Julian J. Obermann’s Correspondence with Carl A. Rathjens As Preserved in the Staats- und Universitätsbibliothek Hamburg Carl von Ossietzky, Nachlass Carl Rathjens, and Yale University Library, Archives and Manuscripts, Julian Joel Obermann papers (MS 330)

Julian Joel Obermann (1888–1956), who had taught as a Privatdozent at the University of Hamburg from the winter semester of 1920/21 to the summer semester of 1923, had developed a deep friendship with Carl A. Rathjens (1887–1966), and the two remained in regular contact during the following decades, when Obermann was first in New York and later in New Haven. Their remarkable correspondence is preserved in two places: the Carl Rathjens papers in the Hamburg Carl von Ossietzky State and University Library, and the Julian Joel Obermann papers (MS 330) in the Yale University Library, Archives and Manuscripts. I consulted the Julian Joel Obermann Papers at Yale University Library on February 4–6, 2025, and have read the correspondence at the Staats- und Universitätsbibliothek on several occasions in recent years, and have also been provided with digital images of the exchange. I am grateful to both institutions for allowing me access to the material. This overview of the material will hopefully be of some use to others interested in either of these remarkable personalities.