Albert Salomon Family Collection

Albert Salomon was born on December 8, 1891, the eldest son of the Berlin merchant Ernst Salomon and Marianne née Bunzel. The Salomon family originally had Sephardic roots, and came via Holland and Pomerania, with their ancestor Salomon Isaac settling in Berlin in 1765. Albert Salomon had a younger brother, Richard, who died in Auschwitz but whose wife and daughter were able to flee Germany. His father's sister was the social reformer Alice Salomon, known for her work in women's social welfare.

An accomplished student at school, Albert Salomon received his Abitur from the Reformgymnasium Charlottenburg in 1910. He studied first at the University of Berlin, where he found interest in the teachings of various individuals and disciplines, but especially in the work of sociologist Georg Simmel. He moved on to the University of Freiburg, was introduced to the philosophy of Heinrich Rickert, and then went to the University of Heidelberg. Here he came into contact with a diverse group of individuals and areas of study. Among very many others, these included the works of Friedrich Gundolff and Max Weber, about whom he would later write several books and articles. It was in Heidelberg that he would meet others who became well-known in sociology, such as Emil Lederer, Karl Mannheim, Gustav Radbruch and Georg Lukacs.

During World War I he worked first as a stablehand and later in a field hospital. In 1921 he received his doctorate in sociology from the University of Heidelberg. For a time he worked as a bookkeeper at a bank to support himself, and later for his father in his sheepskin import business, while studying philosophers such as Weber in the evenings. He also worked with Rudolf Hilferding on his publication Die Gesellschaft. From 1926-1931 he taught at the Hochschule der Politik, and in 1931 went to teach in Cologne at the Berufspädogogische Institut until forced to leave the position in 1933. On July 29, 1932 he married Dr. Therese Anna Lobbenberg, the daughter of Siegfried and Susanna (née Liebmann) Lobbenberg of Cologne. Shortly after their marriage he contracted polio, which required him to use a cane the rest of his life.

Via the assistance of Emil Lederer, Albert Salomon was offered by Alvin Johnson a position at the New School in New York City, then called the University in Exile. In January 1935 Albert and Anna Salomon sailed from Bremerhaven with their young daughter Hannah; they would later have a son, Frank. Albert's aunt Alice Salomon had also left Germany and resided in New York City until her death in 1948. The family resided first in Riverdale, but eventually moved to Manhattan. In February 1956 Anna Salomon died. Albert Salomon continued to teach at the New School until his death in December 1966.