Anja Kirchner, Marina Brunner, Markus Ortner 
and Jürgen Hofmann
Translation by Karin Albert

 The History of the House at Burgstallstrasse 7

The house at Burgstallstrasse 7 today

 

Builder:	Leonhard Schlennert, carpenter and builder
Year of Construction:	ca. 1865
Changes in Ownership:	1866 to Joseph and Rosa Rosenau, traders of iron products
	1917 inherited by their son Max Rosenau
	1935 sold to Michael Amrhein, attorney
	Since 1964 the house has been owned by the Teinzer family

The History of the House and the Family

 in Obernzenn  from 1830 to 1850.  Then they returned to Gunzenhausen with three of their ten children.  Six of them emigrated to America.

Burgstallstrasse around 1885. At that time the Rosenau family resided in this house.
(From ‚Gunzenhausen Reminiscences’ by Max Pfahler)

When he was 23 years old, son Joseph, together with his wife Rosa, arranged for the elegant house at Burgstallstrasse 7 to be built.

Their seven children were born there:

Rieka  Max   Samuel   Lina         Ida          Berta       Emma

* 06.08.1868 * 01.11.1869 * 26.10.1870 * 16.11.1871 * 07.02.1873 * 27.03.1875 * 14.01.1882

Because of the excellent reputation Joseph Rosenau enjoyed in the Jewish community, he became a member of the magistrate and the leader of the Jewish community.

The five daughters left Gunzenhausen after they got married.  The two sons, however, ran the business dealing with iron products at Hensoltsstrasse 7.  Samuel and his wife and three daughters also resided there (see History of that house).  Max remained single and stayed at the parental house at Burgstallstrasse.  He rented part of the house to the Lehmann family.

His fate was sealed on the so-called Bloody Palm Sunday in March 1934 when the Nazis hounded their fellow Jewish citizens, and the hunt resulted in his death.  

To this date, it is not entirely clear whether he was murdered or whether he ended his own life.  To read about the exact sequence of events at that time, please refer to the History of the house at Nuernberger Strasse 4.

To this date, we have not been able to find survivors of the Rosenau family.  We do know, however, that brother Samuel emigrated to Palestine, and that his daughters and their families went to the United States or to England.

In the city archives, the only record is the sale of the house on May 28th, 1935 to the attorney Michael Amrhein.  As early as 1915, Mr. Amrhein had opened his law office at Burgstallstrasse 2.  He now moved his office to Burgstallstrasse 7.  His granddaughter Karin Albert resides in the United States and is married there to a Jewish man.    In a letter to us, she recalls the stories about her grandfather she was told as  a child. 

„He was a popular attorney, a member of the city council, and a known opponent of the Nazis.  He had many friends in the Jewish community...  My mother often told us children that during the 20’s and 30’s, Jews frequently came to him for advice.  That after 1933, he only reluctantly greeted people in public with the „German greeting“, and then only in the sequence „Gruess Gott, Good Morning, Heil Hitler“ or something like that.  That my grandmother lived in huge fear of him being arrested and taken away to Dachau, etc.   Stories like these fascinated me and evoked a certain pride, even if I couldn’t understand why he wasn’t more of a hero and didn’t display enough courage to defend his friends openly.“

This is what Mrs. Albert told us about the ownership change of the house:

„As you know, Michael and Frieda Amrhein (my grandparents) bought this house in 1935 for 23,000 gold marks from the heirs of Max Rosenau, who had been murdered there.  His heirs were his sisters Lina Rothschild, Friedericke Altmann and Bertha Mann.  My mother told us kids that the house was acquired at a fair price.  She said that Jewish friends even implored my grandfather to buy it. .... In November of 1938, Mrs. Rothschild wrote my grandfather that she needed to call in the loan because she wanted to emigrate.  A last payment took place in January of 1939.

After the war, the American military government placed the house under property control.  My grandfather wrote to the Jewish community in Nuremberg to find the sellers’ current address.  He hoped to obtain a statement confirming that they had sold him the house voluntarily and at a market price.  The Jewish community could not provide information regarding this matter.

