Gernsheimer

 

Some family names are common, some are rare. For my family, for example, I have not found a single “Kleinstrass” who is not a direct descendant of Aron Kleinstrass who chose the name  Other names in my family, such as BAER and BAUM are quite common, found among families, both Jewish and non-Jewish, all over Germany. Gernsheimer, the family of one of my great-great-grandmothers is one of the rare names. I expected to find everyone with that name to be related, descended from a common ancestor.  Some internet searches put me in contact with two extended Gernsheimer families here in the U.S.  It turns out that they are related to each other, but not to my Gernsheimer family, or if they are, I haven’t found the connection.  Both families probably came from the town of Gernsheim at some point. Gernsheim lies about 50 km southwest of Frankfurt, close to Worms.  While one would think that a family named Gernsheimer would live in Gernsheim, they actually wouldn’t use that name until they lived elsewhere. To talk about “Abraham from Gernsheim” when he’s living in Gernsheim wouldn’t make much sense.  “Abraham from Gernsheim” would only be meaningful when Abraham lived somewhere else.

My Gernsheimer family lived in the town of Viernheim (see MAP).  It lies about 20 km north of Heidelberg, and 30 km from the town of Gernsheim.  These days it is known for having the largest mall in the area, due to Viernheim being at the junction of a couple of major autobahns.  Alexander Gernsheimer lived there in the early 1800‘s, and Gernsheimers lived there until the 1940s.  In the mid-1800’s there were maybe five Jewish families living there.  One of the others was the Kaufmann family.  Several Kaufmann brothers came to the U.S. and started a chain of department stores in Pittsburgh that they named after their family (“Kaufmanns”).  One of their sons had the Frank Lloyd Wright house, Falling Water, built.

The other Gernsheimer family that I have identified lived in Rückingen, a village 20 km east of Frankfurt, and now part of the town of Erlensee (see MAP). That family is descended from Seligmann Gernsheimer, probably born around 1840. They lived there and in the nearby towns of Hanau and Wachenbuchen until the deportations of 1942 (see photo).  Interestingly, Rückingen had a Jewish mayor, Julius Lilienfeld,  after the war, from 1945 to 1952. 

Many of the Jews who were deported from this region (including those in the photo below) were sent to Izbica.  Izbica was a small village in eastern Poland that was used as a ghetto for Jews before they were sent to the nearby death camps of Sobibor, Belzec, and Majdanek.  Read about it HERE.

               To understand how to read the family listings, click HERE.

The Gernsheimer family from Viernheim


    Alexander GERNSHEIMER (about 1790 - 1 March 1870) & Rebekka HEIMANN (about 1777 - 6 November 1846)

  1. •Heymann GERNSHEIMER (1810 - 1 November 1886, Viernheim) & Babette FRÄNKEL

  2. ‣Sara GERNSHEIMER (27 September 1835, Viernheim - )

  3. ‣(daughter) GERNSHEIMER (25 August 1836, Viernheim - 25 August 1836, Viernheim)

  4. ‣Johanne GERNSHEIMER (27 October 1840, Viernheim - 14 April 1897, Wiesbaden) & Seligmann BAUM (21 April 1836, Schierstein - 14 October 1918, Wiesbaden)

Johanne Gernsheimer and Seligmann Baum are my great-great-grandparents.  For a more complete list of their descendants, see the BAUM page HERE, and also THIS page for a photo of the descendants.

  1. -Siegfried BAUM (2 August 1869, Wiesbaden - 9 April 1935, Wiesbaden) & Emilie BAER (5 December 1876, Wiesbaden - 12 May 1944, Theresienstadt)

  2. •Johanna BAUM (11 August 1897, Wiesbaden - 1943, KZ Auschwitz) & Albert KLEINSTRASS (8 March 1883, Bredenborn - 1943, Auschwitz)

  3. ‣Paul Louis KESTER (1925, Wiesbaden - ) & Susanne Jeanette LUFT (1924, Berlin - )

  4. -Daniel John KESTER (1954 - ) This is me (creator of this website) & Anna Gunilla THEANDER (1958 - )

  5. ‣Samuel GERNSHEIMER (26 April 1842, Viernheim - ) & Helene “Helma” FEITLER (January 1846, Seeheim - )

       Samuel and his family immigrated to the U.S.

