Saturday 26 October 2013

Giustina Schiff/Justina Rodenberg

Believed to be a photograph of Giustina Schiff


2. Giustina (later: Justina), born 28.7.1837 in Trieste, married Julius Rodenberg (*1831, +1914) 1863 in Berlin, died 1923


Leopold and Johanna's second child, again a daughter, was born in Trieste on 28th July 1837, and was named Giustina. Raised and educated in Trieste, at the age of 26 she married Julius Rodenberg in Berlin, where she lived for the rest of her life.

Her husband is remembered as an important German writer in the latter part of the nineteenth century, and it is as such that he merits a Wikipedia entry:



Julius Rodenberg (26 June 1831, Rodenberg, Hesse - 11 July 1914) was a German Jewish poet and author.

He studied law at the universities of Heidelberg, Göttingen, Berlin, and Marburg, but soon abandoned jurisprudence for literature. In 1851 his first poem, "Dornröschen", appeared in Bremen. This poem was soon followed by many others. Between 1855 and 1862 he traveled, visiting Great Britain, Belgium, the Netherlands, Denmark, Italy, and Switzerland. In 1859 he settled in Berlin.

Rodenberg wrote the libretto to Anton Rubinstein's opera, Feramors.

Literary works:



From 1867 to 1874 he was coeditor with Ernst Dohm of the "Salon für Literatur, Kunst und Gesellschaft", and in his latter years he founded the Deutsche Rundschau.
In 1897 he received the title "Professor". Rodenberg is a prolific writer.
Of his works may be mentioned:
"Lieder", Hanover, 1854
"Pariser Bilderbuch", Brunswick, 1856
"Kleine Wanderchronik", Hanover, 1858
"Ein Herbst in Wales", ib. 1857
"Die Insel der Seligen," Berlin, 1860
"Alltagsleben in London," ib. 1860
"Die Harfe von Erin," ib. 1861
"Tag und Nacht in London," ib. 1862
"Lieder und Gedichte," ib. 1863 (6th ed., 1901)
"Studienreisen in England," Leipzig, 1872
"Belgien und die Belgier," Berlin, 1881
"Bilder aus dem Berliner Leben," ib. 1885 (3d ed., 1891)
"Unter den Linden," ib. 1888
"Franz Dingelstedt," ib. 1891
"Erinnerungen aus der Jugendzeit," ib. 1899
Novels[edit]
"Die Strassensängerin von London," Berlin, 1863
"Die Neue Sündflut," ib. 1865
"Von Gottes Gnaden," ib. 1870
"Die Grandidiers", Stuttgart, 1879 (2d ed., 1881), a story of the Franco-Prussian war
"Herrn Schellbogens Abenteuer," Berlin, 1890
"Klostermanus Grundstück," ib. 1890 (2d ed., 1892)

Giustina, whose name became germanicised as Justina upon her marriage and removal to Berlin, appears to  have supported her husband in his literary work and in his literary circle in Berlin. We have a clue to this in the correspondence with Count Angelo de Gubernatis, a philologist and student of Sanskrit who studied in Turin and Berlin. As a poet he must have enjoyed the company of Julius Rodenberg, but the fact that Rodenberg's wife Justina was Italian speaking must have been an additional attraction. The eighteen letters that she wrote to de Gubernatis between 1873 and 1892 are now  National Central Library in Florence.
It is possible that Giustina met Julius during his travels in Europe between 1855 and 1862. Married in Berlin in 1863, their only child, a daughter, Alice, was born on 21st May 1864.
Julius Rodenberg died on 11th July 1914 shortly before the outbreak of the First World War. The war broke the family networkof the Schiffs. When Giustina's brother Ernest died in London just days before the end of the war, his will left her some money which could not be transferred because of the breakdown between the two empires. His legacy was to Giustina in Berlin, and to Jenny in Hamburg, and after their deaths to Giustina's niece Alice, who had married a Noehring, and on Alice's death the whole funds involved were to go to Alice's son Richard Noehring. These siblings who had grown up together in Trieste had a closeness that survived their dispersal far and wide across Europe and America.
Giustina died in Berlin on  8th December 1823. Because she left estate in England through the legacy from her brother Ernest letters of administration were granted to Richard Nohring. From this we knowthat her home in Berlin was at Margaretenstrasse 1. We have no knowledge now of Richard Noehring, and if he had any descendants.
Giustina, Julius and religion.