Half a year later in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Mrs. Lina Rothschild contacted the military government in Germany and requested help regarding an estate there:  She and her sisters had sold the house at Burgstallstrasse 7 under duress and for a very low price.

Now I really don’t know where to look for the truth ... Of course it’s easy to understand that the Rosenau heirs felt they’d been forced to sell.  Like most German Jews, they would have much rather remained in Germany, and they would not have emigrated if  the terrible situation in Germany hadn’t made it necessary.

In November of 1948, an appraiser estimated that before the war, the house would have been valued at 18,413 reichsmark. Unfortunately I don’t know what happened then because most of the relevant documents are missing.  In May of 1952, the house was released from property control and escrow."

Meanwhile Karin Albert has found further documents pertaining to the purchase of the house:

The property deed from May 28th, 1935, reveals that three sisters of Max Rosenau, obviously his heirs, were present when the sales transaction took place.

For the first time we learned more about Rika, Lina, and Berta Rosenau:

Rika was married to Isaak Altmann, a privatier from Nuremberg.

Lina appeared with her husband Leopold Rothschild, a businessman in Nuremberg, Pillenreutherstrasse 50.

Berta Mann, nee Rosenau, is listed as the wife of a privatier in Munich, Elisabethstrasse 19/0.

These three sisters, as joint inheritors, sold the house to the attorney Amrhein for 23,000 gold marks.  The following explanation has been added:  ‚With regard to this document, one gold mark is the equivalent of 42.790 kg pure gold ...but at least one Reichsmark.’  We don’t fully understand this explanation.

Both sides agreed that there would be three payments of 8,000 gold marks each.

On November 21st, 1938, Lina Rothschild writes to the Amrhein family and asks for an earlier payment date.  She wants to emigrate.  On January 7th, 1939, the requested payment is made to an interim account that had been frozen (by the government).  By that time, it had already become difficult for Jews to actually obtain the money due them from the sale of their homes.  

Eight years later, after the war, Michael Amrhein tries to find the sellers:

‚I now need the address of the sellers listed below so I can request their confirmation that I have not bought the house under pressure but voluntarily and at an appropriate price.’  (January 27th, 1947)

In June of 1947, Lina Rothschild contacts the American military government with the following writing:

... Because it was not possible for Jews to live in Gunzenhausen, we sold the house under duress to attorney M. Amrhein ... for a very low price.  We would not have sold the house if the prosecution of the Jews by the Nazis hadn’t forced us to do so.

From the same letter we learn something about the two sisters and their descendants:

My sister Mrs. Bertha Mann, nee Rosenau, has passed.  Her sole heir is Mrs. Claire Simson, nee Mann, who became an American citizen on December 30th, 1946 ... She resides at 425 Central Park West, New York 25.

My sister Friedericke Altmann, nee Rosenau, has also passed.  Her three children are:

Theo Altmann.  I don’t know his whereabouts
Paula Pariser, nee Altmann, Beth Hakerem, Paris
Robert Altmann, Ber Tuviah, Palestine

In summer 2009 we got a mail from Yoav Etsion who sent us information about his family. 

I am a great-grandson of Friederika (Rieka) Altmann (formerly Rosenau), through her daughter Paula Pariser, and a proud descendant of Joseph and Rosa Rosenau.

I would first like to apologize that a few months had passed since Icame across the project you lead with the Children at the school about Jewish life in Gunzenhausen, and the writing of this letter. I was deeply moved to read about the history of my ancestors. I think this is wonderful way for the kids in the school to learn about humanity and tolerance, as well as learning about our shared history.

My grandmother used to spend her childhood summers in Gunzenhausen. She had very fond memories of these times, spending time with her grandparents and playing with her cousins. She was also very fond of her uncle Max Rosenau, and was very saddened to hear of his death - the information she received during the 1930s clearly statedhe was murdered by Nazi supporters.

