Ehrenberg, S. M.

Samuel Meyer Ehrenberg is the son of Hale Meyer, née Landau and Levi Meyer. In 1808 he became the "Inspector" of the Samsonschule in Wolfenbuettel. He reformed this school according to the model of the Jacobsohnschule in Seesen/Harz (Germany) with a mixture of religious and secular education, guided by the spirit of enlightenment and Reform Judaism. He was married to Henriette (Jette) Maas (1781-1845). His most renowned pupils were perhaps Leopold Zunz and Isaak Marcus Jost. (See also: Samuel Meyer Ehrenberg Collection ( AR 4025 ) and Isaac Marcus Jost Collection ( AR 4294 ).)

Isaac Lewi Rosenzweig (also known as Isaac Eisek) probably stems from the the town of Leszlau in Eastern Prussia. In 1811, he received a call to the Jewish School of Kassel, which also was based on educational reform principles. He was married to Guetchen Maas (1788-1865), a sister of Samuel Meyer Ehrenberg's wife Henriette.

Philipp Ehrenberg was the second son of Samuel Meyer Ehrenberg and his wife Henriette (Jette). He succeeded his father as principal of the Samsonschule in Wolfenbuettel. Philipp married Julie Fischel from a renowned rabbinical family from Prague. Their children Viktor (1851-1929), Richard (1857-1921) and Otto (1849-1928) became well-known in German academia. (See also: Julie Fischel Ehrenberg Collection ( AR 2811 ).

Richard Ehrenberg (1857-1921) was an economist at the University of Rostock. He was married to Lene. Richard wrote an Ehrenberg family history (for complete manuscript of his family history see: part 1 (pp. 1-64): Martin G. Goldner Collection ( AR 3136 ); part 2 (pp. 65-231) in LBI Memoir Collection: ME 775 .

Franz Rosenzweig, philosopher and theologian, was one of the most important personalities in German Jewish intellectual life after the World War I. He was the son of Georg and Adele Rosenzweig, née Alsberg; the grandson of Louis and Amalie (Malchen) Rosenzweig; and the great-grandson of Isaac Lewi Rosenzweig. (See also: Franz Rosenzweig-Martin Buber Collection ( AR 4219 ), Rosenzweig Family Collection ( AR 410 ), and Franz Rosenzweig Collection ( AR 3001 ).)

From the guide to the Ehrenberg-Rosenzweig Family Collection, 1772-1930, (Leo Baeck Institute)

Samuel Meyer Ehrenberg was born Samuel Meyer around 1773 and studied at home until he went to the Samson'sche Talmudschule in Wolfenbuettel, a small town near Braunschweig, in 1798. After 5 years spent under difficult conditions he moved in with his brother in Berlin and later became a private teacher in Brandenburg. He then moved to Hannover, where he became friends with his Professor and moved on to Braunschweig, where he was able to become acquainted with Professor Israel Jacobson and other famous intellectuals of the time. Because of his academic surroundings he was asked to become the Inspektor for the Samson'che Freischule in Wolfenbuettel, a school created by merging the preexistent Jakobsonschule and the Samson'sche Talmudschule in 1807. There he was responsible for the reformation of the whole organization, among other things by introducing an ordered schedule, something that had not previously existed in those schools. His system was founded on the ideals of Enlightenment, which was still a controversial thing in the small town of Wolfenbuettel.

In 1808 he married his cousin, Henriette (Jette) Maas and changed his name to Samuel Meyer Ehrenberg. He died on October 21, 1853.

Philipp Ehrenberg (1811-1882) was the son of Samuel Meyer Ehrenberg; he married Julie Fischel in 1847.

Seligman Meyer Ehrenberg (1770-1842) was the brother of Samuel Meyer Ehrenberg and the warden ( Hausvater ) at the Jacobson-Schule in Seesen.

From the guide to the Samuel Meyer Ehrenberg, 1763-1918, bulk 1806-1855, (Leo Baeck Institute)