Both Giustina and her husband were born to Jewish parents but both were typical of the process of assimilation demonstrated by European Jewry after emancipation. Julius was advised in 1853 by his friend Varnhagen van Ense to change his name from the very Jewish Levy. Two years later the formal adoption as a surname of the name of his birthplace, Rodenberg, was formally accepted by the Elector of Hesse-Kassel. Curiously it is stated that he never converted to Christianity despite possessing a ' Christian soul'.
Just as curiously, German sources also state that when he married in 1863 it was to the Roman Catholic daughter of a wealthy Trieste factory owner. This is surprising, and needs examination. Did Giustina abjure her Jewish faith whilst in Trieste? Her youngest brother Eduard followed this route when he went to Vienna. Did Giustina really convert to Catholicism? It seems unlikely, but evidence may survive in Trieste. Where did Julius and Giustina marry? Was it indeed in Berlin, rather than the more likely Trieste? I wish the Jewish community of Trieste would allow a simple examination of the records.
When their only child was born in 1864 there is no indication of her religion, but it seems that this daughter was baptised as a Protestant by Herman Von Soden in 1880 when she was sixteen years old. Von Soden was an important New Testament scholar.
Their daughter Alice married Major Paul Nohring in 1898, and went with him to Strasbourg. Two years later son Julius Paul Richard Nohring was born. Known as Richard Nohring, it was he who inherited from his grandmother's cousin, Sir Ernest Schiff, in London in 1923.
I believe this Richard Nohring may have died in the United States in 1968 leaving a widow.
Monterey Peninsula Herald, CA Aug 19, 1968 p4
Richard Paul Nohring, co-owner of Merle’s Treasure Chest on Ocean avenue at Lincoln street and a resident of Carmel for the past 38 years, died yesterday in a local hospital after an extended illness. Mr. Nohring was born Aug. 31, 1900, in Berlin, Germany, and was a naturalized citizen of the United States. With his wife and only survivor, Mrs. Matha Nohring, he made his home at Dolores street and 14th avenue. Private inurnment has been held in the Little Chapel by-the-Sea. The Paul Mortuary was in charge of arrangements. Friends wishing to make contributions in the memory of Mr. Nohring may do so to the Colbalt Therapy Unit, Community Hospital, Carmel.
Copyright (c) 2008 The Monterey County Herald

NOHRING RICHARD P 1901 08 31 RODENBER MALE GE MONTEREY 1968 08 18 525386871 67



http://www.kellerbriefe.ch/frameset.html?http://www.kellerbriefe.ch/rodenbergj.htm 



Gattin von Ferdinand Julius Rodenberg, mit Keller befreundet 

seit Kellers Berlin Aufenthalt 1850-55 

Anzahl registrierte Briefe: 5 an, 3 von Keller (5 ZB Zürich) 



  
21. 3. 1878  Justina Rodenberg an Keller 
<ZB: Ms. GK 79f1 Nr. 90> 
Berlin, W. Margarethenstr. 121 März 1878. 
Sehr verehrter Herr! 
 Ich habe in diesen Tagen Ihr "Fähnlein der 
sieben Aufrechten" gelesen und eine solche Handvoll reine 
Schweizerluft dabei geathmet, daß ich Ihnen aufrichtig für diese 
Wohlthat danken muß. Sie auf Ihrer reinen Höhe, mit demhttp://www.kellerbriefe.ch/frameset.html?http://www.kellerbriefe.ch/rodenbergj.htm 

