The research investigates the history of the correspondence between Sigmund Freud and Eduard Silberstein, his friend from Brăila on the Danube, which is now preserved in the Library of Congress (Washington, DC). The project aims to reconstruct the ‘itinerary’ of the letters, from Vienna and other places to Washington, via Brăila, Bucharest and Frankfurt am Main. In doing this, the project addresses a number of larger themes, such as the connections between Vienna and Brăila before and after the First World War, Jewish life in Brăila, the diverse and changing meanings of collecting, ownership, property and provenance, or the multifaceted East-West connections during the Cold War. Moreover, the project enables a discussion of under-examined aspects in the biography of literary historian Heinz Stănescu (1921-1994), who was in possession of these letters in the 1960s and 1970s.
Between September 2024 and August 2025, the project is supported by the Botstiber Institute of Austrian-American Studies.
