Scope and Content Note
The papers of Kurt Robert Eissler (1908-1999) span the years 1907-2015, with the bulk of material dating from 1950 to 1988. The papers are in English and German and contain correspondence, writings, research files, and printed matter documenting Eissler’s research and writings on Sigmund Freud and his activities as secretary of the Sigmund Freud Archives, an organization founded by Eissler and other psychoanalysts in 1951 to collect and preserve Freud’s letters and writings. Several of Eissler’s writings are represented in the papers. Also included are research files related to his book, Freud und Wagner-Jauregg vor der Kommission zur Erhebung militärischer Pflichtverletzungen (1979), concerning Freud’s testimony in an investigation of Julius von Wagner-Jauregg’s treatment of war neuroses during World War I. Prominent within these files is a large assemblage of photocopied Viennese newspaper articles dated 1913-1922. The collection also includes an article written by Eissler in 1981 critiquing Paul Roazen’s 1969 book on Freud and Victor Tausk entitled Brother Animal: The Story of Freud and Tausk. Accompanying a draft of Eissler’s article is correspondence between Eissler and Freud family members, associates, and scholars written soon after the publication of Roazen’s book. Among those with whom Eissler corresponded about Roazen are Erik H. Erikson, Ernst Federn, Anna Freud, and Edoardo Weiss.
Additions include the 2010 Addition and the 2022 Addition. The 2010 Addition contains formerly closed material and includes correspondence with Paula Fichtl, Ernst L. Freud, and Margarethe von Trautenegg, among others. The 2022 Addition includes Eissler's correspondence with John S. Kafka and a digital file containing a scan of Eissler's unpublished, typed book draft from 1947 on war and the army. A few chapters are not included in this draft, and some chapters were eventually published as articles.