Gattin von Ferdinand Julius Rodenberg, mit Keller befreundet 
seit Kellers Berlin Aufenthalt 1850-55 
Anzahl registrierte Briefe: 5 an, 3 von Keller (5 ZB Zürich) 



  
21. 3. 1878  Justina Rodenberg an Keller 
<ZB: Ms. GK 79f1 Nr. 90> 
Berlin, W. Margarethenstr. 121 März 1878. 
Sehr verehrter Herr! 
 Ich habe in diesen Tagen Ihr "Fähnlein der 
sieben Aufrechten" gelesen und eine solche Handvoll reine 
Schweizerluft dabei geathmet, daß ich Ihnen aufrichtig für diese 
Wohlthat danken muß. Sie auf Ihrer reinen Höhe, mit dem 
blauen See unter Ihnen, den schneeigen Gipfeln vor Ihnen und 
dem edlen Weben und Schaffen in Ihnen, können sich wohl 
kaum einen Begriff davon machen wie demjenigen zu Muthe ist 
| der aus dem wüsten, unruhvollen und wahrheitsleeren 
Modetreiben der Welt heraus, plötzlich einen Blick thut in Ihre 
Welt, in das echte und rechte Gemüthsleben gesunder Gestalten, 
die sich natürlich geben, weil sie natürlich sind, welche Poesie 
athmen, weil ihnen Poesie eingehaucht worden. Ob man mit den 
braven Sieben an der Wirthstafel sitzt, ob man mit dem 
Liebespaar auf dem See fährt, ob man über die tolle Komik in 
der Kaserne lacht, - oder über den tiefen Sinn der improvisirten 
Rede des prächtigen Schneidersohn ernstlich nachdenkt - immer 
fühlt man | die Nähe des Poeten und labt sich daran. - Verzeihen 
Sie mir, daß ich so viel Worte gesagt; ich konnte das, was ich 
empfunden nicht kürzer wiedergeben, und Ihnen so viel zu 
sagen war mir Bedürfniß. 
     Auf Ihre Gedichte freue ich mich; möchte nur bald darauf 
auch eine Novelle folgen! 
     Mit dem Ausdruck aufrichtigster Verehrung 
Ihre 
ergebene Justina Rodenberg 
     

  
15. 10. 1878  Justina Rodenberg an Keller 
<ZB: Ms. GK 79f1 Nr. 98; unveröffentlicht> 
Berlin, W. Margarethenstr. 1. 15 October 1878. 
Mein verehrtester Herr Doctor! 
 Bei einer unserer gemüthlichen 
Abendsitzungen in der "Meise" äußerten Sie sich einmal 
verwundert darüber, daß ich als Frau eines Schriftstellers so 
ruhig über andere Schriftsteller reden ließe. Werden Sie sich nun 
abermals wundern und zwar in entgegengesetzter Richtung, 
wenn ich es bin, die Ihnen den neuen Roman meines Mannes 
übergiebt? Ich habe mir | aber diese Vergünstigung ausgebeten, 
weil mir dies Werk durch seine lange und ernste 
Entstehungsgeschichte besonders ans Herz gewachsen ist und 
weil ich es aus eben diesem Grunde am liebsten selbst in die 
Hände eines Mannes lege, den ich als Dichter und Künstler 
ebenso liebe und verehre, wie ich mich zu ihm als Menschen 
hingezogen fühle. Aus Ihrem Munde einmal zu hören, daß in 
dem Buche Gutes enthalten ist, daß es Ihnen einige Freude 
bereitet hat, würde mich geradezu beglücken, | denn ich weiß 
was Ihr Urtheil bedeutet. Verzeihen Sie daß ich Ihnen dies so 
offen bekenne und erlauben Sie, daß ich den Eindruck meiner 
Dreistigkeit durch Einsendung beifolgender Correctur mildere 
die ich meinem Mann eigentlich entwende, damit Sie ein paar 
Wochen früher die Freude haben sollen die geist- und 
anmuthvolle Kritik zu lesen, die für das Novemberheft der 
Rundschau bestimmt ist. Von den vielen Druckfehlern müssen 
Sie freilich absehen. Daß sie im Druck nicht | stehen bleiben, 
dafür wird Professor Scherer sicher gewissenhaft sorgen. - Nur 
die Erinnerung an Ihre Freundlichkeit während unseres schönen 
Zusammenseins hat mir den Muth verliehen diese Zeilen zu 
schreiben. Nehmen Sie dieselben nachsichtig auf und indem ich 
die herzlichsten Grüße meines Mannes beifüge, bin ich mit dem 
Audrucke aufrichtigster Verehrung 
Ihre 
ergebene Justina Rodenberg 
      

