​Welcome to the official website of the Edith Stein Archive in Cologne
About us
The Edith Stein Archive in Cologne is a research institute dedicated to the philosopher and Carmelite nun Edith Stein (Saint Teresia Benedicta a Cruce). The archive's inventory includes around 25,000 sheets of Edith Stein's autographs and typescripts, photographs and other documents, her publications in German and in many other languages (e.g. Spanish, Italian, English, French, Japanese) as well as numerous publications of secondary literature (multilingual). In our reference library we also collect research literature on the philosophy of the first half of the 20th century as well as on contemporary history and the Jewish tradition. Our archive is located on the grounds of the monastery "Maria vom Frieden" of the Carmel Community, to which Edith Stein belonged. As a result of secularisation, the "Maria vom Frieden" convent was dissolved in 1802 and the convent church was converted into a parish church in 1803. When Edith Stein entered the Carmel, the Carmelite nuns therefore lived in the convent that had been built in the meantime at Dürrener Straße 89. Nevertheless, we can be proud that Edith Stein visited our church "Maria vom Frieden" (then still a parish church) for a short time to pray on the last day before she left Germany forever. A stumbling block in front of the church is a reminder of this fact:
© Monika Adamczyk-Enriquez
Our objective
On the one hand, our aim is to protect and preserve Edith Stein's legacy. On the other hand, we want to promote both public and academic interest in Edith Stein. We therefore organise various events, both on site and online, such as lectures, conferences, and book presentations. It is also possible to visit the archive as an individual or as a group to learn more about Edith Stein and our work. Furthermore, we enable scientists to conduct research at the archive to benefit from our inventory and network. Through our doctoral colloquia and study groups, we support young academics in particular in their careers.
Our history
After the end of the Second World War, Father Herman Leo Van Breda, who had rescued the Husserl estate in Leuven, enquired about the whereabouts of Edith Stein's manuscripts. These were then found in a house in Herkenbosch, where they had been deposited by the Carmelite nuns who had fled Echt. Two manuscripts were found in the cellar of the convent in Echt. All these manuscripts were then taken to the Husserl archive in Leuven on the 27th of March 1945. There, Father Van Breda's colleague, Lucy Gelber, was commissioned to review and edit Edith Stein's writings. Friar Romaeus Leuven was later added to this project. In 1955, however, Lucy Gelber left the Husserl Archive and took Edith Stein's writings with her to her private flat in Brussels, where they stayed nearly 40 years. The process of beatification required the collection of documents and the interviewing of contemporaries. Sister Teresa Margarete Drügemöller and then, above all, Sister Amata Neyer carried out invaluable and intensive work in this regard. They also conducted lengthy negotiations to reappropriate the manuscripts for the Carmel community. It was then clarified in the 1990s that the rightful owner of Edith Steins manuscripts was the Carmel of Cologne, whereupon all the manuscripts were transferred to Cologne in 1992. Researchers were then for the first time able to inspect the manuscripts under the care of Sister Amata. In 2010, a separate archive building with a manuscript repository and a reading room was built. Under the expert direction of Sister Antonia Sondermann, the manuscripts were restored and digitised. Researchers can now consult the digitised manuscripts in the archive and use the reference library for international Edith Stein research.
