Category Archives: Places

‘The old conditions cannot continue, and some new form of political and economic existence must be found’

All of history seems to be contained in the letters of ordinary people living in extraordinary times.  We may know what backdrop will emerge, but there are seldom enough traces to discover the fate of the individual.  The following letter, sent by a Dr Friedrich M Urban of Brünn a short while after the Nuremberg rally of 1938 to Professor Godfrey Thomson, is a fascinating example:

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EUA IN1/ACU/G1/6/2/2, ‘Letter to Thomson from Dr Friedrich Urban’

It is not clear from Thomson’s papers how he knew Urban – quite possibly he had met him while studying in Strasburg, during which time he undertook a tour of Europe.

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All from Coll-1310/1/2/3, which contains photographs of Thomson’s European tour of 1909

Urban’s letter shows a great deal of affection for Thomson and his wife, referring to the kindness of the Thomsons to their girls.  Speaking to Thomson as an old friend, Urban thanks him for the suggestion of medicinal honey to help with his gallbladder, and reports on the method’s success!  But the mood in the letter quickly turns:

Much has happened since we met and took those pleasant walks in the parc [sic] of the Spielberg.  Our country was involved in a catastrophe which is bound to have the most serious consequences for its citizens.  The old conditions cannot continue and some new form of political and economic existence must be found.

The first consequence was that we had to separate from our children.  When we listened to Hitler’s speech at Nurenberg [sic] – for who did not? – we understood that he contemplated violent measures against our country.  We wished to have the girls out of the way and asked Mr and Mrs Sanderson and Dr Fernberger for hospitality for our children.  We got positive answers at once and managed to get the girls across the German frontiers.  It was in the nick of time, for three weeks later the frontiers were closed.

There is much about the letter that is perplexing – initially, I thought Urban might have been writing from Brunn in Austria, but for the addition of the umlaut (both Germany and Austria have regions called Spielberg to confuse matters further).  He could also have been writing from Brno in the Czech Republic, which does not seem an unlikely option considering Brno is home to Spielberg castle and was captured by Germany in 1939.  However, it does seem rather unlikely that Urban would use the German spelling of his town in that instance.

If we are to assume that Urban is writing from Germany, his phrase ‘our country was involved in a catastrophe’ is an interesting one.  The ‘catastrophe’ he refers to is likely the annexation of Austria by Germany, which took place earlier in the year.  It was a catastrophe caused by Germany’s actions rather than their involvement, but he makes a clear distinction between the activities of the Nazis in this instance and ‘our’ country, his country, refusing to identify one with the other.

Urban tells how the girls stayed in London with the Sandersons for a few weeks, before sailing to New York where they remained in the custody of the Fernbergers in Philadelphia.  He mentions how they are waiting for a letter describing the girls’ travels, but can’t hide quite how much they are missed:

We miss the girls tremendously, but inspite [sic] of this we thank God every day that they are not here and that we have friends who look after them. 

He talks about how life at Brunn will likely become ‘rather difficult’, and asks for Thomson’s help in finding teaching work in Britain. While he accepts that this may be impossible, and admits his chances of securing work in Britain are ‘very small’, Urban remains optimistic nonetheless – thankful even – that his daughters are safe, and his health good.  I can find no trace of Urban – whether he and his wife were ever reunited with their daughters remains a mystery.  For me, this serves to make the letter, which describes the plight of millions throughout Europe from the perspective of one individual to another, all the more touching.

 

If you have any information regarding Dr Urban, do please comment.

 

The love story of Hector and Andromache…

Valentines Day.  A wonderful time of year when  we can indulge in levels of cynicism and sarcasm simply unacceptable at any other!  However, here in the archives our hardened hearts are often shamefully disarmed by the traces of friendship, romance, and (dare I say it!) love we come across every day within our collections.

