The Senger Family of Bückeburg

by Bernd-Wilhelm Linnemeier

translated by Norman Streat

German original created 18/19 Aug 2002

 

German original

 

 

 

Translator’s comments:

While retaining the essence of Linnemeier’s original German document, this translation contains several changes to make the document easier to understand.

Regarding the endnotes, Linnemeier cites books and original documents that he examined in the Bückeburg State Archive.  I have translated his comments, but I have not reviewed these references.

 

 

Glossary:

 

 

 

 

 

Generation Zero

 

0.   Senger, Jew in Obernkirchen (County of Schaumburg)[i] in 1601.  May have been the father or grandfather of (1.) Isaak Senger - but there is no proof of this.

 

Generation One

1.  ▲Isaak Senger, Schutzjude in Bückeburg; received his Schutzbrief in 1646[ii],  Birth and death dates unknown.  Known to have died in Bückeburg after 1687.  Married: ▲NN.

                                    Sons:

i.    David Senger, Schutzjude in Bückeburg, mentioned in 1687[iii]

2.      ii.     Leeser (Eliezer) Senger

 

Generation Two

2.  ▲Leeser (Eliezer) Senger, Schutzjude in Bückeburg.  Resident in Bückeburg as a moneylender since 1671[iv]; mentioned together with father and brother in 1687[v]; before 1691 head of the Jewish community in Bückeburg[vi]; b. and d. unknown.  Married: ▲NN, b. and d. unknown. 

Sons:

3.      i.   Moses Eliezer/Leeser

4.      ii.  ▲Simon Senger aka. Simon Eliezer/Leeser b. about 1665

5.      iii.  Michel Eliezer/Leeser b. in Bückeburg, d. in Stadthagen.  After his return to the county was a Schutzjude in Stadthagen, m. NN

 

Generation Three

3.  Moses Eliezer/Leeser[vii].  Court Jew to the counts of Schaumburg-Lippe.  Son-in-law of Isaak Heine (Heinrich Heine’s great-great-grandfather); expelled from the county in 1718 together with his father-in-law; but returned in 1728.  Later, he was the dedicated spokesman for the Schaumburg-Lippe Jews; b. unknown, d. after 1747-48 in Frankfurt-an-der-Oder[viii]; m. NN, Isaak Heine’s daughter, b. and d. unknown.

Daughter:

i.       NN, b. and d. unknown, m. Heinemann Spanier, from 1749 Court Jew to the counts of Schaumburg-Lippe[ix], b. 1703 Paderborn(?)[x], d. 1788 Bückeburg.

 

4.  ▲Simon Senger[xi] aka. Simon Eliezer/Leeser[xii].  Court butcher in Bückeburg[xiii]; from 1691 leader of the Bückeburg Jewish community[xiv] together with Isaak Heine.  He was the only Jew in Schaumburg-Lippe spared from expulsion in 1718.  In 1738 he had his own house in Bückeburg[xv]; b. ~1665 probably in Bückeburg, d. after 1744[xvi] Bückeburg; m. ▲Güdelgen David[xvii], b. and d. unknown.

                                    Children:

6.      i.  ▲Isaak Simon, b. 1704

7.      ii.  Abraham Simon, b. 1706 Bückeburg

8.      iii.  Jacob Simon, b. about 1711

iv.  NN Daughter of Simon, m. 1721 Heinemann Spanier[xviii]

v.   NN Son of Simon[xix], b.1714

 

5.  Michel Eliezer/Leeser[xx], b. in Bückeburg, d. in Stadthagen.  After his return to the county he was a Schutzjude in Stadthagen.  m. NN.

Daughter:

    i.  NN, m. Heinemann Spanier[xxi]???

 

Generation Four

6.  ▲Isaak Simon, Schutzjude in Bückeburg, resident in Hagenburg 1729[xxii] , 1739 provided with a Schutzbrief for the entire county[xxiii]; b. 1701/1706/1710 Bückeburg[xxiv], d. after 1786 Bückeburg, m. ▲NN, b. 1721[xxv], d. between 1777 and 1786[xxvi]

Children:

i.           ▲Margen (Maria/Miriam/Marianne) Isaac, b. 1749 Bückeburg[xxvii], d. 1801 Stolzenau, m. before 1777[xxviii] ▲Samuel Levi, b. unknown, d. 7.7. 1816 Stolzenau.

ii.        Moses Isaac, b. 1751 Bückeburg[xxix]

iii.      Engelchen Isaac, b. 1753 Bückeburg[xxx]

iv.       Simon Isaac, b. 1755 Bückeburg[xxxi]

v.      Michel Isaac, b. 1757 Bückeburg[xxxii].

