Print This Page
The Grünbaum Families
Grünbaum families lived in Themar from the earliest days of Jewish settlement in the city. Grünbaum individuals from elsewhere in Germany also married into Themar’s Jewish families.
Two Grünbaum families came to Themar in the early years of Jewish settlement. First, the family of Noa and Minna Grünbaum came south from Walldorf in the late 1860s or early 1870s — their son, Hugo, was born in Walldorf in 1868 and their daughter, Minna, was born in Themar in 1872. Minna Friedmann Grünbaum died shortly after Minna’s birth, possibly as a result of childbirth complications. Noa Grünbaum was among the first of the Jewish merchants in Themar.
The family of Loeser and Johanna Grünbaum also came from the Walldorf area, or at least their daughter, Berta, was born in Walldorf in 1867. We do not know of other children of Loeser and Johanna at this time. We know quite a bit about Berta Grünbaum, her marriage to Jacoby Seckel, the member of another long-established Marisfeld/Themar family, in 1890, and their family and business up until the 1910s.
Whether there is a direct link between Noa and Loeser Grünbaum is not yet known; as well, we do not yet know who the father of Karl Grünbaum, b. 1876 in Themar, was. It is possible that he was the child of Loeser and Johanna Grünbaum, but the fact that the Themar records office does not contain the birth records for the 1870s may well mean that this fact may never be established.
Until recently, very little has been known about the Grünbaum families as the Holocaust dealt the family a severe blow. Recent research in the newspaper of Themar in the first decades of the 20th century has provided a quantity of new and valuable information about the the families and particularly their businesses. The Ahnentafel/family outlines reflect the best of our information in fall of 2011.
If you have any information or questions about the Grünbaum families of Themar, which you would like to share, please contact Sharon Meen
@ s.meen79@gmail.com or smeen@mail.ubc.ca. We would be pleased to hear from you.