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Friederike Rothenburg * 1869

Kurzer Kamp 6 Altenheim (Hamburg-Nord, Fuhlsbüttel)

1942 Theresienstadt
tot 18.11.1942

further stumbling stones in Kurzer Kamp 6 Altenheim:
Dr. Julius Adam, Johanna Hinda Appel, Sara Bromberger, Therese Bromberger, Friederike Davidsohn, Margarethe Davidsohn, Gertrud Embden, Katharina Embden, Katharina Falk, Auguste Friedburg, Jenny Friedemann, Mary Halberstadt, Käthe Heckscher, Emily Heckscher, Betty Hirsch, Hanna Hirsch, Regina Hirschfeld, Clara Horneburg, Anita Horneburg, Emma Israel, Jenny Koopmann, Franziska Koopmann, Martha Kurzynski, Laura Levy, Chaile Charlotte Lippstadt, Isidor Mendelsohn, Balbine Meyer, Helene Adele Meyer, Ida Meyer, Ella Rosa Nauen, Celine Reincke, Benny Salomon, Elsa Salomon, Martha Rosa Schlesinger, Louis Stiefel, Sophie Stiefel, Louise Strelitz, Eugenie Hanna Zimmermann

Friederike Rothenburg, born on 15.10.1869 in Hamburg, deported on 19.7.1942 to Theresienstadt, perished there on 18.11.1942

Kurzer Kamp 6

Friederike was born as the first child of Rebecca, née Heymann, and Isaac Rothenburg on October 15, 1869 in the Neustadt district of Hamburg. She was born in her parents' apartment at Fuhlentwiete 103 with the help of the midwife Mrs. Rintel. Her father earned the family's living as a sales representative in the city of Hamburg. Isaac Rothenburg (born 27.7.1844 in Güstrow, Mecklenburg) was descended from Ricke, née Francke, and the merchant Salomon Rothenburg. He had settled in Hamburg at the age of 22. Friederike's mother Rebecca, née Heymann (born 28.4.1845), was a native of Hamburg. Like Friederike's father, her maternal grandmother Henriette, née Seelig, also came from Güstrow, while Nehemia's grandfather David Heymann was from Hamburg. The grandparents had married in Hamburg on June 16, 1844.

Friederike's parents were married by Chief Rabbi Anschel Stern of the German-Israelitic Community of Hamburg on March 21, 1869. At this time, her maternal grandparents were no longer alive. Nehemias David Heymann had already died in 1864, his grandmother Henriette Heymann, née Seelig, a year later.

On March 18, 1871, Isaac Rothenburg registered his business, trading in manufactured and Dutch goods. As a trader, he set up his business at Wexstraße 39, first floor, and lived on the 2nd floor. Friederike's brother Hermann was born there. Friederike initially grew up with her three younger brothers, Hermann (born 11.3.1873), Siegfried Salomon (born 2.9.1874) and Hugo (born 7.6.1878), who were four years younger.

The conditions for the young children in Wexstraße must have been difficult. Paul (born 30.9.1875) died of pneumonia at the age of nine months on July 14, 1876 and James (born 29.4.1880) died of emaciation (malnutrition) at the age of six months on October 21, 1880. They were burried in the Ottenser cemetery (today located under the Mercado department store). In February 1881, Isaac Rothenburg and his family got the Hamburg citizenship after being examined by the police authorities. His annual taxable income as a manufacturer and fashion merchant amounted to 3600 marks.

In 1881, Friederike lost her mother Rebecca, née Heymann, who had given birth to a baby girl on June 9, 1881. Five days later she succumbed to puerperal fever. She was 36 years old. Little Henriette was born prematurely and died a day later. Both were buried in the Ottenser cemetery two days after their deaths. So Friederike remained the only daughter. She was now 12 years old, her three younger brothers eight, seven and three years old. Her father entered into another marriage the following year. He married Ernestine Mühsam (born 10.12.1841 in Landsberg, Silesia) in Lübeck on April 20, 1882. The Mühsams came from the Pappenheim family. Friederike's stepmother's brother, Siegfried Seligmann Mühsam, had opened the "St. Lorenz" pharmacy in Lübeck in 1878. Since the death of her parents, Ernestine Mühsam had lived with this brother and his family, previously in Berlin, where his son Erich Mühsam had also been born.