Friederika and Isak Altmann

As you have discoverd, Friederika Rosenau married Isak Altmann. The couple moved to Nurnberg and had four children: Theodore (Theo), Elsa, Paula, and Robert (Reuven).

‑ Theo was born around 1890, and died in the 1950s in India. We are not sure if he was buried in Delhi or Calcutta. From the little we know about his life, he served in the Luftwaffe during the first world war, apparently as a bombardier. We also know that he studied several semesters at various German universities – a rare thing in those days.   He seem to have fled Germany during the 1930s, and during the war traveled through Africa, somehow ending up in India. t was only after grandmother's death that we have found a letter from the Jewish community in Calcutta informing her that they are taking care of him as he is sick and impoverished. My grandmother admired her big brother, and rarely spoke of him after his death – as she was saddened by his lonesome fate. This is the reason we know very little about him. We also found several of his university certificates.

‑ Else was born on January 20, 1893 in Nurnberg, and died On Oct. 14, 1918, in Nuremberg. Else grew up to become a nurse. She died at the age of 25 ‑ a victim of the great Flew epidemic, which she apparently contracted nursing other patients. She is buried in the new Jewish cemetery in Nurnberg, located on Schniegliner Strasse 155.

‑ Paula, my grandmother, was born on June 8, 1902, in Nuremberg, and died on February 8, 1997 in Jerusalem, Israel. In her youth, she was an active member of the Zionist Blau-Weiss movement, and later worked as a secretary in a Zionist organization. As a devoted Zionist, she wished to immigrate to Israel (Palestine), but her parents objected as it was uncommon for a single woman to travel alone. Towards 1933 they finally agreed that she travel for 6 months to visit her brother Robert, who immigrated 1 ‑ 2 years earlier. Shortly after she arrived in Israel, she received a letter from her parents not to return to Germany, because political situation there taken a turn for the worse. This letter probably saved her life. In Israel, she met her husband Ze'ev Pariser, and had 3 children: Eli, Micha, and Shlomit (my mother). More on Paula and Ze'ev Pariser below. 

‑ Robert was born on June 7, 1910 in Nuremberg, and died in 1993 in Be'er Tuviah, Israel. Like Paula, Robert was a devoted Zionist, and immigrated to Israel in 1931 ‑ 1932, where he settled in Be'er Tuviah. Part of the Zionist movement's goals were to create a new Hebrew speaking society, and most immigrants thus changed their names to Hebrew ones, either literaly translating their foreign names, or selecting new names with a similar sound. Robert Altmann thus changed his name to Reuven Alon. He married Chaya, and had three sons: Yoel, Gadi, and Yair. After Chaya's death, he married Ruth. I do not know the exact birth dates of his sons, but they were all born in the 1930s and 1940s, in Be'er Tuviah. Reuven (Robert) was followed by his 7 grandchildren, and several great-grandchildren. All of his descendants live in Israel.

Isak Altmann died on May 4, 1938, and Friederika died on September 25, 1939. They were buried in Nuremberg, alongside their daughter Else. I attach a photo of their tombstone, which I took only a few days ago in a short visit to Germany. During the troublesome times of the 1930s, Friederika spent much time with her sister Lina in Nuremberg, as she described in a letter to her children Paula and Reuven written in the summer of 1938, shortly after her husband Isak passed away.

Paula and Ze'ev Pariser

Paula Altmann met Ze'ev Pariser in Be'er Tuviah. Ze'ev was a construction worker, and later a became and independent contractor, and Paula was a housewife. The couple had three children:

‑ Eli, born in 1933. Eli married Ya'el and had two sons - Ofer (1965) and Oozie (1967), and 10 grandchildren. After Ya'el died he married Zvia. They live in Gan-Yavneh in Israel.

‑ Micha, born in 1937, and is named after Max Rosenau. My grandmother chose a Hebrew name that resembled the name "Max", in honor of her beloved uncle. Micha married Rachel and had two sons - Rami (1965) and Uri (1969), and 5 grandchildren. Micha and Rachel live in Jerusalem. 