 

 

7.   Abraham Simon[xxxiii], b. 1706 Bückeburg, m. NN

 

8.   Jacob Simon[xxxiv], b. about 1711 Bückeburg. d. after 1771[xxxv], m. NN, b. 1748[xxxvi]

            Daughters[xxxvii]

i.           Gittel Jacob, b. 1766 Bückeburg.

ii.        Freite Jacob, b. 1768 Bückeburg.

iii.      Esther Jacob, b. 1770 Bückeburg.

 

 

 


[i] In the list of the Jewish inhabitants of the county of Schaumburg in 1601 Senger with wife and children is also mentioned for Obernkirchen (Staatsarchiv Bückeburg [= StABÜ], L 1, III C a, No. 6). A family connection with Isaak Senger in Bückeburg is possible, but cannot be proven directly.
 

[ii] Together with his co-religionists 1) Simon, 2) Seligmann Senger (maybe a brother?), 3) Isaak Spanier and 5) Levi (StABÜ, L 2, J, No. 26a, fol. 10-12, Schutzbrief 19 August 1646)

 

[iii] Hans-Heinrich Hasselmeier, “Die Stellung der Juden in Schamburg-Lippe...” (The Position of Jews in Schaumburg-Lippe…), Schaumburger Studien Heft 19, Bückeburg 1967 (hereinafter referred to as Hasselmeier 1967), p. 59 with reference to StABÜ, K 1, J 27, Vol. I , 28 July 1687). Here Leeser and David Senger are referred to as sons of Isaac, who was still alive at the time, and as brothers. Unfortunately, Hasselmeier's work is superficial in many details and not always reliable.  This needs to be double-checked.

 

[iv] Hasselmeier 1967, p. 101.

 

[v] Hasselmeier 1967, S. 59 unter Rückgriff auf StABÜ, K 1, J 27, Vol. I, 1687 Juli 28).

 

[vi] Hasselmeier 1967, p. 102.

 

[vii] Hasselmeier states that Simon Leeser and Moses Leeser were brothers (Hasselmeier, 1967, p. 114).

 

[viii] In any case, he moved to Frankfurt-an-der-Oder in 1747/48 (StABÜ, Special Inventory Judaica, p. 228: (one should  check further details). Until 1749 he and his son-in-law Spanier argued before the Reich Chamber of Commerce over an inheritance matter (since 1744): (check the details in StABÜ, L 24, J No. 7).

 

[ix] Hasselmeier 1967, pp. 115-116. According to Hasselmeier, [Heinemann Spanier] was a brother of Nathan Spanier of Bielefeld. His son, Levi Spanier, who later became a Court Factor, was later called Levi Heine (StABÜ, Special Inventory Judaica, p. 228): He was the progenitor of the younger Heine family in Bückeburg, which is not related to Heinrich Heine's family. In the margin of his contribution on the Berlin ancestors of Heinrich Heine (published in 1955 in “The Bear of Berlin”, pp. 33-52), Rabbi Bernhard Brilling noted on 30 August 1971: “This section (in which he claimed to be Levi, a son of Isaak Heine alias Chajim Bückeburg) is based on an error to which I was led by H. Schnee. Levi Heine was not a son of Isaak Heine and all conclusions drawn from it are therefore not valid”.

 

[x] This could result from the undated note attached to the 1729 Schutzbrief for Michel Eliezer (see below).

 

[xi] This is how his name appears in his Schutzbrief for Bückeburg 11 April 1711(StABÜ, L 2, J, No. 26a, fol. 373-378).

 

[xii] This is what he is called in the sovereign’s decree of 12 September 1718, which protects him from being driven out of the county (StABÜ, L 2, J, No. 26a, fol. 382.  Also later, he is consistently named with the patronymic Eleasar/Leeser - in 1729, 1732, 1739, 1744).

 

[xiii] Friedrich-Wilhelm Schaer, “Count Friedrich-Christian von Schaumburg-Lippe ...” Schaumburger Studien Heft 17, Bückeburg 1966, p. 152. Quote: “Simon Leeser was luckier: as a butcher he had made himself indispensable, so that he was the only Jew in Bückeburg who continued to enjoy the protection of the count. He was expressly prohibited from doing business with the chamber [of commerce] or privately with the servants in the county. This restriction did not prevent the sovereign from borrowing money from Simon Leeser in 1727/28 (StABÜ, K 90, Ka 88).

 

[xiv] Heinrich Schnee, “Court Finance and the Modern State”, vol. III, 1955, p. 113 and Hasselmeier 1967, p. 102.