  

14. 11. 1878  Keller an Justina Rodenberg 
<GSA 81/VI, 7, 11; GB 3.2, S. 363> 
Zürich 14 Nov 1878. 
Hochverehrte Frau! 
 Mit drei Herzkammern danke ich Ihnen für 
Ihre reiche Gabe vom 15t. Octobris, für den gütigen Brief, mit 
welchem Sie meine Eitelkeit so freundlich einbalsamiren, für 
den Roman und für die Scherer'sche Recension. 
     Den Roman habe ich in Einem Zuge ausgeschlürft und mich 
anderthalb Tage daran geletzt. Ich gratulire dem Herren Julius, 
Ihrem Rodenberger, von ganzem Herzen zu der tüchtigen und 
reifen Arbeit, die als Familiengeschichte, als historischer Roman 
und als Zeitbild überall gleich typisch ist. | Als ein 
Hauptkriterium möchte ich die Gestalt der Helene betrachten; 
sie ist eine wahre Allegorie des elsäßisch-französischen Wesens 
von 1870 und nachher und doch voll individuellsten Lebens, so 
daß sie zur ganzen tragischen Wirkung kommt. 
     Sie können sich denken, wie ich mit all' den Menschen in 
Berlin herumspaziert bin und den Sonnenschein über den 
Spreewäldern mit genossen habe und mich überdies freute, 
keinen Gründern u Hallunken zu begegnen, da ja Herr Bestvater 
der Schlimmste ist. Alle Berechtigung u Wohlthat Juvenal'scher 
Werke in Ehren gehalten, ist es mir poetisch doch | nur ganz 
behaglich, wo es menschlich aber ehrlich hergeht in solchen 
Hervorbringungen, und ich sehe nicht ein, warum ich immer mit 
dem Gesichte eines Polizeicommissärs dasitzen soll, wenn ich 
einen Roman lese. 
     Ihre Gelassenheit aber, verehrteste Frau Doctorin, mit welcher 
Sie über die Andern vom Metier sprechen hören, ist mir 
erklärlich durch die innere Gelassenheit, mit welcher der Herr 
Gemahl seine Geschicke austheilt, wenn er schreibt. Das ist 
auch eine Muse, welche Manchem fehlt. 
     Herr Professor Scherer hat mich auch herrlich einbalsamirt 
und vor der Welt geehrt; wenn er | nur überall so recht hätte, wie 
bei dem Hadlaub, dessen Unfertigkeit mir leider schon lange 
bekannt ist. Ich verspreche aber dem freundlichen Gönner und 
Gelehrten, zunächst nicht so bald wieder eine Schulstudie 
vorzunehmen, über welcher die Hauptsache verdunstet. 
     Hoffentlich sind Sie nun im vollen Zuge eines warmen und 
vergnügten Winterlebens, wozu ich der ganzen kleinen Familie 
alles Gute wünsche, Fleiß, Appetit und Lebenslust. Amen! 
Mit Verehrung u 
Ergebenheit                                               
Ihr 
                                               G. Keller 
      

  

