Collection Summary
Peter Heller Papers
1925-1992
1925-1992
MSS80722
Heller, Peter,
1920-
825 items
2 containers
.8 linear feet
German
English
Collection material in
German and
English
Manuscript Division, Library of
Congress
Washington, D.C.
Author and educator.
Correspondence, patient case notes, poetry, and other writings by Heller
relating to Anna Freud's psychoanalysis of him as a child in Vienna,
Austria.
Selected Search Terms
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the LC Catalog. They are grouped by name of person or organization, by subject or location, and by occupation and listed alphabetically.
People
Blos, Peter. Peter Blos papers.
Burlingham, Dorothy T. Dorothy T. Burlingham papers.
Erikson, Erik H. (Erik Homburger), 1902-1994. Erik H. Erikson papers.
Freud, Anna, 1895-1982. Anna Freud papers.
Freud, W. Ernest, 1914- W. Ernest Freud papers.
Heller, Peter, 1920-
Heller, Peter, 1920- Eine Kinderanalyse bei Anna Freud (1929-1932). 1983.
Rosenfeld, Eva Marie, 1892-1977. Eva Marie Rosenfeld papers.
Ross, Victor, 1919- Victor Ross papers.
Schmiderer, Mary Burlingham, 1917-1974. Mary Burlingham Schmiderer papers.
Valenstein, Katrina Burlingham, 1919- Katrina Burlingham Valenstein papers.
Organizations
Hietzing School.
Subjects
Child analysis.
Education--Austria--Vienna.
Private schools--Austria--Vienna.
Psychoanalysis--Austria--Vienna.
Occupations
Authors.
Educators.
Provenance
The papers of Peter Heller, author and educator, were purchased by the
Library of Congress in 1990 and 1992. An addition was given by Heller in
1991.
Processing History
The papers of Peter Heller were arranged and described in 1991. The
collection was expanded and revised in 1996. The finding aid was further
revised in 2008.
Copyright Status
The status of copyright in the unpublished writings of Peter Heller is
governed by the Copyright Law of the United States (Title 17, U.S.C.).
Access and Restrictions
The papers of Peter Heller are open to research. Researchers are
advised to contact the Manuscript Reading Room prior to visiting. Many
collections are stored off-site and advance notice is needed to retrieve these
items for research use.
Preferred Citation
Researchers wishing to cite this collection should include the
following information: Container number, Peter Heller Papers, Sigmund Freud
Collection, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.
Biographical Note
Date
Event
1920, Jan. 11
Born, Vienna, Austria
1929
1932
Analysand of Anna Freud
Student, Hietzing School, Vienna, Austria
1938
Fled Austria
circa 1940
Interned in England and then sent to Canada
1943
Married Katrina Burlingham (divorced)
1944
B.A., McGill University, Montreal, Canada
Immigrated to the United States
1947
Naturalized as a United States citizen
1951
Married Christiane Menzel
Ph.D., Columbia University, New York, N.Y.
1951
1954
Instructor in German, Harvard University, Cambridge,
Mass.
1954
1968
Associate professor, professor, and Commonwealth Professor,
University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Mass.
1967
Published with Edith Ehrlich
German Fiction and Poetry
. New York:
Macmillan
1973
Appointed professor of German and comparative literature,
State University of New York, Buffalo, N.Y.
1983
Coedited with Günther Bittner
Eine Kinderanalyse bei Anna Freud
. Würzburg:
Königshausen & Neumann
1990
Published
A Child Analysis with Anna Freud
, translated by
Salomé Burckhardt and Mary Weigand and revised by the author. Madison, Conn.:
International Universities Press
1992
Published
Anna Freud's Letters to Eva Rosenfeld
. Madison,
Conn.: International Universities Press
1998, Nov. 7
Died, Buffalo, N.Y.
Scope and Content Note
The papers of Peter Heller (1920-1998) span the years 1925-1992 and
consist of material relating to the psychoanalysis of Heller by Anna Freud
between 1929 and 1932 when he was a child in Vienna. Freud kept notes of
Heller's analysis and in 1974 forwarded the entire file to him. Included in the
papers are original jottings, drawings, and poetry by the analysand, as well as
reproductions and copies of correspondence between Heller and Freud, 1972-1981,
discussing Freud's gift of the items to Heller and his subsequent use and
publication of the material.
The collection illustrates Anna Freud's early methods as an analyst
and represents ideas and values expressed in her book,
The Ego and the Mechanisms of Defence
(1937). Heller
marked and numbered the material after receiving it and edited it for two
versions he published. The first,
Eine Kinderanalyse bei Anna Freud
, coedited with Günther
Bittner, appeared in 1983, and the second,
A Child Analysis with Anna Freud
, translated by Salomé
Burckhardt and Mary Weigand, was published in 1990.
The papers also include files relating to the Hietzing School
conducted by Dorothy T. Burlingham, Eva Marie Rosenfeld, and Anna Freud in
Vienna between 1927 and 1932. Most of the school's students were either
undergoing analysis like Heller or had parents in analysis. The files consist
of correspondence, transcripts of interviews and conversations, reminiscences,
writings, and responses to a questionnaire prepared by Heller concerning the
school's founding, administration, and progressive curriculum based on the
"project method" and psychoanalytic pedagogy. Correspondents include Dorothy T.
Burlingham and Eva Marie Rosenfeld; the school's first teachers, Peter Blos and
Erik H. Erikson; and a number of its students, including Mary Burlingham
Schmiderer ("Mabbie") and Katrina Burlingham Valenstein, Eva Rosenfeld's son,
Victor Ross, and Anna Freud's nephew, W. Ernest Freud.
Arrangement of the Papers
This collection is arranged alphabetically by type of material or
topic and thereunder chronologically.
Container List
Container
Contents
1
Analytic case notes, analysis of
Heller by Anna Freud,
1929-1932
1929-1932
(4
folders)
1
Correspondence with Anna Freud,
1972-1981
1972-1981
1
Writings
1
Eine Kinderanalyse bei Anna Freud
(first draft),
undated
undated
1
Poetry,
1930, undated
1930, undated
2
Hietzing School, Vienna,
Austria
2
Aichhorn, August,
1974
1974
2
Blos, Peter,
1931, 1975-1983
1931, 1975-1983
2
Burlingham, Dorothy T.,
1974-1975, undated
1974-1975, undated
2
"B" miscellaneous,
1974-1992, undated
1974-1992, undated
2
DeForest, Judy,
1983-1989
1983-1989
2
Erikson, Erik H.
2
Correspondence,
1959, 1980-1989, undated
1959, 1980-1989, undated
2
Writings,
1930-1931, 1975
1930-1931, 1975
2
Freud, W. Ernest,
1970-1992
1970-1992
2
"G" miscellaneous,
1982-1991
1982-1991
2
Heller, Peter,
1991-1992
1991-1992
2
Inventory of files,
undated
undated
2
"I-M" miscellaneous,
1982-1990
1982-1990
2
Pictorial material,
1925-1935, undated
1925-1935, undated
2
Questionnaire,
undated
undated
2
Rosenfeld, Eva Marie,
1972-1977, undated
1972-1977, undated
2
"R-S" miscellaneous,
1973-1991
1973-1991
2
"Weihnachtszeitung," school
Christmas journal,
1928-1929
1928-1929