By a series of chances, I happened upon a couple of interesting web pages about the Jewish sites in the town of Ziegenhain, Schwalmstadt in Germany. Ziegenhain is the town where my father’s family came from. We know of two generations of Sterns from Ziegenhain as well as a whole lot of other Sterns from there who are somehow our relations as well.
Our earliest Sterns are the couple Abraham (1772-1827) and his wife Keile (1784-1852) Stern who lived there. Their son Salomon (1814-1870?) moved to Frankfurt Am Main and married into the Goldschmidt family who hailed from Eschwege and Oberlistingen (also in the same area) who had also moved to Frankfurt at the same time when Jews were first allowed to live outside the Judengasse.
I was in Ziegenhain in 1987 and visited the Jewish cemetery there. My brother had been in Ziegenhain previously but had not known of the cemetery. He enquired in the local museum who also didn’t know but they later sent a map by post which I used to find the site. If you want to take a look, it is at [50°55'9.96"N, 9°15'10.28"E]. Anyway it turns out that there is a web page all about the Jewish cemetery (or here translated to English). Looking at the pictures, I remember some of the tombstones and I have pictures of some of them as well. Another picture I have that they don’t show is the stone of Keile Stern my great-great-great-grandmother which reads:
אשת חיל עקרת
הבית תפארת
פעלה מרת
קיילה אשת
אברהם שטערן
נפארה ר”ח אב
תריב לפק
While I was looking I also saw the page about the Ziegenhain synagogue (or here translated into bad Google English). This shows photos as well as reconstructions of the interior and some documents related to the community. In an article that the local museum sent to my brother (photocopied from “Die Steuerpflichtigen des Jahres 1840 in den Synagogengemeinden des Kreises Ziegenhain” by Alfred Höck from ”Schwälmer Jahrbuch 1978″) is a list of synagogue dues paid in 1840 including by “Abraham Sterns Witwe” – i.e. Keile Stern, but this list isn’t shown in the web page.
Two action items:
- Digitize the photos I took in Ziegenhain, post them here and send them to the “Alemannia Judaica” web site
- Scan the article “Die Steuerpflichtigen des Jahres 1840 in den Synagogengemeinden des Kreises Ziegenhain” and do the same.
In researching my Stern family from Züntersbach, I have found an Unknown Stern (from Züntersbach) who married Malchen Rosenberg (born 1893) from Ziegenhain. They had a son Werner who was also born in Ziegenhain in 1919. Malchen and Werner emigrated and in 1938. The husband/father seems to have been deceased by then.
That’s the extent of my knowledge of this family; I would like to know if there are any additional descendants and anything else possible about them.
Many thanks.
I’m sorry I don’t know much more about any other Sterns. I will send you more details by email of someone who has done research into the Sterns and who may be able to help you.
I was born in Ziegenhain and lived in the Steinernen haus. It is now the Museum. I did not even know that there was a Jewish cemetary in Ziegenhain. The only one I have ever seen is the one Am Walgraben. I would sure like to see the pictures you have of Ziegenhain. I have not been back since 1973. My grandfather was from Asherode and he was a Schwelmer. The Ziegenhainer Museum has so many things from the schwelmer in it. We actually lived in the same rooms where they display everything. Please if you have time I’d like to talk to you some more. Brigitte
That’s pretty amazing. My family left Ziegenhain in the mid 19th century and moved to Frankfurt. Up till the beginning of the 19th century they were living in Ziegenhain, Oberlistingen, Treysa, Ascherode – it seems all over the Schwalm area. Thn they moved to Frankfurt where they lived until the 1930s when Hitler rose to power. Luckily all of our immediate family fled early to Britain, the US and Palestine.
If anyone has pictures of Ziegenhain would they please post them on this web page. Thank you
My g-mother was a Ziegenhein. I was told that the name was Americanized and that her g-father was Henry Ziegnehein froma town in western Germany by the same name. I’ll be traveling there andlooking for information. Also, my wife is Jewish and interested in the cemetary and synagogue.
Rafi
Have just come across your article on Ziegenhein. My grandfather came from Ziegenhein. His father, Joseph Stern (wife Emma) was a horse dealer. My grandfather, Herbert Stern, had 10 brothers and sisters who dispersed to all corners of the globe during the Nazi period. My father had to change his surname to Stanley as (after being interned) he joined the British army. I would be most interested to learn of any additional information you might have on the Sterns of Ziegenhein.
Best Wishes
Robin Stanley