22. 11. 1878  Justina Rodenberg an Keller 
<ZB: Ms. GK 79f1 Nr. 99; unveröffentlicht> 
Berlin, W. Margarethenstr. 1.22 November 1878 
Verehrtester Herr! 
 Sie haben mir durch Ihren Brief eine solche 
Herzensfreude gemacht, daß ich, selbst auf die Gefahr hin Ihnen 
damit lästig zu fallen, Ihnen doch warm und aufrichtig dafür 
danken muß. Die neuste Arbeit meines Mannes hat für mich und 
sicher auch für ihn durch Ihre Sanktion diejenige Weihe erhalten 
die er erstrebt und ich erträumt habe, und mir ist's, seitdem ich 
Ihre Worte | gelesen, als ob dieselben in Lapidarschrift dem 
Werke eingegraben wären. 
     Aber das was Sie so hochherzig einem Fremden sagen weckt 
uns das Verlangen wieder etwas Neues von Ihnen zu lesen, und 
wir Alle (ich meine damit das ganze Publikum) wünschen 
sehnlichst, daß Sie uns wieder eine Novelle bescheeren. Wie oft 
denken wir noch an den Abend am Zürichersee zurück, da Sie 
uns zuerst von Ihren literarischen Plänen sprachen und uns so 
lebendig den Rahmen vorführten der nur des Bildes | harrt, das 
Sie hineinmalen werden um als vollendetes Werk Ihre zahllosen 
Verehrer zu erfreuen. 
     Mein Mann grüßt heute durch mich und sagt Ihnen wohl 
einmal selbst Alles das was er Ihnen zu sagen wünscht. Mir aber 
erlauben Sie daß ich Sie meiner aufrichtigen Verehrung 
versichere, mit der ich bin Ihre 
                                               dankbar 
ergebene                                               Justina Rodenberg 
      

  

9. 4. 1881  Keller an Justina Rodenberg 
<GSA 81/VI, 7, 11; GB 3.2, S. 387> 
Zürich 9 April 1881. 
Höchstverehrte Frau Doktorin! 
 Neben der Dankespflicht, welche 
ich für Ihre gütig freundlichen Zeilen vom 28 Januar endlich zu 
erfüllen komme, habe ich zugleich eine große Bitte an Sie zu 
richten: nämlich um Ihre huldvolle Fürsprache bei dem 
Beherrscher der Deutsch. Rundschau, daß er den Unmuth, den 
ihm die Plackerei mit meinen Manuskript-Sendungen 
verursachte, nicht in seiner ganzen Größe bestehen lassen wolle! 
Wie oft habe ich mich geschämt, wenn ich mir vorstellte, wie 
der Herr am Frühstückstische über meine Faulheit und 
Wortbrüchigkeit wetterte und ich im Geiste als ein ergrautes 
armes Sünderlein dabei stand und demüthiglich das 
Kopfschütteln der Hausfrau gewahrte, die ihre heitere 
Morgenstimmung getrübt sah! Dann faßte ich die besten 
heiligsten Vorsätze und vergoß die heißesten Thränen, ach um 
gleich in die alte Hölle | der Verderbniß zurückzusinken, sobald 
wieder ein schöner freier Monat vor mir war. Der einzige 
Milderungsgrund besteht darin, daß ich doch immer bei der 
Sache blieb und sie nicht aus den Augen ließ, ausgenommen am 
Montag vor acht Tagen, wo ich die Handschrift gerade am 
letzten Tage noch schmählich im Stiche ließ und einem Gelage 
nachlief. Und dabei habe ich mit verhärtetem Gemüthe 
gegessen, getrunken, gesungen und jubiliert und einen großen 
goldenen Becher in Gestalt eines Hundes, eines sitzenden 
Jagdrüden, mit eisernem Stachelhalsband, unzählige Male 
aufgehoben, als ob es keinen Julius Rodenberg in der Welt 
gäbe! 
     Ihre allzu wohlwollenden Äußerungen über den Gr. H. habe 
ich wie ein Glas Ananaspunsch eingeschlürft und die 
Bescheidenheit eine gute Frau sein lassen. Ich durfte übrigens 
die Süßigkeit menschlich fraulicher Gesinnung wohl goutieren, 
indem eine schreckliche Art Kritik (nicht diejenige der 
Germanisten) aufzutauchen begann, worin meine Arbeit | und 
Kunst anerkennungsvoll behandelt, der Nicht-Held des 
Romanes aber als ein famos geschilderter ganz miserabler Tropf 
gekennzeichnet wurde. Das ist eine verzwickte Art des Beifalls 
und die gerechte Strafe für meine Sünden gegen den Gebietiger 
Julius. 
     Ich hoffe, daß Sie mit Mann und Tochter einen lustigen 
Winter passirt und einen schönen frohen Frühling angetreten 
haben, und denke mir gern, daß der Weg ein bewußtes verehrtes 
Ehepaar wieder ein Mal nach Italien und durch die Schweiz 
führen werde, in welcher Phantasie ich mit eingewöhnten 
Gefühlen verharre als Ihr ergebenster 
Gottfr. Keller 