Friederike's youngest brother Max, the only child of Isaac Rothenburg and Ernestine, née Mühsam, was born on January 23, 1883. Friederike now lived with the newly formed family on the 4th floor at Gerhofstraße 12 in Hamburg. Her step-cousin Charlotte Mühsam, married name Landau, from Lübeck, later described in Israel in "My Memories" that her aunt Tina, Friederike's stepmother, had received a good education in a small school in Landsberg, had an excellent writing style and had learned French. She was a good mother to her four children: "She was a selfless, good woman". She remembers Friederike's brother Max Rothenburg as a good and hard-working person.

Paul Mühsam from Zittau, who later became a writer after emigrating to Palestine, reports in his book "Ich bin ein Mensch gewesen" (I have been a human being) about a visit to his "Aunt Tina", Friederike's stepmother, in Hamburg during the summer vacations of 1895: "In Hamburg, I was wellcomed by my Aunt Tina, her boring husband and four sons, of whom only the youngest was my biological cousin, and my step-cousin Frieda. I got to know all the sights of the city, including Sankt Pauli, and went on a steamboat trip to Cuxhafen and visited the locks at the entrance to the Kaiser Wilhelm Canal. The Alster Island had just been demolished at the time and was a last time illuminated like a fairy. In the theater, I devoured a show - The Living Bridge - with wide-open eyes, which described itself as a large sensational character picture with music. I also had the opportunity to see a huge ship, as I was escorting my cousin Frieda's bridegroom, who was returning to his South African homeland, Cape Town, onto the ship. She had no way of knowing that he was already married and would never return."

Friederike Rothenburg, called Frieda by Paul Mühsam, was 25 years old that summer full of dreams.

Her youngest, twelve-year-old brother Max attended the 4th grade of the "Stiftungsschule von 1815", which had been founded by liberal Jews for poor Jewish children as the "Israelitische Freischule". Dr. Anton Reé was head of this school in 1849 during the period of equality for Jews in Hamburg, for which he had played a key role. (After his death, the school was renamed the "Anton Reé School".) Christian children were also admitted there from 1859. When Max attended the school, the proportion of Christian pupils was even higher than that of Jewish pupils.

Friederike's brother Hugo Rothenburg emigrated to America in March 1896 at the age of 18. He was naturalized in New York on September 26, 1901 and earned his living as a "Clerk" (worker) at Max C. Mayer at 91st Street, 3rd West.

Friederike lived with her family in Hamburg at Valentinskamp 92, first floor, for a few years before they moved together to Hansaplatz 2, 1st floor, in 1903. Friederike's brother Hermann, who also lived there, was employed as a "Commis" (clerk) at the company "Gebr. Heilbutt" at Steindamm 28.

Friederike's stepmother died on November 7, 1906, suffering from a shrunken kidney. Ernestine Rothenburg, née Mühsam, was 67 years old. She was buried in the Ilandkoppel Jewish cemetery, grave location ZZ 10, No. 88.

Friederike's brother Siegfried Salomon Rothenburg married Elfriede, née Marcus (born 8.9.1885) from Hamburg on October 23, 1908. Both belonged to the German-Israelitic community. Their three children, Ruth (born 12.6.1912), Ilse (born 8.9.1914) and Gert-Joachim (born 31.10.1916), were born in Hamburg.

Siegfried Rothenburg was a merchant in his parents-in-law's company Marcus & Co, selling haberdashery in bulk, initially at Großneumarkt and later at Neumünsterstraße 8, first floor, where the family also lived.

Friederike's brother Hermann Rothenburg married the non-Jewish Auguste Alma, née Reiner (born 18.6.1875 in Hamburg) on April 24, 1910. The couple lived in Groß Flottbek near Hamburg.

Friederike Rothenburg remained unmarried and continued to live with her father at Grindelhof 68, 2nd floor. He died of a kidney ulcer in Eppendorf Hospital on April 29, 1913. Isaac Rothenburg was 68 years old.
He was laid to rest next to his first wife Rebecca in the Ottenser cemetery.

During the First World War, in August 1917, Friederike Rothenburg wanted to travel within Germany and had a passport issued for this purpose. The passport record shows that she was rather short, had dark hair and brown eyes.

