Ernst G. Preuß
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The exlibris of Ernst Gustav Preuss
In 2020 an ex-libris of Ernst G. Preuß could be offered for restitution. The ex-libris was kindly entrusted to the Central and Regional Library of Berlin by the heirs.
Ernst Gustav Preuß was born on 24 June 1891 in Berlin. His father was the state law expert and politician Hugo Preuß (1860-1925), his mother Else Preuß née Liebermann (1869-1948). He studied political science and economics in Berlin, Cambridge and Munich and then worked for AEG. From 1921 on, he was head of the socio-political department and was in charge of the supervision of AEG's company welfare facilities. In addition, he published numerous writings and articles on social policy issues.
In Nazi Germany, Ernst G. Preuß was persecuted as Jewish. After he was forced to leave AEG in 1937, he emigrated to Great Britain in the same year. In London, he initially worked as a patent lawyer and published two books, The Canker of Germany in 1940 and Merchants of Death in early 1945. In England, he also married his second wife, Margarethe Meyerstein (1897-1976), who had also fled Germany because of anti-Semitic persecution. Ernst Gustav Preuß died in London on 31 May 1966.
The ex-libris was part of the ex-libris collection of the Berlin City Library, the route of access into the collection is unclear.
Additional information
- Irmer, Thomas: "There is no better cure for the German canker" Ernst G. Preuss und die Lehren aus der deutschen Geschichte. In: Häntzschel, Hiltrud u.a. [Hrsg.]: Exil im Krieg 1939-1945. (Krieg und Literatur Vol. XXII). Göttingen: V&R unipress, 2016. S. 159 ff.