Friday 25 October 2013

Leopold Schiff and his eldest daughter Emma (Henriette)


I was intending to write about Samson's family and descendants, in particular his sons, the half brothers Wilhelm and Friedrich, and his daughter Paolina, but it seems sensible here  to start to explore the life of Samson's older brother Leopold. Six months ago I knew nothing about Leopold, now I have a vast quantity of information about this branch of the family.

As an introduction I should share some information about Napoleon, and how, directly or indirectly, he affected my ancestors. As Jews in eighteenth century Europe they were denied many rights. Jews were usually allowed to live in a town on sufferance, and they were barred access to education and the professions. My English education tried to teach me that Napoleon was bad, a power-crazed megalomaniac. Probably sex-crazed too. From my mother I received a different portrait. It was Napoleon who brought liberation and freedom to the peoples of much of western Europe, introducing the concepts of the Declaration of the Rights of Man, and especially his hugely influential Napoleonic Code. In particular, Napoleon is remembered for his emancipation of the Jews of Europe, giving them the same rights as all other citizens. He acted similarly in the case of homosexuality: by omitting all mention of it from the Napoleonic code, so that it was henceforth decriminalised. Although Napoleon was defeated personally at Waterloo, his ideas lived on, as was reflected in the year of revolutions in many places in Europe in 1848, and leading ultimately to the unification of Italy and similarly of Germany.

Leopold Schiff was born on 1st September, 1797 in Mannheim, to Samuel Schiff and Augusta Fuld. It was ten years before his brother Samson was born, and we have no clues at present as to who else belonged to this family. [No longer correct. Please see more recent blogs.]

Leopold was born at a time of great political change. In 1792 the area to the west of Mannheim was ceded to France. From 1806 to 1813 the Confederation of the Rhine was formed, under Napoleonic control, and with emancipation of Jews and the Napoleonic Code. However, soon after the ending of the rule of Napoleon, the Grand Duchy of Baden, in which Mannheim lay, was afflicted like the rest of Europe by the climate crisis of 1816-17 which led to much deprivation and suffering. In addition, with the restoration of absolutist monarchs throughout Europe, the equal rights given to Jews were withdrawn.
In 1817 Leopold Schiff would be twenty years old. I can imagine that he would be attracted by a move to Trieste, where equality for all members of the population was guaranteed by the Austrian regime, uniquely within the empire. A likely scenario is that he removed to Trieste to make his fortune, and was employed by the local Jewish businessman Jacob Wollheim, proved himself and married his employer's daughter, a common pattern throughout the past.
The Wollheims came from Lissa, part of Prussia from 1793,  but now in Poland. Jacob Wollheim ran an import-export business, and also the 'Intrepida Compagnia di Assicurazioni', founded in 1832 and which continued till 1884. Wollheim & Co were very active in the import and export of goods, and we are fortunate that in Trieste the details of all businesses were published itemising which ships they were using, which goods they were carrying, and what the quantities were. The trade passing through Trieste was extensive, but  in the first six months of 1840 for example, Wollheim & Co dealt very much in cotton goods from Liverpool, and from Alexandria they imported large quantities of beans, huge quantities of grain from Odessa, and items such as almonds, natron, Russian iron, books and prints, wine and what I think was a loading crane. Leopold Schiff's world view must have been vastly enlarged by his experiences in Trieste, a major cosmopolitan seaport, where many languages were spoken and many cultures and religions met. 
Leopold married Johanna Wollheim on 2nd November 1832 when he was 35 and she was ourteen years younger. Their portrait was painted by the important local artist Giuseppe Tominz, portraits that were to hang in their son's home in London. There present whereabouts is unknown, but photographs of the portraits survive in the Witt Library at the Courtauld Institute of Art in London.