Friederike's brother Max Rothenburg, an "agent" and commercial representative, married Paula Fryda (born 19.8.1887), who came from Wattenscheid, in June 1921. Their twins Ingeborg and Hans-Joachim were born in Hamburg on September 30, 1922.

Times became difficult for Friederike Rothenburg after the First World War and the Great Depression. She continued to live in the four-room apartment on Grindelhof, but sublet two rooms in order to secure her livelihood. She improved her very limited circumstances by working at home, sewing and embroidering. Household help was necessary because of her heart disease. The doctor Betty Warburg informed the Jewish community in September 1925 that Friederike Rothenburg was unable to feed herself sufficiently. On behalf of the community, the nurse Ludwig asked the welfare office for Friederike Rothenburg, who came from the "best middle class", to be cared for by a professional nurse and for the case to be handled discreetly. He pointed out that Friederike Rothenburg was restricting herself so much that she was starving.

Friederike's step-cousin Erich Mühsam, who had once been intended as the successor to his father's pharmacy in Lübeck, had chosen a different path. He became a well-known writer of German anarchism and a fighter against fascism. He was arrested immediately after the National Socialists came to power and murdered in Oranienburg concentration camp on July 10, 1934.

Friederike's brother Siegfried Salomon Rothenburg had been forced to give up his company at the beginning of the Nazi takeover. He then worked as a messenger for the German-Israelitic community. When the community could no longer pay him, he continued to work as a volunteer. Daughter Ruth Rothenburg had attended Dr. Löwenberg's secondary school for girls from 1919 to 1925 and then the commercial college. She was employed as an office clerk and correspondent at the Kurt Pick company until the Jewish company was "aryanized", i.e. expropriated, because of an order of the National Socialists. She supported her almost blind mother in the household. The younger daughter Ilse Rothenburg wanted to become a qualified gardener. Both daughters were able to escape National Socialist persecution: Ilse Rothenburg emigrated to Palestine as early as June 1933. Ruth Rothenburg was able to reach safety in Australia via England in 1939.

Friederike Rothenburg received support from the German-Israelite community and was able to move into the newly built Mendelson Israel Foundation, apartment no. 5, first floor, in mid-March 1932. She continued to be dependent on welfare. According to her statements in March 1937, she was occasionally provided with food by her cousins.

Friederike's brother Hermann Rothenburg was interrogated several times by the Gestapo during the period of National Socialist persecution and urged to divorce. Although his wife was not Jewish, Hermann Rothenburg and his wife Alma were expelled from the apartment they shared in Groß Flottbeck, Groß Flottbeckerstraße 80, 1st floor, in 1940. In April 1940, both were committed to the Mendelson-Israel-Stift, which was now designated a "Jews' house".

Friederike's brother Siegfried Rothenburg finally lived with his blind wife Elfriede in the "Jews' house" at Sedanstraße 21. Together with their son Gert, they had to report to the collection point at the Freemanson’s lodge on Moorweide for the first deportation of Hamburg Jews, as did their brother Max Rothenburg, his wife Paula, née Fryda, and their twins Ingeborg and Hans-Joachim. They were all deported together to Litzmannstadt/Lodz ghetto on October 25, 1941.

Max Rothenburg died in the Litzmannstadt/Lodz ghetto on January 4, 1942, 19 days before his 59th birthday. The date of death of his wife Elfriede, née Marcus, is not known. Gert Rothenburg had been deployed as a laborer in the ghetto and was housed at no. 28 2nd Street. He died on January 8, 1942 of "enterocolitis Adyna" (intestinal inflammation, weakening), as recorded in the ghetto's hospital documents. Gert Rothenburg was 25 years old. Paula Rothenburg and her daughter Ingeborg were deported to Chelmno extermination camp with the dreaded "deportation" and murdered on May 10, 1942. The date of death for the twin Hans-Joachim is unknown. Paula Rothenburg was 54, Ingeborg and Hans-Joachim were 19 years old. Stolpersteine commemorate the families of Friederike's brothers, Siegfried, Elfriede and Gert Rothenburg in Hamburg at Neumünstersche Straße 8 and Max, Paula, Ingeborg and Hans-Joachim Rothenburg at Kottwitzstraße 38 (for a biography, see www.stolpersteine-hamburg.de).

