Family Stern in Roth/Lahn, Hesse

Family History Stern

Herz Stern was born around 1791 and was apparently orphaned at an early age. His mother's childless sister Scheile, married to Aaron Seligmann in Roth, took him in when he was about four years old and raised him. After the death of her husband in 1796, Herz gradually took over her business and eventually ran it for her. On February 1, 1815, he concluded a marriage contract with his cousin Miriam Bonfang from Lohra, daughter of another of Scheile's sisters, in which it was stipulated that Scheile would give her nephew her house and yard, her business, all household goods and 600 fl of Frankfurt currency immediately after the marriage, with the exception of the lower room reserved for herself. Stern now applied for admission as a subject of the Electorate of Hesse. Although he was able to cite his long residence in Roth, his aunt's considerable inheritance - which would be taken out of the country if he was refused -, 1,100 fl from his parents' inheritance, his marriage contract, his release from the Grand Duchy's subject association and also the unanimous vote of the general assembly of the Roth community, this was initially rejected several times before finally being approved in 1818. In the meantime, Herz Stern had married Miriam Bonfang and had already fathered a daughter, who was named after his mother Hennel.
Miriam gave birth to an impressive nine children - two sons and seven daughters, two of whom died in infancy.

In the second generation, both of Herz Stern's sons, Haune and Bonfang, started families in Roth with the sisters Adelheid and Malchen Wetzstein from Treis/Lumda. They married in 1855 and 1857 respectively and had six children, one of whom died in infancy. Adelheid and Haune thus had only one surviving son, Herz, who grew up with four sisters. He went down in history as Herz II. Malchen and Bonfang had four children; one of their sons also died in infancy. The sons Herz and Mannes founded families in Roth, with Herz being listed in the records as the older - as Herz I.

In the third generation, Herz Stern I married Hilda Bachenheimer from Fronhausen in 1885 and had a son Berthold and a daughter Bertha with her. His brother Mannes Stern married Bertha Rosenbusch from Borken in 1891; their children were Toni, Hugo and Louis. After 1895, Herz Stern II married Emma Rothschild from Angenrod, with whom he had a daughter Selma and a son Hermann.

The fourth generation and their children were the ones who were driven into emigration by the Nazi regime or deported to the ghettos and extermination camps.

Family Tree Herz Stern

Information Boards