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An Unusual Wedding Gift

Object in Showcase

Dark brown cardboard key with a rolled up note inside

Cardboard key for the wedding of Margarete Apt to Georg Korant; Jewish Museum Berlin, Gift of Stephanie Wells, photo: Jens Ziehe

Margarete Apt (1882–1942) and Georg Korant (1874–1937) received an unusual gift for their wedding on 4 October 1903 in Breslau. The dark brown key is hollow and made of cardboard.

A Wedding Poem

When opened, the key reveals a rolled-up note for the bridal couple bearing a song titled "Altes Eisen" (Old Iron). The lyrics, loosely translated, go:

Yes, you laugh
That it's so daft
A tingling tongue at such a thing
How fine, we said,
That it's been made,
Georg and Grete's romance ring.

The Family Collection

This key is part of an extensive collection that we received from the granddaughter of the bride and groom. The collection includes letters, photographs, and documents that shed light on a German-Jewish family in the first half of the twentieth century – from the First World War through persecution, escape efforts, and deportation under Nazi rule.

Vain Efforts to Emigrate

Georg and Margarete Korant moved to Berlin as newlyweds. When her husband died in 1937 and her daughter emigrated to the USA in early 1939, Margarete Korant tried to leave the country for the United States or Cuba. Her letters to her daughter describe her situation in Berlin after war had broken out and her futile attempts to leave the country. On 25 January 1942, she was deported to Riga where she was murdered.

Title Cardboard Key for the Wedding of Margarete Apt to Georg Korant
Collection Material Culture
Location and year of origin Breslau, 4 October 1903
Medium Cardboard
Dimensions 29,5 x 8 x 2,5 cm
Acquisition Gift of Stephanie Wells

 

A printed poem

Celebration song lyrics for the wedding of Margarete Apt and Georg Korant, Breslau, 4 October 1903; Jewish Museum Berlin, Gift of Stephanie Wells, photo: Jens Ziehe

Selected Objects: Collection Jewish Object: Material Culture (10)

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  • Collection Jewish Object: Material Culture

    Our objects from material culture recount Jewish life stories from Germany, attesting to athletic achievements, weddings, professional and military careers, but also disenfranchisement, persecution, and emigration.

  • Blue and white flag with Star of David on the blue background.

    Flag with the Star of David

    In 1935, Martin Friedländer hung a blue and white flag from his window, making a confident statement against the racist Nuremberg Laws

  • A bag filled with several letters.

    Frieda Neuber’s Leather Pouch

    Shortly before being deported to Theresienstadt, Frieder Neuber gave this leather pouch to her niece. The letters inside it document her desperate attempts to leave the country

  • Various crumpled documents with Hebrew letters, a shoe and a bag

    Memmelsdorf Genizah

    In February 2002, workers renovating a house discovered a burlap sack filled with papers and personal items when they opened up a section of the ceiling. The house had been owned by Jews from 1775 to 1939

  • Model of a ship.

    Model of the Cargo Steamer Max

    The Hamburg shipowner Arnold Bernstein received this model of his first ship in 1929 as a gift for his company's tenth anniversary. Eight years later, his career ended abruptly. He was detained and only managed to escape Germany at the last minute

  • Photo of three medals on a velvet cushion.

    Max Haller’s Collection of Medals

    Max Haller fought in the First World War for the Imperial German Navy. When SA members threatened him during the April Boycott of 1933, he pointedly placed a velvet cushion with his military distinctions in the shop window

  • Dark-brown cardboard key containing a rolled-up piece of paper

    Cardboard Key for the Korants’ Wedding

    Margarete Apt and Georg Korant received an unusual gift for their wedding on 4 October 1903 in Breslau. The dark brown key is made of cardboard and can be opened

  • A blue sign with text.

    Dr. Oscar Hirschberg’s Office Signs

    A total of seven office signs used by Dr. Oscar Hirschberg document both his career as a practicing physician and the political changes and antisemitic exclusion during the period of Nazi rule

  • Brown-leather wallet with thirty-one keys spread out.

    The Sommerfelds’ Thirty-One Keys

    Thirty-one keys – that's all that remains of the luggage the Sommerfeld family took with them when they emigrated from Berlin. They only managed to leave for England at the very last minute – just before the Second World War broke out

  • Bronze statue of a rower.

    Challenge Trophy from the Oberspree Jewish Rowing Club

    The member of the Oberspree Jewish rowing club who logged the most kilometers in the water over the course of a year was awarded a challenge trophy. Fred Eisenberg won the award three years in a row

  • A hammer with counting stamp.

    Stamping Hammer, Invented by Gustav Maletzki

    This stamping hammer, made around 1930, is one of the patented inventions for which the apparel furrier earned several awards. In 1938, Gustav Maletzki was forced to escape Germany and brought the hammer to exile in Bolivia

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