‑ Shlomit (my mother), was born in 1945, and is named after her grandmother Friederika Altmann: the name is a translation of the name Friederika - Friede, or Peace, is pronounced Shalom in Hebrew. My mother married my father Arnon Etsion, and had three children - Udi (1974), Yoav (myself, born in 1976), and Gili (1983). My parents have 3 grandchildren, and live in Jerusalem. Paula were Ze'ev are followed by their 3 children, 7 grandchildren, and 18 great-grandchildren. 

The only other descendant of the Rosenau family my grandmother kept in touch with is Max Lamb, who lives in New York. Expect for myself, all the descendants of Friederika and Isak Altmann live in Israel. I currently live with my family in Barcelona, Spain.

Yoav Etsion

As we know from the other houses, the Amrhein family now has to pay rent for their house.  The attorney then orders an appraisal for his property.  The pre-war value of the house is set at 18,413 reichsmarks.  The post-war value is assessed at 20,000 deutschmarks.

In the year 1952, a settlement is reached, and the house is released from property control.

As early as 1950, a branch of "Sammeltreuhaender" for Jewish property opens an office in the house.  Michael Amrhein passes in 1955. 

In 1964, his widow, Mrs. Amrhein, decides to sell the house.

The husband of her daughter Elisabeth, Hermann Albert, was a member of the city council and judge at the court in Gunzenhausen.  It’s possible that he was caretaker of the house at that time.  Karin Albert is this couple’s daughter.

Mr. and Mrs. Teinzer, who run the „Fraenkische Hof“, acquire the house.

Part of the ground floor is being leased as a doctor’s office to Dr. Demuth.

From 1980 to 1982, Isabella Groeschel runs a funeral parlor there.

In 1990, the Teinzer’s son Heinz turns the ground floor into an apartment for himself.

Today, the house is still the property of the Teinzer family.

The History of the Lehmann Family

Initially the couple resides at Hensoltstrasse 4.  Presumably their six children are born there:

Children of the Lehmann family: Gunzenhausen probably late 1920s

Back: Leopold and Walter

Front: Gertrud, Ilse, Susi and Lisbeth

© Hazel Green

Lisbeth Lehmann	Leopold Ludwig Lehmann
Gertrud Lehmann

Later the family move to Burgstallstrasse 7 as tenants of Max Rosenau.  There they experience the first pogrom against Jews on Palm Sunday, March 25, 1934.

In the files of the court (Spruchkammer) we found the following judgment pertaining to that event:

„Pertaining to the death of Max Rosenau, the court has been convinced beyond doubt that he had remained alone in the living room after the Lehmann family, with the mob’s approach, fled into the bedroom.  The witness Liesbeth Lehmann’s testimony has been made under oath and appears credible.  The light had been turned off, and Mr. Rosenau turned it back on.  The witness noticed through the bedroom door, opened about a quarter of the way, that he stood next to the piano with a knife in his hand.  She asked him to put down the knife because she worried that he might defend himself.  When a moment later, she looked out through the door again at Rosenau, she saw how he was still holding the knife in his hand, already bleeding.  His vest and shirt were opened and folded back.  Shortly afterwards, she heard him cry out:  „I’m already dead, you won’t need to do me any harm anymore.“

Shortly thereafter he collapsed next to the piano where he had still been standing.  The expert Dr. Kraus testified that Rosenau had 5 knife wounds on the left side of his chest which could have been caused by the knife that is in possession of the court. The third cut penetrated into the tip of the heart and was deadly, while the other cuts would not have caused death .... The definitive proof with a Jewish witness of death could not be determined.  It cannot necessarily be assumed that death occurred by someone else’s hand ... The definite proof with a Jewish witness as the key witness does not allow for a different conclusion.