After the deportation of the two brothers and their families, Friederike Rothenburg lived in the Mendelson-Israel-Stift for another six months. She was deported to Theresienstadt ghetto on July 19, 1942. She died there in L 306, Lange Straße, room 014, four months later on November 18, 1942 at 3:20 pm. The cause of death stated in the death notice was "enteritis intestinal catarrh". Friederike Rothenburg died under the inhumane conditions in the Theresienstadt ghetto. She was 73 years old. She was buried in the cemetery two days later at 3 pm.

On August 2, 1944, a "medallion only picture" in old gold from the bailiff's warehouse was valued at RM 4 by the tax collector Henry Allerding. This piece of jewelry came from "Frieda Sara Rothenburg". She had had to hand it over to the Chief Finance President in accordance with the National Socialist laws of February 1939. On August 15, 1944, it was publicly auctioned off to the people of Hamburg by bailiff Gerlach, Drehbahn 36. The purchaser, A. V., only paid the auction price. It can be assumed that this medallion was once worn by Friederike Rothenburg. It remains unclear who she was remembering in the picture.

The further fate of the family members
Friederike's brother Hermann Rothenburg and his wife Alma were forced to move into a "Jews' house" in Hamburg in the street Rutschbahn on September 18, 1942. In the summer of 1943, he was admitted to the Jewish Hospital for treatment of his feet. He was able to evade a deportation order with a medical certificate confirming that he was unfit for transportation. Hermann Rothenburg survived and recalled after the war: "After I had been lying there [in the Israelite Hospital, Schäferkampsallee; M. L.] for about three days, the big bombing raid on Hamburg came. The hospital was spared, but the next day, on Sunday, July 25th, around 10 a.m., a Nazi bigwig came and ordered in a harsh tone 'the whole pack of Jews has to clear the hospital within 10 minutes'. I couldn't leave the bed with my sore feet, but the Nazis forced me to do so. After limping to my apartment in the slide, which I was lucky enough to keep, in unbearable pain, I had to continue my treatment there as best I could."

After the war, Hermann Rothenburg lived with his wife Alma, née Reiner, in Fuhlsbüttel in the former Mendelson-Israel-Stift. He died there on October 7, 1952, his wife Alma, née Reiner, on June 18, 1976. Both were laid to rest in the Ilandkoppel Jewish Cemetery in Ohlsdorf, grave location L 2, no. 21/22.

Friederike's younger brother Hugo Rothenburg, who had emigrated to the USA at the age of 18, had married Celeste Diamond from Maryland in Denver County in December 1920 and adopted her ten-year-old daughter Marjorie. Hugo Rothenburg died in Denver in February 1941 and was laid to rest in the Jewish cemetery Emanuel at Fairmont, Denver. It is not known whether Friederike Rothenburg was in contact with him and learned of his death.

Friederike's niece Ilse Rothenburg had married the teacher Joseph Feuchtwanger in her country of exile, Palestine. She remained in Israel with her five children Miriam, Ruth, Chagit, Ofra and Yssacher, who were born there.

Friederike's niece Ruth Rothenburg married Ernst Dretzke, a master carpenter, in 1939 in Australia, the country of exile. She remained in Australia with her two children Barbara and Ronald, born there in 1945 and 1950.