Leopold and Johanna appear to have spent the early years of their married life in Alexandria, where there first child Emma Alessandra (named in honour of her birthplace) was born  14th October 1834. Giustina was born , as were the rest of the couple's nine children 1837. Samuele followed in 1838, Arie Natan in 1839, Salomon in 1840, Virginia in 1842, Jenny in 1844, Ottavia in 1845 and Eliezer Hassi was a late arrival in 1849. Their stories are remarkable: they  spread throughout the world, to Hamburg, Berlin, Cincinnati, London and Vienna. Their stories were remarkable and well worth the recounting. Their achievements were memorable and in many different ways. As they moved across continents their names were transformed into their German or English versions.

1. Emma Alessandra (named Henriette), born 14.10.1834 in Alexandria, married Dr. Jacob Lazarus (*1819,+1881) 1859 in Hamburg, died 14.09.1903
2. Giustina (later: Justina), born 28.7.1837 in Trieste, married Julius Rodenberg (*1831, +1914) 1863 in Berlin, died 1923
3. Samuele (Carl Gottlieb, also Charles), born 1.11.1838 in Trieste
4. Arie Natan (later: Alfred George), born 11.11.1839 in Trieste
5. Salomon (later: Ernesto Federico and Ernest Frederick), born 15.11.1840 in Trieste
6. Virginia, born 5.1.1842 in Trieste, moved 1871 to Hamburg, unmarried, died ? there
7. Jenny, born 24.6.1844 in Trieste, moved 1871 to Hamburg, died September 1924 there
8. Ottavia, born 29.11.1845 in Trieste
9. Eliezer Hassi (later: Eduard), born 4.3.1849 in Trieste, German Gymnasium 1861 in Trieste, "Gelehrtenschule des Johanneum" 1863 in Hamburg, final examination 1868 in Trieste, Dr. med. 1875 in Vienna, died 5.3.1913 there.

[Source: personal communication from Franz Willnauer]

I bought a letter on Ebay which puzzled me for a long while, as it was sent to Alexandria in Egypt from Trieste and is signed 'Schiff'.It was only this year when all these cousins appeared from the shadows of the past that it began to make sense.


Trieste 10 luglio 1838

Carissimo!
Riferendomi alla mia di ieri ho il piacere d'accompagnarvi l'occluso dal mio Giuseppe. Rapporto il su dubbio sul cambiante della lettera Paternostre, mi dice oggi, che ci rammenta di buone cose che volevate dire. Riteniamo dunque la mia osservazione che fece ieri su ciò.
Oggi riceviamo due righe di potale per via Marseille dal 28 colla notizia che il viceré l'autorizzazione di far un imprestito. Il di più ci vuol dire col diretto credendo che questa ci arriverà dopo la comparsa del nostro vapore. Intanto questo non si vede ancora. Speriamo di dire <tacco>!
Cambi erano senza variazioni e grani in ribasso. Laid P68 Eqq
Addio amico caro
[?]
Schiff

By this time Leopold, for I feel pretty certain it is he wrote this letter, was back in Trieste. There is an unexpected gap, for a fecund couple, of three years between the birth of Emma in 1834  Alexandria and Giustina in 1837 in Trieste. Interestingly this letter is written in very good Italian, and in formal Italian too, though the spoken language of Trieste was in fact the Triestine dialect. The letter deals with business matters: finances, loans to the viceroy, presumably of Egypt, shipping and prices for commodities such as grain.