As for the reason for the suicide ... nothing definite could be determined.  It must be assumed that the fear of being arrested and maltreated must have driven both persons to commit suicide.  This is particularly likely since both had a guilty conscience because during the years of struggle, they had taken a particularly hostile stance toward the national socialist movement.  This has been determined in the main sessions of the court.  In 1923, Rosenau is said to have taken in several wounded Communists after a fight at a lecture hall.

In the publication „Old Gunzenhausen“, a different picture is being presented:

... They also looked for Max Rosenau, a businessman, in his apartment.  When they couldn’t find him there, they forcefully entered the apartment of his neighbor Lehmann.  Mr. Lehmann’s daughter offered them to be arrested in her father’s stead because he suffered from a heart ailment.  However, she was beaten, her father and brothers arrested.   Later, Max Rosenau was found in a room of the Lehmann apartment, with five knife wounds (jabs?) in his chest.

Mrs. Hellmann from Baltimore wrote us with regard to this matter:

“Max Rosenau was killed when he opened the door to his house on Palm Sunday and a Nazi slashed him with a sword.”

The resident registration card shows that after this tragic incident, the members of the Lehmann family leave Gunzenhausen and try to get out of Germany.

On August 9^th, 1935, Walter emigrates to Argentina.

His brother Leopold Ludwig follows him to Buenos Aires on September 21^st, 1936.

Both parents Ernst and Julie Lehmann move to Frankfurt/Main on May 30^th, 1938 and follow Leopold to Argentina.

The youngest daughter, Ilse, moves to Goeppingen on June 9^th, 1933 but returns to Gunzenhausen on January 29^th, 1936.  Just like her parents, she moves to Frankfurt/Main on May 30^th, 1938.  She doesn’t go to Argentina with her parents but moves to England by herself.  First she lives in Manchester, then in London, and from 1958 on in Bournemouth.  On December 23^rd, 1945, Ilse marries Israel “Ben” Lateman.  She passes on January 31^st, 2002.

Lisbeth emigrates to Sao Paulo on September 21^st, 1936.

The oldest sister Susi, who in 1932 had married Otto Sadler in Nuernberg, moves to Waidhaus on April 4^th, 1932.  With her husband and daughter Eva, born in 1935, she emigrates to Kenya in Africa.

Gertrud moves to Cham in Oberpfalz on October 23^rd, 1934.  She and her family first go to Israel.  Ten years later they move to New York.  She dies in 1998.

In 1945, Ernst Lehmann dies in Buenos Aires.

The resident registration cards of the city of Gunzenhausen offer detailed information on the Lehmann family’s moves to and from Gunzenhausen. © Gunzenhausen City Archives

Dear Fredi,

You probably can’t imagine just how much we, my dear mother and I,  enjoyed your kind words.  When I arrived in the U.S. about eight years ago, I tried to find out about your whereabouts, but in vain.  Nobody knew anything about you until Mrs. Katten (Herta Rosenfelder, Marktplatz 16) actually managed to find you ... Hopefully you’ll be able to read this letter which I’m writing in our native tongue.  It would take me far too long to write in English since I’ve never attended school here and only learned to speak casually.  We spent 10 years in Israel and as I’ve said before, we haven’t been here very long, just like many others.  My husband and I are in the catering business and I’m sure you can imagine how busy I am during the main season.  We have an 11-year old boy.  My mother has been visiting for 5 months and will travel to Buenos Aires on March 16th, where Walter and Poldi live.  She, too, has lived there for the past 17 years.  My father died there in 1945.  Susi lives in Congo (better Kenya), East Africa, and Ilse is married in England.  Sadly, Lisbeth died in her 31st year in Brazil.  Now you have a brief idea about everything ... 

From Hazel Green we received more information about descendants of the Lehmann family.  However, we will send an inquiry to the city archive in Hamburg-Hamm to find out whether a Walter Lehmann once lived there.  In our archive, there is a note that he supposedly married a woman named Ingeborg Ruth Neu there in 1964.

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	Last updated 2009-12-01 by Franz Müller