 

[xv] Hasselmeier 1967, p. 79.

 

[xvi] In any case, he is mentioned at that time in a document in StABÜ, L 2, J, No. 26b.

 

[xvii] At least, that is her name in her husband’s 1712 Schutzbrief (StABÜ, L 2, J. No. 26a, fol. 373-378).

 

[xviii] StABÜ, L 2, J, No. 23, 4 July 1721 (details need to be checked). She is mentioned as the wife of Heinemann Spanier in 1739 in connection with her father-in-law's petition to the sovereign (StABÜ, L 2, J, No. 26b, fol. 198, 10 January 1739).  Perhaps she was Heinemann's second wife (since Heinemann’s first marriage was to the daughter of Moses Leeser - see above).

 

[xix] He was to take over his father's business in 1739, because he knew German and French well. In this context, the son of Simon Leeser/Eliezer is mentioned in Simon’s own petition to the sovereign (StABÜ, L 2, J, No. 26b, fol. 198, 10 January 1739).

 

[xx] In 1729, Michel Eliezer/Leeser was clearly identified as the brother of Simon Leeser in Bückeburg (StABÜ, L 2, J, No. 26b, fol. 88).

 

[xxi] His Schutzbrief of 25 February 1729 (StABÜ, L 2, J, No. 26b, fol. 36-42), in the archive has an attached note that is difficult to interpret: “Michael Leeser wife and children: son-in-law Heyne Spanger (is this Heinemann Spanier?) born in Paterborn (sic)”.  Unless there was confusion with Simon Leeser's daughter, it means that Heinemann Spanier was also married to a daughter of Michel Leeser in a third marriage.  Details need to be checked very carefully.

 

[xxii] StABÜ, L 2, J, No. 26b, fol. 88 (list of Jews residing in the county of Schaumburg-Lippe 1729) and the father's application for permission for his son to reside in Hagenburg, 6 December 1728.

 

[xxiii] As before, fol. 200-202, 22 January 1739. This gave him the opportunity to choose his place of residence in Schaumburg-Lippe.

 

[xxiv] The age information in StABÜ, Dep. 9A, No. 912 (1771) as well as in L 2, P, No. 19 (1777) and No. 20a (1786) fluctuate considerably!

 

[xxv] Calculated according to the corresponding age in StABÜ, Dep. 9A, No. 912 (1771) and L 2, P, No. 19 (1777).

 

[xxvi] She is no longer mentioned in StABÜ, L 2, P, No. 20a (1786).

 

[xxvii] Calculated according to the age in StABÜ, Dep. 9A, No. 912 (December 1771).

 

[xxviii] She is no longer mentioned in the 1777 population list for Bückeburg (StABÜ, L 2, P, No. 19); It seems that she had gone to Stolzenau by this point.

 

[xxix] Calculated according to the age in StABÜ, Dep. 9A, No. 912 (December 1771).

 

[xxx] Calculated according to the age in StABÜ, Dep. 9A, No. 912 (December 1771).  She was still living in her father's household in 1786 (StABÜ, L 2, P, No. 20a).

 

[xxxi] Calculated according to the age in StABÜ, Dep. 9A, No. 912 (December 1771).  He was still living in his father's household in 1786 (StABÜ, L 2, P, No. 20a).

 

[xxxii] Calculated according to the age in StABÜ, Dep. 9A, No. 912 (December 1771).  He was still living in his father's household in 1786 (StABÜ, L 2, P, No. 20a).

 

[xxxiii] As early as 1732, his father successfully applied to have his protection transferred to his son Abraham (StABÜ, L 2, J, No. 26b, fol. 130-131, 12 June 1732).  At the time, Simon said that his “older father” (= grandfather or great-grandfather) had already lived in the county of Schaumburg - which is in line with the historical facts as far as we know them.  Later (1739) Abraham is mentioned a second time as the son of Simon Eliezer, in his own petition to the sovereign (StABÜ, L 2, J, No. 26b, fol. 198, 10 January 1739).

 

[xxxiv] Mentioned in 1739 as the son of Simon Leeser/Eliezer in his own petition to the sovereign (StABÜ, L 2, J, No. 26b, fol. 198/199, 10 January 1739).

 

[xxxv] The birthdate has been calculated based on the age given in StABÜ, Dep. 9A, No. 912.

 

[xxxvi] The birthdate has been calculated based on the age given in StABÜ, Dep. 9A, No. 912.

 

[xxxvii] The birthdates of Jacob Simon’s daughters are calculated according to the information in StABÜ, Dep. 9A, No. 912 (December 1771).