The immigration card dated 13 November 1935, issued at the Mexican-Californian border town Calexico, was more than just an official document for composer Arnold Schönberg – it was the key to better health. Schönberg suffered from asthma and had experienced frequent asthma attacks and serious colds since his arrival in the US in October 1933. In letters to his former student Anton Webern, he frequently writes of health complaints: the exertions of starting over, combined with many travels, were a major burden. Schönberg shuttled between Boston and New York as he had students and conducted in both cities. But in both Boston and New York the climate disagreed with him and he complained of the large temperature swings. Thus he decided to move to California with his family in the summer of 1934 and settle permanently in the Los Angeles area. There he quickly found familiar environs among the large émigré community: he encountered his friend and conductor Otto Klemperer, and later met the composer Paul Dessau and the writer Thomas Mann.

The immigration card displayed here had to be renewed at regular intervals and Arnold Schönberg did not become an American citizen until 1941. The original has not survived and this copy, which was presumably made during his lifetime, was the only version of the card that was left in Schönberg’s estate.