von Bethmann Hollweg correspondence with explanatory notes regarding the documentation prepared by the youngest son of Joachim-Albrecht von Bethmann-Hollweg and his wife Barbara

Date(s): 1934-1943

Creator(s): various

Scope & Content: The deposit consists predominantly of handwritten letters exchanged between Joachim-Albrecht von Bethmann Hollweg (known to his wife as Mops) and his British born wife, Barbara nee Wadsworth (known to her husband as Bar), 1934-1943; ; also explanatory notes regarding the documentation prepared by the couple's youngest son, Alexander, 2010

The letters between Mops and Bar cover firstly their separation between 1934 and 1936, when Mops remained in Germany to participate in the 1936 Winter Olympics and secondly, and more extensively their separation due to Mops’s internment on the Isle of Man as a ‘Category B’ enemy alien, 1939-1943. Most of the letters are written in English although some, dating from their early marriage, are written in German. A number of letters from Bar have newspaper cuttings or snapshots of their children enclosed; some correspondence is in the form of greetings cards and telegrams.

As well as the couple’s correspondence there are assorted incoming personal and business letters from other parties, documenting attempts to obtain Mops’s release from internment in particular. Additionally, there is documentation written by the couple’s son, Alex including biographical profiles and notes about his parents’ letters.

Overall, the couple’s correspondence provides insights into the strains of internment on both the internee and his family left behind. Mops’s letters reveal much about the inner workings of the camps on the island. Their correspondence also doubles as a contemporary social commentary on the wider events of the war with the couple discussing the latest developments, from Churchill’s latest speech to the allies’ latest advance. Bar’s letters meanwhile, give a good general insight into civilian domestic life during the 1940s.

Administration / Biographical History: German-born Joachim-Albrecht von Bethmann-Hollweg, known affectionately to his wife as ‘Mops’, was interned as a ‘Category B’ alien in Douglas, Isle of Man during the Second World War from the end of 1939 to the middle of 1943; firstly at a camp on the Promenade and secondly at ‘P Camp’, Hutchinson Square. During this time his wife, Barbara (nee Wadsworth), known affectionately to him as ‘Bar’, remained in England and North Wales with their two sons, Dietrich (b.1934), later known as Derek and Alex (b.1936).

The couple had met in Munich in the early 1930s where Bar was attending finishing school whilst Mops was undertaking a course in business studies. They married in 1934 though Mops was not to move to England until after his participation, as an ice hockey player, representing Germany in the 1936 Winter Olympics. After this, the couple lived at Dairy House, Maresfield in Sussex until Mops’s internment when Bar and the children moved firstly to Anglesey and then to Buxton in Derbyshire. In 1943 Mops was released having secured forestry work on the Duke of Devonshire’s Chatsworth estate.

After the war, Joachim-Albrecht obtained an export agency, Neil Malcolm and Co., which he ran until the late 1950s. In addition he started a successful business, ‘Schatzinsel’, with his wife, exporting antique furniture from England to Germany. Throughout her life, Bar remained a keen writer and had two novels published: ‘Behind the Eye’ in 1953 and ‘Gentle Rain’ in 1956. She also wrote non-fiction, undertaking a study of Rococco Churches in Bavaria and South Germany and also a biography about her father, a noted painter, Edward Wadsworth, published in 1989. Mops retired around 1990. In later years the couple lived in South Kensington for a decade. Shortly after moving to Tunbridge Wells, Joachim-Albrecht died in 2001. In the last decade of her life, despite struggling with Alzheimer’s, Bar completed further written works. She died in a nursing home in 2004 and is buried beside Mops in Brompton Cemetery, London.

Language: English

Extent: 3 boxes

Collection: Manuscript Archive

Level: FONDS

ID number: MS 13831

Record class: Private

Access conditions: No regulations or restrictions are implemented on this material. Advance notification of a research visit is advisable by emailing library@mnh.gov.im

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