Papers of Albert and Christiane (Christl) Tugendhat (née Nechuta) of Vienna and London

The collection contains correspondence and ephemera of Albert and Christiane Tugendhat, documenting their lives in Austria and England. There are a considerable number of letters between Albert and Christiane in the collection, many of which were written during their separations, firstly during Albert's business travels in the 1920s and 1930s; secondly after the Anschluss when Christiane stayed in Vienna and Albert was in Czechoslovakia, before they moved to England in 1939; and thirdly during Albert's internment as an 'alien' during 1939-1940 and during his service in the Second World War.

Christiane's correspondence also refers to the establishment and running of her glove-making company Madame Crystal Ltd, and is interesting in depicting the situation of a self-employed female artisan immigrant in wartime London.

Other parts of the collection contain official papers gathered together to support the couple's emigration to the United Kingdom in 1939. There are also a considerable number of letters between other family members, and research papers into the history of the Tugendhat and Nechuta families.

Albert Tugendhat (1901-1983) was born in Bielitz, Silesia, which at that time was part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. In 1920, Bielitz became part of Poland and took the Polish name Bielsko. The Tugendhat family were German-speaking Austrians. Albert was the younger son of Samuel Tugendhat (1857-1940) and Gabriele Tugendhat, née Schick (1872-1957) of Vienna, Austria, and brother of Dr Georg Tugendhat (1898-1973), industrialist and economist. Albert also had a sister, Berta (1899-1988), who married Dr Walter Schiller. Samuel was the owner of a textile company.

By 1920, the family were living in Vienna. In 1921 Albert joined his father's company 'Awestem', a silk and rayon tape and fabric company based in Prague and Vienna. He travelled around Europe and the United States on company business. He eventually became Managing Director of the company.

He married Christiane Maria Nechuta (known as 'Christl') in 1926 and they settled in Potzleinsdorf in Vienna. They had no children. Christiane (1903-1990) was the younger daughter of Richard Nechuta (1866-1930) and Lotti Nechuta, née Ullrich (1871-1914) of Vienna. Richard Nechuta owned a velvet mill, which was incorporated into 'Awestem' after the First World War. Christiane had a sister Louisa (Aloisia Maria Sofie Luisa Zeiss, 1895-1988), whose son Dr Raoul Zeiss (1927-1998) emigrated to South Africa. Christiane's brother Rudolf Nechuta (1894-1917) was killed on active service in the First World War.

The Tugendhat family were Jewish, while Christiane's family were Christian. In 1938, Nazi Germany annexed Austria in the 'Anschluss' and began to bring in restrictions against Jews. Christiane stayed in Vienna but Albert was able to get permission to move to Prague, Czechoslovakia, in April 1938, to run the 'Silvet' company which was a sister company to 'Awestem'. Realising he should not return to Vienna, Albert and Christiane began to make plans to emigrate. Albert's brother Dr Georg Tugendhat was already living in London with his family and was able to provide guarantees for Albert and Christiane to apply for English entry visas. Christiane left Vienna for England in January 1939. Albert left Prague in March 1939 and travelled via Switzerland and Paris, arriving in Folkestone on 3 April 1939.

After the outbreak of the Second World War, Albert was interned in an 'enemy alien' camp in Huyton. He was released in November 1940 and enlisted in the British Army. He served in the Auxiliary Military Pioneer Corps (A.M.P.C.) from 1940 to 1943, based at Catterick Camp in Yorkshire. He moved to the secret Intelligence Corps from 1943 to 1945. The work of the Intelligence Corps appears in the book 'The M Room' by Helen Fry.

While Albert was interned, Christiane obtained permission to establish a business making hand-made high end leather gloves, flowers, belts, buttons and bags, known as Madame Crystal Ltd. It became a limited company in 1948 and went into voluntary liquidation in 1980. Upon discharge from the army, Albert continued to run his own business importing yarn from Austria, until the 1980s.

Albert became a naturalised British citizen in October 1946, following which Christiane was also able to declare acquisition of citizenship.

Albert died on 28 May 1983. After cremation at Golders Green Cemetery in London, his ashes were interred at Grinzing Cemetery in Austria. Christiane died on 23 February 1990. A memorial to her and other members of the Nechuta, Ullrich and Krasa families can be found at Friedhof Potzleinsdorf in Vienna.

From internal evidence, the collection was curated and gathered into labelled envelopes or bundles by Christiane Tugendhat in the 1980s, perhaps after Albert's death in 1983. She used many of the letters as sources for her manuscript of Tugendhat family history (see series MS 884/6/1). At the University of Nottingham, the collection was arranged into larger groupings according to principal recipient or subject matter. Within that, the original arrangement of letter bundles has largely been retained. Bundles are to be arranged chronologically.

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Online: Available on the Manuscripts Online Catalogue, accessible from the website of Manuscripts and Special Collections.

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Reprographic copies can be supplied for educational and private study purposes only, depending on access status and the condition of the documents.

The papers were acquired by the University of Nottingham in February 2011.

Papers of Dr Georg Tugendhat, industrialist and economist, concerning the Manchester Oil Refinery Limited and related interests, 1936-1964 (Tg)

Records of Madame Crystal Ltd and A. Tugendhat, glove maker; yarn importer, 1926-1990, including photograph albums, correspondence concerning Albert and Christine Tugendhat's move to England, and correspondence between Albert Tugendhat, Christine Tugendhat, George Tugendhat and others. V&A Archive of Art and Design (reference GB 73 AAD/1991/6)

Examples of gloves donated to the Museum of London in 1980