorporated into Germany, referred to as the “Anschluss,” the following day. The Austrian Protestant Church, as a whole, was very supportive of this annexation, believing it might place them on an equal footing with Catholicism, the majority faith in the nation. Many Protestant pastors, church leaders, and members demonstrated their willingness to take advantage of the Nazi regime’s political strength to serve their own interests. This included backing a group known as the Deutsche Christen (German Christians), which supported the creation of a “Reich Church” and a “nazified” version of Christianity. This group emerged within the German Evangelical Church during the 1920s and embraced many of the nationalistic and racial aspects of Nazi ideology. Many within the German Evangelical Church disagreed with the actions and beliefs espoused by the German Christians and formed an opposition group, the Bekennende Kirche (Confessing Church), …
physical characteristics and technical requirements: Heavy, rectangular, 98.6-percent gold bracelet crafted from melted-down Austrian ducats (coins), and embossed with Alpine flowers. The bracelet consists of five thin, equal-sized, square panels with very narrow sides and slightly curved surfaces. The face of each panel is inset within a low, raised border and decorated with a different, detailed flower, and its corresponding leaves and stems on a stippled background. The panels are connected to one another by small, thin, flattened oval links that pass through small holes in the corners and are soldered shut on the back. The three central panels have two links near the top and the bottom of each side. The leftmost and rightmost panels (when the flower stems are oriented downwards) each have two links along the sides flanking the central panels. Soldered to the back of each end panel is half of a hook closure that fastens the bracelet. A thin, rectangular bracket is centered on the back, left edge of the leftmost panel, and the rightmost panel has a flattened hook with a rounded end. The gold purity, and an unidentified hallmark and maker’s mark are stamped on the flat surface of the hook. The bracelet has an overall shiny appearance, particularly on the raised design elements. The back of the center panel has a small, square patch or repair along one edge. The backs of the panels have some discoloration throughout.
conditions of access: No restrictions on access
date: before 1939
has beginning date: 1939-01-01
has end date: 1939-12-31
has or had holder: us-005578
has or had identifier: 1
has record set type: Item
identifier: irn618481
record resource extent: overall: Height: 7.375 inches (18.733 cm) | Width: 1.375 inches (3.493 cm) | Depth: 0.250 inches (0.635 cm)
results or resulted from: 1
scope and content: Gold bracelet designed by Elizabeth Deutschhausen and commissioned by her parents before she fled Vienna, Austria in 1939. The bracelet was made using 98.6-percent gold from Austrian ducats (coins), which were melted-down and repurposed into panels depicting different Alpine flowers. Elizabeth and her husband, Lutheran Pastor Wilhelm Deutschhausen, were living in Vienna when Germany annexed Austria during the March 1938 “Anschluss.” Many in the Austrian Protestant Church, which included Lutheranism, supported the creation of the “Reich Church” in Germany and a “nazified” version of Christianity. Pastor Wilhelm Deutschhausen supported the opposing Bekennende Kirche (Confessing Church), and refused to comply with German authorities issuing religious mandates. In early 1939, after Wilhelm spent seven months underground, he and Elizabeth immigrated to England, at the invitation of the Bishop of Chichester, an international ally of the Bekennende Kirche. The couple settled in Birmingham, where he organized Austrian and German refugee congregations. On September 3, France and Great Britain declared war against Germany following its invasion of Poland, and Elizabeth and Wilhelm, as Austrians, became enemy aliens. They were interned at the Kitchener camp near Sandwich, Kent, until October, when an internment tribunal exempted them. In June 1940, as the risk of Germany invading England heightened, Wilhelm was interned at Hutchinson Internment Camp in Douglas on the Isle of Man. He was likely among the more than eight thousand internees that were released by December, following a shift in public opinion. In March 1945, Elizabeth and Wilhelm sailed to Canada at the invitation of the United Church of Canada. The Deutschhausens settled in Manitoba, and later moved to the United States.
title: Gold bracelet made from melted-down coins owned by an Austrian Lutheran émigré