  1. -(stillborn) GERNSHEIMER (14 October 1867, Viernheim - 14 October 1867, Viernheim)

  2. -Siegmund GERNSHEIMER (30 August 1868, Viernheim - ) & Adell

  3. •    Florence (29 April 1895 - February 1974, New York, NY)

  4. -Rosa/Rose GERNSHEIMER (1 February 1871, Viernheim - )

  5. -Moritz/Morris GERNSHEIMER (26 September 1871, Viernheim - )

  6. -Sophie GERNSHEIMER (13 April 1874, Viernheim - )

  7. -Bertha GERNSHEIMER (September 1880 - )

  8. -Ruth GERNSHEIMER (October 1882 - )

  9. ‣GERNSHEIMER (13 May 1851 - 13 May 1851)

  10. •David GERNSHEIMER (about 1815 - 3 November 1853) & Regina MAYER (about 1819 - 1 June 1864)

  11. ‣[Mayer] GERNSHEIMER (7 March 1843, Viernheim - )

  12. ‣Adolph GERNSHEIMER (16 September 1844, Viernheim - )

  13. ‣Lazarus GERNSHEIMER (28 March 1846, Viernheim - )

  14. ‣Heimann GERNSHEIMER (12 June 1848, Viernheim - )

  15. ‣Raphael GERNSHEIMER (4 June 1850, Viernheim - )

  16. ‣Salomon GERNSHEIMER (30 May 1852, Viernheim - ) & Minnie (about 1859 - )

        Salomon and his family immigrated to the U.S. Solomon is listed in the 1880 U.S. census as a cigar packer.

  1. -Rosa GERNSHEIMER (about 1879 - ) & CONNETT

  2. -Joseph GERNSHEIMER (born New York, NY) & Marie Louise BACHEM

  3. •Salomon GERNSHEIMER* (1816 - 26 April 1889, Viernheim) & Charlotte WEIL (about 1810, Kirchheim - 19 October 1858, Viernheim)

  4. ‣Regina GERNSHEIMER (28 December 1839, Viernheim - )

  5. ‣Hannchen GERNSHEIMER (3 March 1841, Viernheim - )

  6. ‣Regina GERNSHEIMER (6 December 1842, Viernheim - 4 March 1843, Viernheim)

  7. ‣Adolph GERNSHEIMER (24 April 1844, Viernheim - 11 May 1844, Viernheim)

  8. ‣Simon GERNSHEIMER (27 September 1845, Viernheim - 12 February 1900) & Bonette HIRSCHHEIMER (17 September 1849 - 17 October 1914)

  9. -Albert GERNSHEIMER (25 July 1875, Viernheim - 26 July 1876, Viernheim)

  10. -Lina (Linda) GERNSHEIMER (16 July 1876, Viernheim - ) & Nathan GERNSHEIMER (2 September 1866 - 3 November 1912)

        Nathan was a cousin of Lina’s father (see below).  Lina and her children immigrated to the United States in February 1939.

  1. •Sally (Sol) GERNSHEIMER (10 June 1902, Viernheim - October 1973)

  2. •Nelly GERNSHEIMER (29 June 1904, Viernheim - ) & Max OPPENHEIMER

  3. -Cäcilia GERNSHEIMER (5 February 1878, Viernheim - 21 March 1923, Viernheim) & Max RHONHEIMER (born Merchingen bei Adelsheim)

  4. -Sigmund GERNSHEIMER (10 March 1880, Viernheim - 18 March 1942, Poland)

  5. -Rosa GERNSHEIMER (14 August 1883, Viernheim - about 1942, Poland) & Emil FISCHER (22 September 1881 - about 1942, Poland)

  6. -Wilhelm GERNSHEIMER (1 July 1885, Viernheim - 1 March, 1936) & Julie ENLÄNDER (3 March 1899, Hainsfarth - about 1943)  Wilhelm was a tobacco merchant.

