Guide to the Hans Höchersteiger Papers MSS.3398
Höchersteiger, Hans
- Publication:
W.S. Hoole Special Collections Library, The University of Alabama
Mary Harmon Bryant Hall
May 2011
500 Hackberry Lane
Box 870266
Tuscaloosa, Alabama, 35487-0266
205.348.0500
archives@ua.edu
- Creation:
This finding aid was produced using the Archivists' Toolkit 2011-05-16T16:19-0500
- Language Usage:
English
- Description Rules:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Hans Höchersteiger Papers
- Unit ID:
MSS.3398
- Repository:
W.S. Hoole Special Collections Library, The University of Alabama
- Quantity:
0.1 Linear feet (diary, letters, postcards, photographs, etc.)
- Dates:
1938-1944
- Abstract:
Papers of a World War II German POW held in Canada.
- Access Restrictions:
Conditions Governing Access note
None
- Acquisition Information:
Provenance
Gift of Wade Hall, 2006
- Preferred Citation:
Preferred Citation note
Hans Höchersteiger Papers, W.S. Hoole Special Collections Library, The University of Alabama
- Processing Information:
Processed by
Martha Bace, 2011
Scope and Contents note
The collection contains letters and postcards of Hans Höchersteiger, a Technical Sergeant of the Luftwaffe during World War II. Höchersteiger was captured in May 1941 and was held first in England and then in Canada. All the letters and postcards from Höchersteiger are to his family in Stuttgart, Germany, and are written in German. There is no translation for them at this time.
There are also letters from the German Red Cross to Höchersteiger's family (probably his father) concerning his whereabouts after being captured. These letters are also in German and only a cursory translation was made to determine their subject matter. There is also one letter to Höchersteiger from his father, toward the end of the war, talking about some vocational training and night school. There is a diary, also in German (no translation available), covering the period from 1 April to 20 July 1938.
The collection also contains a couple of handmade booklets of poetry and cartoons, probably created at Neubiberg Air Base in 1938. There is also something called a "Flieger-Meldung" (Flight Message), which appears to be a booklet of lecture notes or flight observations. Each page represents a flight and includes observations (indicating altitude and time) and one or more maps. The booklet is in German and there is no translation available at this time.
Finally, there are seven photographs, only two of which are identified on the back.
Biographical/Historical note
Hans Höchersteiger was a Technical Sergeant in the German Luftwaffe during World War II. He was a prisoner of war, held first in England and then in Canada, from May 1941 to the end of the war.
Diary, 1 April - 20 July 1938 Box SC0071 Folder 3398.01
Neubiberg Air Base Periodicals, March 1938 Box SC0071 Folder 3398.02
Flight Notes and Observations, 10 May - 20 October 1938 Box SC0071 Folder 3398.03
Correspondence, Outgoing - POW Letters and Postcards, 16 June 1941- 28 March 1944 Box SC0071 Folder 3398.04
Other Correspondence - 20 June 1941 - 30 July 1944 Box SC0071 Folder 3398.05
Photographs Box SC0071 Folder 3398.06