Overwhelming added value for reading and regional history research

"Not exactly overwhelming was the first impression that the city of Kassel made on me - albeit in the middle of the night. The darkness of the streets and squares - for even the Königsplatz was very sparsely lit - struck me as being quite different from other large cities." This is how Hans Hoche, born in Breslau in 1872, describes his first impressions of Kassel in his "Kasseler Erinnerungen" (Memories of Kassel)when he arrived by night train from Berlin in January 1899. Over the next 28 years, Hoche gradually opened up northern Hesse, which had been unknown to him until then, and which became a new home for him. Well-connected in the cultural world of Kassel, Hoche did not limit his explorations to the city of Fulda itself. He repeatedly roamed into the surrounding area and in the three volumes of his "Memoirs"has left behind an impressive testimony to Kassel and northern Hesse in terms of breadth and depth. It encompasses the larger dimensions of regional history and provides fascinating insights into the Kassel cultural scene between the turn of the century and the Weimar Republic.

Hoche's memoirs are in the form of contemporary contact prints of the typewritten original in three volumes in the holdings of the State Library Department. Helmut Bernert, a long-time user of the holdings at Brüder-Grimm-Platz and guardian of the wills of the Landes- und Murhardsche Bibliothek, came across this treasure during his research. He initiated the digitization of the volumes by the University Library (UB), transcribed the text, and has now presented a valuable edition of the complete work. This offers a great added value for reading and regional historical research through an introduction and the index of persons to all four partial volumes.

The entire edition is available on KOBRA, the web repository of the UB Kassel, for online reading and for downloading to one's own terminal device. The digitized copies of the contact prints can be viewed and downloaded on the Kassel digitization platform ORKA:
https://orka.bibliothek.uni-kassel.de/viewer/toc/1549031358556/

"A Quarter Century of Kassel Memories" in the KOBRA web repository: https://kobra.uni-kassel.de/handle/123456789/14571

Contact:
Claudia Martin-Konle, Head Librarian
Kassel University Library - Regional Library and Murhard Library of the City of Kassel
Tel: 0561 804-2117
Mail: direktion[at]bibliothek.uni-kassel[dot]de  

Dr. Timo Kirschberger
Kassel University Library
Deputy Head of Department IV: State Library
Tel.: 0561 804-7339
kirschberger[at]bibliothek.uni-kassel[dot]de