Albin Schram (1926–2005) was one of the greatest collectors of autograph letters by shapers of world history. He was born in

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and List of cities in the Czech Republic, largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 milli ...

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

n parents. He studied law at Vienna University and worked in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

and Switzerland. After the annexation of Czechoslovakia, he was conscripted into the

Wehrmacht The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the ''Heer'' (army), the '' Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmacht''" replaced the previo ...

in 1943. Schram was a voracious collector of letters, owning manuscripts written by literary, historical, musical, political and scientific figures across 500 years. He was a wealthy Austrian banker who pursued his hobby from his mansion in

Lausanne, Switzerland Lausanne ( , , , ) ; it, Losanna; rm, Losanna. is the capital and largest city of the Swiss French speaking canton of Vaud. It is a hilly city situated on the shores of Lake Geneva, about halfway between the Jura Mountains and the Alps, and fac ...

. The letters were kept in a filing cabinet adjoining the laundry in the basement of the house. He is said to have collected some 1000 letters, written by royals, scientists, writers and philosophers. They date between the 15th and 20th Centuries, and represent a broad range of countries and languages.

References

*[1
Letters of Donne, Napoleon, Gandhi up for auction in London in July
*[2
Treasured letters up for auction
*[3
Filing cabinet in Lausanne opens its secrets
*[4
Some details of the life of Albin Schram

Sources

*''Daily Telegraph'', Monday 6 June 2007
One filing cabinet held 500 years of history
*[http://www.abc.net.au/worldtoday/content/2007/s1943113.htm Letter collection goes under the hammer]
THE ALBIN SCHRAM COLLECTION OF AUTOGRAPHED LETTERS, Sale 7411
{{DEFAULTSORT:Schram, Albin 1926 births 2005 deaths Czechoslovak emigrants to Austria Book and manuscript collectors