Stand: February 2024
© Margot Löhr

Quellen: 1; 3; 4; 5; 7; 8; StaH, 214-1 Gerichtsvollzieherwesen, 600 Frieda Sara Rothenburg; StaH, 332-3 Zivilstandsaufsicht, Geburtsregister, A 76 Nr. 6000/1869 Friederike Rothenburg, A 150 Nr. 1693/1873 Hermann Rothenburg, A 184 Nr. 6236/1974 Siegfried Rothenburg, A 212 Nr. 7332/1875 Paul Rothenburg; StaH, 332-3 Zivilstandsaufsicht, Heiratsregister, B 25 Nr. 422/1869 Isaac Rothenburg u. Rebecca Heymann; StaH, 332-5 Standesämter, Geburtsregister, 1932 u. 2720/1878 Hugo Rothenburg, 1978 u. 2166/1880 James Rothenburg, 2051 u. 514/1883 Max Rothenburg; StaH, 332-5 Standesämter, Heiratsregister, 2656 u. 957/1893 Simon Israel u. Olga Margaretha Mühsam 8657 u. 349/1908 Siegfried Salomon Rothenburg u. Elfriede Marcus, 3147 u. 318/1910 Hermann Rothenburg u. Alma Remer; StaH, 332-5 Standesämter, Sterberegister, 15 u.1865/1876 Paul Rothenburg, 89 u. 3081/1880 James Rothenburg, 105 u. 1650/1881 Henriette Rothenburg 105 u. 1687/1881 Rebecca Rothenburg; 567 u. 1913/1906 Ernestine Rothenburg, 9721 u. 1247/1913 Isaac Rothenburg; StaH, 332-7, Staatsangehörigkeitsaufsicht AI f Bd. 159 Nr. 9578 Isaac Rothenburg, AI f Bd. 207 HI Nr. 1018 Hermann Rothenburg, B III 17033 Jsaac Rothenburg; StaH, 332-8 Meldewesen, A 24, Bd. 156, Nr. 12087, 1917; StaH, 351-11 Amt für Wiedergutmachung, 2119 Hermann Rothenburg, 2736 Alma Rothenburg, 2328 Siegfried Rothenburg, 8053 Elfriede Rothenburg, 39538 Ilse Feuchtwanger, 37724 Ruth Dretzke; StaH, 351-14 Arbeits- und Sozialfürsorge, 1774 Friederike Rothenburg; StaH, 352-5 Gesundheitsbehörde, Todesbescheinigungen, 1876 Sta 2 Nr. 1865 Paul Rothenburg, 1880 Sta 2 Nr. 3081 James Rothenburg, 1881 Sta 2 Nr. 1650 Henriette Rothenburg, 1881 Sta 2 Nr. 1687 Rebecca Rothenburg, 1913 Sta 3a Nr. 1247 Jsaac Rothenburg; StaH, 362-6/8, IC 43 Israelitische Freischule Anton Reé; StaH, 376-2 Gewerbepolizei, Spz VIII C 7 Nr. 484; StaH, 522-1 Jüdische Gemeinden, Geburtsregister, 696 d Nr. 83/1845 Rebecca Heymann; StaH, 522-1 Jüdische Gemeinden, Heiratsregister, 702 b Nr. 17/1844 Nehemias David Heymann u. Henriette Seelig; StaH, 522-1 Jüdische Gemeinden, Sterberegister, 725 k Nr. 243/1864 Nehemias David Heymann, 725 k 218/1865 Henriette Heymann, geb. Seelig; StaH, 522-1 Jüdische Gemeinden, 729 Bd. 2, Grabregister des Grindelfriedhofs, Jüdischer Friedhof Ilandkoppel, L 2-21/22; StaH, 741-4 Fotoarchiv, K 2511, K 6833; Datenbankprojekt des Eduard-Duckesz-Fellow und der Hamburger Gesellschaft für jüdische Genealogie, Ottensen, http://jüdischer-friedhof-altona.de/datenbank.html, eingesehen am: 25.2.2022; Auskünfte Meike Kruse, Stadtarchiv Lübeck, AHL, Standesamt, I H 1882, Nr. 106; Institut Theresienstädter Initiative, Nationalarchiv Prag, Jüdische Matrikeln, Todesfallanzeigen, 601381 Rothenburg, Friederike; Peter Landé, USHM Lodz hospital, 1942 Jan 05.7, Gert Rothenburg; Susanne Lohmeyer: Stolpersteine in Hamburg-Eimsbüttel und Hamburg-Hoheluft-West, Hamburg 2013, Bd. 2, S. 455–457 (Hans-Joachim, Ingeborg, Max Rothenburg und Paula, geb. Fryda); Sybille Baumbach: Israelitische Freischule, in: Das jüdische Hamburg. Ein historisches Nachschlagewerk, hrsg. vom Institut für die Geschichte der Deutschen Juden, Red.: Kirsten Heinsohn, Göttingen 2006, S. 69 f.; Charlotte Landau-Mühsam: Meine Erinnerungen, hrsg. von Peter Guttkuhn (Schriften der Erich-Mühsam-Gesellschaft, Bd. 34), Lübeck 2010; Paul Mühsam: Ich bin ein Mensch gewesen – Lebenserinnerungen, Gerlingen 1989, S. 52; Rothenburg, http://yvng.yadvashem.org/index.html?language=en&s_lastName=Rothenburg&s_firstName=&s_place=Hamburg, eingesehen am: 25.2.2022. Herzlichen Dank an Miriam Freier!
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