  7. •Martin GERNSHEIMER (12 February 1934, Mannheim - about 1942)

  8. -Adolph GERNSHEIMER (26 September 1888, Viernheim - 17 August 1921, Viernheim)

  9. -Pauline (Paula) GERNSHEIMER (3 August 1891, Viernheim - 7 August 1951, New York) & Fritz HEUMANN (13 April 1889, Hoffenheim - )

  10. •Ruth Bonette HEUMANN (26 April 1922, Mannheim - )

  11. •Werner Adolph Simon HEUMANN (18 February 1926, Mannheim - )

  12. ‣Güthel GERNSHEIMER (22 September 1846, Viernheim - )

  13. ‣Rebekka GERNSHEIMER (7 October 1848, Viernheim - )

  14. ‣GERNSHEIMER (7 October 1849, Viernheim - 7 October 1849, Viernheim)

  15. •Salomon GERNSHEIMER* (1816 - 26 April 1889) & Nendel ETTLINGER (about 1825 - 4 October 1892, Viernheim)

  16. ‣Sara GERNSHEIMER & STERNFELS

  17. ‣Rosa GERNSHEIMER & RHONHEIMER

  18. ‣Johanna GERNSHEIMER & ETTLINGER

  19. ‣Jeanette GERNSHEIMER (1 March 1862, Viernheim - 15 May 1932, Viernheim)

  20. ‣Nathan GERNSHEIMER (2 September 1866, Viernheim - 3 November 1912) & Lina (Linda) GERNSHEIMER (16 July 1876, Viernheim - )

        Lina’s father was a cousin of Nathan (see above).  Lina and her children immigrated to the United States in February, 1939.

  1. -Sally (Sol) GERNSHEIMER (10 June 1902 - October 1973)

  2. -Nelly GERNSHEIMER (29 June 1904 - ) & Max OPPENHEIMER

Other Gernsheimers I found include Joseph and his wife Reichle, listed as living in Worms in 1801.  He was born in 1755, she in 1759. Maybe they’re the ancestors of everyone else?  There were also several Gernsheimer families that immigrated to the U.S. in the 1800’s where I found no connection, including Rudolf and Leopold (brothers?) born in about 1850 and 1846, respectively.  They were listed as “segar manuf.” There were actually a couple of other Gernsheimers, from both the Viernheim and Rüchingen families involved in the tobacco business in some way.  Maybe a common connection?

Names in RED in the lists below are those people who were murdered during the period of 1933-1945.

Much of the information on this page about the Viernheim Gernsheimers came from the Viernheim Stadt Archiv. The Rücklingen Gernsheimer information came largely from family members. Special thanks to Jeff Gernsheimer, Bobbi Worms, and Gary Strauss, to the website of Peter Heckert, and to the Hanau Stadtarchiv.

Deportation: The brothers Hans and Lothar Gernsheimer, ages six and four, with their father Ludwig, leader of the Jewish community of Rückingen, boarding the train in Hanau on May 30, 1942.  They went by train to the ghetto of Izbica in eastern Poland; from there to either the Sobibor or Belzec extermination camps to be gassed.  They were dead as soon as a few days after this photo, at most a few months.  The heavy coats in summer were because they could only take with them what they could wear or carry.


From the town of Hanau archives                                   Additional photos can be found at THIS site.

The Gernsheimer family from Rückingen


  1. ‣Seligmann GERNSHEIMER & Sabine BLUMENTHAL

  2. -Jacob GERNSHEIMER (1 July 1874, Rückingen - 22 January 1938, Bernville, PA) & Johanna FINSTERWALD (27 June 1882, Oberzell - December 1978, Navron, PA)   Jacob and Johanna left Germany with daughter Toni in 1936, sponsored by their daughter Paula, who had immigrated to Pennsylvania in the 1920‘s.  Their sons, Sitta and Solly, had left in May of 1934.