Those of you familiar with Greek mythology may know the story of Hector and Andromache – Hector the bold Trojan warrior, and Andromache, his beautiful wife.  For those who do not, the story doesn’t end happily, with Hector killed at the hands of Achilles.  Today’s Valentine’s blog is about another Hector and Andromache – Hector Thomson, the son of Godfrey Thomson, and his rather beautiful wife, the aptly named Andromache.

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Hector as a young boy with Thomson

From the outset, despite their fateful monikers, the pair seemed a rather unlikely match.  Hector, according to one family friend, was socially awkward, quiet, and was most likely to be found with his nose in a book.  Andromache, according to the traces of her in the letters of others, was the sort of house guest welcome at every home, who could bring cheer to even the most despondent of households.

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Sadly we have no photographs of Andromache in the archives. This scan was given to us by a relative.

Hector began his career as an Oxford educated Classicist.  Perhaps surprisingly when compared to the accounts we have regarding his boyhood, he finished his degree with a yearning of adventure, and entered the diplomatic service, working in Baghdad.

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Telegrams from Hector to his family sent during his time in Baghdad

At some point in 1939, he found himself teaching at the English School in Nicosia, Cyprus.  It was here the somewhat socially awkward Hector met the vivacious Andromache!  The pair quickly fell in love – in one letter from his father, Hector is told:

We would dearly love to hear from you, and especially to hear more about Andromache, but I know communication must be precarious.

His parents, of course, had their own love story.

Hector also fell in love with Cyprus – his letters to Thomson from this period discuss both the language and the religion of the Cypriots in great detail.  Details which Thomson with his enquiring mind would have found fascinating.  References to Andromache in the surviving letters are brief, with the Thomson’s sending their love and asking how she is – but we know in later years that the Thomsons, along with many of their friends and acquaintances, would affectionately call her ‘Mackie’.

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Scenes from Hector’s time in Cyprus

After their wedding, they settled in Aberdeen where Hector eventually became senior lecturer in Ancient and Modern Greek at the University of Aberdeen.  Hector’s teaching techniques owed a lot to his Father’s career as a psychologist and professor of education, throughout which Thomson emphasised the need to gain and keep the attention of students and pupils.  This is by no means an uncommon idea now, but one which was new and innovative in Thomson’s time.

His Father’s methods are reflected in the many ways Hector grabbed and maintained the attention of his students, apparently even making yoghurt in one lecture!  He endeavored not only to teach his students Greek, but invited them to share in his love of Greek culture.

Following his retirement, he and Andromache spent their time between the Thomson’s former home in Ravelston Dykes, Edinburgh (left to Hector in their will), and Cyprus.  Hector died on 19th February 2008, aged 91.  According to her relations, Andromache was bereft after his death, and decided to move back to Cyprus permanently.  A few short months later, she too passed away.  Hector and ‘Mackie’ were married for 67 years – they were a true love match.  Now that, dear readers, is better than chocolates, flowers, and stuffed toys clutching hearts!

 

 

 

A few of my favourite [festive!] things

At the start of the festive period, I had the best of intentions to post a festive blog post for every day of advent.  Alas, there isn’t much mention of Christmas in Thomson’s papers – even his family photo albums are a decidedly festive free zone!  However, having three working days left until we break up for the festive period, I thought I would share (you’ve guessed it!) three festive items from the collection…

1) Christmas card to Thomson from his students…

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Christmas Card inside

Quite possibly the best Christmas card I’ve ever come across – spelling ‘Christmas’ in mathematical terms.  Genius!  And if that wasn’t zany enough, there is a wonderfully nebulous poem on the inside!

In all seriousness, this is one of my favourite items in the collection – it is signed by 13 of Thomson’s students, who were obviously very fond of him, and I bet the master of Factorial Analysis loved it!

 

2) Christmas card from Andromache

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Andromache was the wife of Thomson’s son, Hector.  Hector was a classicist, so the mythical love story of Hector and Andromache would have been one familiar to him.  She is a frequent character in the collection, and is mentioned throughout Thomson’s correspondence by friends and family – Thomson and Lady Thomson appear to have been particularly fond of her.  The card depicts her native Cyprus.