Leopold continued to flourish in business. In 1838 he entered as a partner in his father-in-law's business. In addition he himself owned an ironworks in Styria and coal mines in Croatia.

Over the next eighty years Leopold's children spread out, made fortunes, married, and also kept in touch. The evidence is very strong that they did indeed keep in touch, supporting each other, and talking to each other in Triestine Italian when they met, even though they were also fluent in German, the mother tongue of their parents and of their education in Trieste, and also English and French. They were a remarkable family.

The firstborn, Emma Alessandra, born 14th October 1834 in Alexandria in Egypt, married Dr Jacob Lazarus a lawyer in Hamburg in 1859. He was fifteen years older than his bride and had behind him a successful career. He had received a doctorate in Law in 1842 from the university of Heidelberg but was unable to receive citizenship in Hamburg because of his Jewish faith.He was, however, a member of the constituent assembly that was formed in 1848 as part of the Year of Revolutions in Europe.and volunteered in the war with Denmark in 1849 in which he was captured. From 1875 until his death in 1881 Jacob Lazarus was a member of the Hamburg parliament. He and his wife had no children. Ten years earlier, Henriette and Jacob welcomed to their home her father Leopold Schiff and her unmarried sisters Viginia and Jenny. Her father Leopold must have died in Hamburg in about 1874. We do not know when Leopold's wife had died.
Emma, who was known as Henriette, became well known in her own right as the cultured hostess of a musical salon in Hamburg, from her home on the Esplanade, and in particular is remembered for her support of and friendship with the composer Gustav Mahler.

On Christmas day 1892  Mahler wrote to his sister Justine 'Today I am invited to a very fine dinner'. In early January he told her I spent Christmas Eve at the house of the widow of a Dr Lazarus, an elderly woman with two equally elderly and unmarried sisters - their brother is Dr Schiff from Vienna (probably in fact known by Sax).It was very quiet and so I fared very well. - On New Year's Eve I was invited to a large party, also on the spur of the moment.'It seems obvious that Mahler got on extremely well with the Schiff sisters, for in early April 1893 he wasplanning to share his holidays with them:

Dearest!
I've just come from Frau Dr Lazarus and her sisters. We are all agreed to spend the summer in the same place, if it's possible. So please look around where you are renting for me to see if there isn't also a nice four-room (or so) apartment to be had for three ladies - and tell me about it in detail. Arrange the business so that possibly everything for Frau Lazarus can be arranged by writing. To me it would seem very agreeable: the three would be very well suited to us, and it also would be of the highest importance for you as a starting point for Hamburg. Please, all of you make an effort towards this end!
See to it that the location is absolutely beautiful and mountainous - and above all that there's water! (for swimming!)
Best
Gustav

On 2nd March 1893 he wrote again to his sister:

Dearest Justi!
...The house of which she spoke - that of Dr Lazarus's widow, Frau Lazarus and her unmarried sisters, all three between 40 and 50 years old - is the one here that I visit most often (especially recently - they are very cultured and kind ladies, who lead a kind of bachelor's life and have become very good friends of mine. If you visit, I would introduce you there above all.


These must have been happy times for the three sisters, mothering this young man. Although he describes all three as elderly, Jenny was only eleven years older than himself, Henriette was 59 years old. Their calm friendship was appreciated, and he relished their gracious company. At this time Mahler was still nominally Jewish, his conversion 1897 was the price he paid for promotion in Vienna. As an assimilated Jew he enjoyed spending Christmas with the three Jewish sisters from Trieste.