  3. •Paula GERNSHEIMER (about 1904 - about 1977, Reading, PA) & Robert KATZ (1900 - 1976)

  4. ‣Lee J. KATZ (1928 - ) & Judy FARKOSH

  5. -Leslie KATZ

  6. -Julie KATZ

  7. •Sitta GERNSHEIMER (5 May 1908 - about 1993, Reading, PA) & Julius GOLDSTEIN (about 1900 - 1946)

  8. ‣Susan GOLDSTEIN (1940 - ) & Dr. M. Herbert WACHS

  9. -Michelle WACHS & Irwin GROSS

  10. •    Julia GROSS (1996 - )

  11. •    Brian GROSS

  12. -Jon WACHS & Kathy GUBEN

  13. •    Sophie WACHS

  14. •    Samuel (Sam) WACHS

  15. -Beth WACHS & Howard MORTMAN

  16. •    Emily MORTMAN

  17. •    Carly (?) MORTMAN

  18. ‣Joseph J. GOLDSTEIN* (1944 - ) & Michelle Vee BARRER

  19. -Josh GOLDSTEIN

  20. ‣Joseph J. GOLDSTEIN* (1944 - ) & Patricia EIRICH

  21. •Solly GERNSHEIMER (12 March 1912 - 9 September 1987, Reading, PA) & Hildegard SIMON (1946 - )

  22. ‣Jacob (Jack) GERNSHEIMER* (1946 - ) & Amy WHITE

  23. -Jessica GERNSHEIMER & James BATTAGLIA

  24. •    Giacomo BATTAGLIA

  25. •    Enzo BATTAGLIA

  26. •    Lucia BATTAGLIA

  27. -Gabriel GERNSHEIMER (1972 - 1987)

  28. ‣Jacob (Jack) GERNSHEIMER* (1946 - ) & Nancy WOLFF

  29. ‣Jeffry GERNSHEIMER (1946 - ) & Janet (Jan) BARNETT (1955 - )

  30. -Peter GERNSHEIMER (1986 - )

  31. -Graham GERNSHEIMER (1989 - )

  32. ‣    Sharon GERNSHEIMER (1951 - ) & Barry LEVINE

  33. -Carly LEVINE (1996 - )

  34. -    Julia LEVINE (1996 - )

  35. •Toni GERNSHEIMER (30 September, 1916 - 24 July, 2002, Bernville, PA) & Max GUTMANN (30 November 1909 - 27 March 1980, Reading, PA)

  36. ‣Dr. J. Steven GUTMANN (1944 - ) & Lois SHAW

  37. -Cliff GUTMANN & Marci TAYLOR

  38. •   Trevor GUTMANN

  39. •    Luke GUTMANN

  40. •    Callie GUTMANN

  41. -Carey GUTMANN & Alexis MILLER

  42. -Casey GUTMANN

  43. ‣Barbara Ann “Bobbi” GUTMANN & Michael WORMS

  44. -Margo WORMS & Adam STERLING

  45. -Jamie WORMS

  46. -Jettchen GERNSHEIMER & Wolf or Leopold or Berthold LOWENTHAL

  47. •Bella LOWENTHAL & Siegfried KAHN

  48. ‣    Ilse KAHN (21 February 1921, Grefenhausen - ) & David KATZ

  49. ‣    Trudy KAHN & Burton GOLDMEIR

  50. -Barry GOLDMEIR (1946 - ) & Joanne

  51. -Lee GOLDMEIR (1950 - ) & Ilene

  52. •    Bertha LOWENTHAL & Benno BAUMANN

  53. ‣    Inge BAUMANN (25 September 1930, Aschaffenburg - about 1942, deported to Izbika)

  54. ‣    Walter (Werner)  BAUMANN (9 October 1926, Nuremburg - about 1942, deported to Izbika)