3) A Christmas gift from Lady Thomson:

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Christmas message

The gift is a thoughtful one – Thomson was brought up near Newcastle, and the sights in this book would have been familiar to him.  The book has clearly been well loved and frequently referred to, and has some beautiful images of Newcastle.

Holy Jesus Hospital Surtees

With that, I’d like to wish you all a lovely Christmas and a productive New Year!

If anyone recognises their signature or that of anyone else’s on the card, do please get in touch (Emma.Anthony@ed.ac.uk)

 

A few of my favourite things…III

In his mid 20s, Thomson found himself studying for a PhD under the formidable talents of Nobel Prize winining physicist, Karl Ferdinand Braun, at the University of Strasburg.  Today’s object is from this period, and likely held a great deal of sentimental value to Thomson:

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Thomson’s watch fob

The watch fob bears the initials of Thomson’s student ‘verein’ or club, the M.N.St.V, (the mathematical and natural science student verein), which he described as a humble version of the expensive ‘Burschenschaften’, elite student clubs which exist to this day and often involve duals (or Mensur):

In the Mensur…the fighters are protected by goggles and nose-piece, by mattress-like chest and arm protection, must not move or flinch, hold the straight pointed rapiers above the head, touching and at the word…strike at each other’s head and faces.  Two seconds crouch with drawn swords and at the first touch they strike up the combatant’s swords.  this is repeated until the referee gives a decision, or for a given number of rounds.  Often one man gets all the cuts, and the other none.  they are mostly on the head, but also on the forehead and cheek and chin, a ‘Durch-zieher’ cutting across both cheeks almost horizontally.  Then senior medical students give hasty and not very sterile assistance and stitchings, and the heroes drink beer and swagger (if well enough) through the next few days.

The Education of an Englishman, p.53

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Physikalisches Institut, Strasburg, March 1906

The scarring resulting from the dual was, and is, seen as a badge of honour, and students often deliberately irritated the wound, packing it to ensure it was widened.  In Thomson’s humbler club, duals were rare and usually in response to an insult or wrong doing.  No uniforms were required, but members wore a watch fob with the verein’s arms.  Thomson’s Leibbursch*, Carl Andriessen (whose name is engraved on the watch fob with Thomson’s) gave him his.

After World War I, Thomson lost contact with many of his German friends, many of whom were killed or missing.  However, the inscription of one book in his collection, Das Deutschland Buch, shows he kept in touch with Andriessen:

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Inscription from Das Deutschland-Buch

The book is inscribed with a message to Thomson and his wife Jennie, thanking them for their hospitality, and dated June 1931 – 25 years after Thomson left Strasburg.  The more fluent among you might notice he refers to them as ‘Aunt’ and ‘Uncle’, which made me wonder if the giver was in fact Andriessen’s son, though he refers to them as old friends, which would suggest otherwise.  It contains many beautiful images of Germany, a country Thomson loved his whole life, despite the ravages of two World Wars:

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I found the book rather touching – despite the remaining animosity of their prospective nations after World War I, the two clearly have a strong friendship, and Andriessen is able to give Thomson a book about the beauty of his own country, a country Thomson also loved.

For Thomson, the time he spent in Strasburg was one of the happiest periods of his life.  It allowed him to indulge in his passion for research, undertaking intensive work on Herzian waves. His German became fluent, and he immersed himself in German culture.  The watch fob, which he treasured for all those years, perhaps served as the perfect reminder of his life there, and a reminder of enduring friendship.

*’A second year student who adopts a freshman, shows him the ropes, and can claim services in return’

With many thanks to Sarah Noble, LHSA Conservation Intern, who patiently spent a morning showing me how to make bespoke museum boxes and made the lovely box for Thomson’s watch fob!