Jacqueline Hegbar Collection; Bertl Arnstein Oral History
Reference Code:
Repository: University of Akron Archival Services
Title: Jacqueline Hegbar Collection; Bertl Arnstein Oral History
Dates:
Extent: 5 cubic feet
Creator: Jacqueline Hegbar
Language: English
Access: Collection is open for research.
Finding Aid prepared by: Eric Brothers, 2000
Related Material:
Biographical Note:
Jacqueline Hegbar (?-2000) was a long-time resident of Akron, Ohio. Originally from Princeton, New Jersey, she earned her undergraduate and master’s degrees from the University of Akron, where she joined the teaching staff. She retired in 1992 as the head of the Classics Department. Ms. Hegbar died July 26, 2000.
Scope and Content:
The collection consists of five 90-minute audio cassette tape recordings of Jacqueline Hegbar’s conversations with Bertl [Bertha M.] Arnstein, née Jehle (1898-1999), wife of Karl Arnstein (1887-1974), Zeppelin engineer and Vice-President of Engineering, Goodyear-Zeppelin Corp. and later Goodyear Aircraft Corp. (See also the listing for the Karl Arnstein Collection, University of Akron Archives.) The recordings were made in Akron, Ohio in September 1992 and October 1995.
Bertl Arnstein served for 25 years on the board of the Akron Art Museum and taught languages at the University of Akron. The sound recordings contain Mrs. Arnstein’s recollections of her life, with emphasis on her childhood and young adulthood. The conversations include descriptions of growing up in Friedrichshafen, Germany at the beginning of the twentieth century, Mrs. Arnstein’s education at several Catholic convent schools after the death of both of her parents, life in Germany during World War I, and her experience as an immigrant coming to Akron in the 1920s. There are detailed descriptions of her family, home, schools, and education, as well as the religious, social and cultural customs she experienced in her youth. She also describes meeting her future husband and some particulars about the Zeppelin Company and its personnel.
Arrangement:
Five (5) C-90 audio cassette magnetic tape recordings in individual styrene boxes.
Container List:
TAPE 1, SIDE A: Sept. 3, 1992 conversation
(tape counter positions are approximate)
000: Bertl Arnstein’s biographical details, history of Friedrichshafen
062: Parents Bernhard Jehle and Ida Miller (Mueller); the five Jehle sisters
135: Bertl’s family home described
370: Bertl’s mother: memories of her illness (tuberculosis), hospital care, and death
535: Christmas memories, circa 1903
615: Public school, grades 1 – 3, and examinations
TAPE 1, SIDE B: continuation of Sept. 3, 1992 conversation
000: Bertl describes life of a first grade pupil, school and curriculum
075: Mother’s illness and death, Mueller family
170: Catholic convent school, grades 4 – 7, instruction, daily routine
272: Housekeeping practices in Germany including laundry, domestic activities
382: Sept.9, 1992: death of Bertl’s mother, funeral customs
545: Roman Catholicism in Friedrichshafen, religious traditions, memories of church
TAPE 2, SIDE A: continuation of Sept. 9, 1992 conversation
000: (The opening misidentifies recording date as October 1995)
004: Continuation of Sept. 9, 1992 conversation about church memories
012: Religious holidays (Christmas and Easter) and other festivals, Mass
125: Bertl’s life after mother’s death, Alfred Colsman
160: Colsman family’s influence
260: Memories of royalty, aristocratic society, class distinctions
388: Experience of shopping at a local German grocery, foodstuffs
470: Confirmation and Christmas meals, foods described
575: Bertl’s home: house interior details
640: Bertl’s sisters
TAPE 2, SIDE B: continuation of Sept. 9, 1992 conversation
000: Summer experiences, swimming lessons, grandparents’ garden
105: Autumn activities
170: German meals
209: Grandfather Mueller
220: Count Zeppelin and his airship, German Parliament visits Friedrichshafen
262: Attitudes toward education, more family history
299: Christmas traditions, baking, preserving foods, cookies
435: Christmas with grandparents, Christmas tree, Christmas presents
495: Childhood: restrictions, friends
548: Childhood in Germany, discipline, recreation
595: Grandparents’ Golden (50 years) Wedding Anniversary
TAPE 2, SIDE A: continuation of Sept. 9, 1992 conversation
009: More on anniversary, Mueller and Arnold families
073: Grandfather’s death
105: Hugo Eckener, his daughter Hannelise
190: Bertl attends boarding school in French-speaking district of Switzerland
220: Curriculum, school routine
280: Christmas at boarding school
330: Rules and rewards
350: Student friends, Russian girls
440: Academic achievements and changes at home, sisters’ lives
530: Spring and Autumn street fairs in Friedrichshafen described, another boarding school
TAPE 3, SIDE B: Sept. 11, 1992 conversation
000: En route to boarding school
015: Experiences at the Ursuline Convent School in Fribourg, Switzerland
230: Bertl studies, obtains degree to teach French language
270: Oct. 13, 1992 conversation: Friedrichshafen’s main street shops described in detail
375: Lifestyle, living standards, transportation described
445: Events connected with Zeppelin airships, parade, university students falling into lake
500: Count Zeppelin, flight of his “first” airship [actually the LZ 4] is described
585: German regimental parade, friendship and postal correspondence with officer
TAPE 4, SIDE A: continuation of Oct 13, 1992 conversation
002: Friendship with Officer Horst von Schwarze
050: Springtime bonfire festival on Lake Constance
110: bakery, confections described
128: New Year’s Eve traditions in southern Germany, pouring lead to prophesy future
170: Summer of 1914, time with sisters, outbreak of WW I, war euphoria
255: Bertl attends school of domestic arts in Lindau, Germany
350: Bertl meets future husband, Karl Arnstein, Spring 1915
480: Bertl attends teacher’s training school at Gross Sachensheim, near Stuttgart, 1915
TAPE 4, SIDE B: continuation of Oct. 13, 1992 conversation
000: Life at teacher’s training college, casualties of war remembered
033: College and its curriculum described, effects of WW I
140: Bertl’s second year at college
235: A visit to Nuremberg
280: Bertl’s sister moves to Berlin, Berlin culture
366: Food, home heating fuel supplies dwindle
400: Turnip meals
450: Class distinctions, aristocrats
520: Recording ends (tape ends at 682)
TAPE 5, SIDE A: Oct. 20, 1995 conversation
005: Bertl graduates with honors, does farm work
045: Job as a gardener at a private home during the war
100: Economic hardships, devaluation of German currency (mark)
120: Job as gardener at Zeppelin factory in Friedrichshafen
170: Bertl becomes workers’ dormitory house mother (Autumn 1918)
250: Bertl renews friendship, begins courtship with Karl Arnstein
310: Bertl spends summer of 1919 in Vienna with Arnstein’s family
410: Newlyweds in Friedrichshafen
440: Bertl prepares to immigrate to the United States, arrives in May 1925
510: Adapting to life in Akron, first home
540: Impressions of Akron, its culture, contrasts with Europe
637: Family life, children
TAPE 5, SIDE B: continuation of Oct. 20, 1995 conversation
000: Making friends, socializing in the U.S.
080: Home life
100: The Arnsteins’ children, their schooling (up to high school)
198: Bertl’s thoughts for posterity
207: Recording ends (tape ends at 680)