  55. -Regina GERNSHEIMER & Elisha KAUFMAN

  56. -Simon GERNSHEIMER & Mina LOWENTHAL

  57. •Jenny GERNSHEIMER (28 September 1892, Rückingen - about 1942, Minsk) & David STRAUSS (25 August 1876 - 28 September 1928, Frankfurt)

  58. ‣Ernest STRAUSS (9 July 1913, Wachenbuchen - 2007, New York, NY)

  59. -Judy STRAUSS & Ralph MARCUS

  60. •    Eliana MARCUS & AARON

  61. •    Eytan (Jonathan) MARCUS

  62. •    Yigal MARCUS

  63. •    Akiva MARCUS

  64. •    Ariella MARCUS & AGATSTEIN

  65. ‣Ludwig “Lou” STRAUSS (1921 - ) & Eva KIRSCHNER

       Ludwig left Germany for Palestine in 1936.  He lived there until 1956, when he and his wife and son, David, came to the U.S.

  1. -David STRAUSS (about 1950 - )

  2. -Ralphael (Ralph) STRAUSS (1961 - ) & Mindy

  3. ‣Simon STRAUSS (1917 - ) & Sylvia

       Simon left Germany for the U.S. before the war.  He returned to liberate it as a member of the US Army.

  1. -Nadine STRAUSS

  2. -Davida STRAUSS

  3. -Gary STRAUSS

  4. •    Marika STRAUSS & Opai ADAMSON

  5. •Bertha GERNSHEIMER (about 1892 - 1939) & Isaak STRAUSS (6 February, 1890 - about 1942)

  6. ‣    Else STRAUSS ( 12 June, 1920 - about 1942)

  7. ‣    Siegfried STRAUSS (2 August, 1923 - about 1942)

  8. •    Julius GERNSHEIMER* (23 March 1896, Rückingen - about 1942, Minsk) & Klara (Kela) KLEIN ( 4 July 1897, Hanau - 2 February 1927, Hanau)

  9. •    Julius GERNSHEIMER* (23 March 1896, Rückingen - about 1942, Minsk) & Ida VOGEL (16 March 1897, Münster - about 1942, Minsk)

  10. ‣    Sämi GERNSHEIMER (11 February 1924, Hanau - about 1942, Minsk)

  11. ‣    Manfred GERNSHEIMER (13 February 1931, Hanau - about 1942, Minsk)

  12. •Ludwig GERNSHEIMER (2 September 1897 - 1942, Izbica) & Therese LEVI (16 November 1909, Gladenbach - about 1942, Izbica or Sobibor)  See the photo of Ludwig and his sons, Hans and Lothar, at the top of the page.

  13. ‣Hans GERNSHEIMER (23 February 1936 - 1942, Izbica or Sobibor)

  14. ‣Lothar GERNSHEIMER (19 December 1937 - 1942, Izbica or Sobibor)

  15. •Paula GERNSHEIMER

  16. •Frieda GERNSHEIMER (24 June 1900 - about 1942, Izbica) & Bernhard OPPENHEIMER (3 November 1890 - about 1942, Izbica)

  17. •Rosel (Rosemary) GERNSHEIMER & Solly FULD

        Family went to Shanghai, then Japan, then U.S.

  1. ‣Lore FULD & ADLER

  2. -Marvin ADLER

  3. -Jeffrey ADLER

  4. •Sigfried GERNSHEIMER (6 September 1906, Rückingen - August, 1975, Queens, New York) & Berta SAMFELD (27 October 1912, Mainbernheim - about 1942, Izbica)

  5. •Kathinka GERNSHEIMER (23 September 1908 - about 1942, Izbika) & Samuel BERLINER (24 May 1899 - about 1942, Izbica)

  6. ‣    Hermann BERLINER (19 July, 1935 - about 1942, Izbica)

  7. ‣    Mathel (Nathal?) BERLINER (27 December, 1939 - about 1942, Izbica)



*People with asterisks after their names were married two or more times.  They have a separate line for each spouse.

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Daniel Kester


Page added:  April 4, 2009        Last update: January 11, 2017

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