- Date: Thursday 15 December 2016
- Categories: Legacies of War Seminar Series
Image: Ruhleben Horse-Box (detail), drawing by Robert Walker (Ruhleben 1917), produced by A. Page & Co., London. From the file of E.R. Vincent, LIDDLE/WW1/RUH/56. Reproduced with permission of Special Collections, Leeds University Library
A talk by Claudia Sternberg
Treasures of the Brotherton Gallery, Parkinson Court, University of Leeds, Woodhouse Lane, Leeds, LS2 9JT
In 1914, men in Britain and the Empire were mobilised to fight on the front. The populations at home braced themselves for war. But what happened to British husbands, wives and children who lived in Germany when war was declared? What became of tourists, seamen, professionals, academics and students who found themselves in the wrong place at the wrong time?
Drawing on diverse personal and official documents from Leeds University’s Liddle Collection, this talk introduces Ruhleben Camp near Spandau where over 5,000 British and colonial civilians were interned between 1914 and 1918. It presents biographical sketches for some of the internees and their families and considers social and cultural activities in the camp, Anglo-German relations, European mobility before the war and conditions at the time of repatriation.
Free event (Booking: bit.ly/2gG2ZPJ)
Alternative date and venue: 1 December 2016, Leeds Central Library (booking link)