The Hirsch Paechter family in Kolberg

The Hirsch Paechter family in Kolberg

• Feb 01, 2024
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I need to acknowledge that it is not proven that the Hirsch Elias Paechter in the previous post is the son of Elias Moses Paechter. Let's look at what we do know.

There are a number of sources of information about Hirsch Elias Paechter from Kolberg. These include Ingo Paul, Geneanet, JewishGen, Ancestry, Geni and a region-specific site Kolberger-Lande. I'll summarize:

Hirsch was born around 1795 in an unknown location. That date would be about right if he were a son of Elias Moses Paechter and had been born in Friedland. (BTW, I'll now refer to Märkisch Friedland in its shortened form as Friedland instead of Märkisch, since that is the more important part of the name.) That he used Elias as a second name suggests that was his father's first name, so that fits. 

Finally, there was an important railroad route connecting Friedland to Kolberg, making it plausible to me that Hirsch was born in Friedland and settled as a young man in Kolberg.

There he met and married Henriette Hirschberg. Ingo Paul doesn't have her parentage but I am intrigued by the family of Mendel Abel Hirschberg in Märkisch Friedland, because his three children Moses, Meyer and Rosalie Hirschberg all went to Kolberg. I'm thinking Henriette was the daughter of Moses or Meyer. 

Hirsch and Henriette had four children born in Kolberg between 1830 and 1842. The different children are referenced in various sources, but no source that I have seen has all four of them together, so this is a first on this blog. I am fairly certain about my information. The children were:

• • Moritz, born in 1830, died at age 24 of pulmonary disease.
   
• • Ida, born 1837, married to Jakob Gronau, took over his clothing and fashion business after his death. Children unknown. Died 1895 (see image). 
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  • Gottschalk, born in 1840, married to Rosa Friedländer, probably from Friedland. Notified Ida's death to authorities. Children unknown. Died 1919.
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  • Emilie, born 1842, married to Moritz Benjamin, with whom settled in Berlin. Their two daughters were Martha Ephraim and Clara Pinner, and there is a Hedwig Benjamin that could be a third. Emilie's death in Berlin in 1899 (see image) was reported by Albert Pinner, apparently a grandson.

Hirsch himself died in 1859 in Kolberg, a year after his wife Henriette had passed. So clearly it was not Hirsch himself who help arrange the Wohlgemuth-Katz marriage in 1898. The best candidate for that would be Gottschalk Paechter. I will look to see if I can establish a connection between Gottschalk and Louis Levin Katz, the father of the bride. 

A few other odds and ends:

• • There is a Karl Paechter in Kolberg born around 1915 who might be a grandson of Gottshalk but is clearly related in some way. He was a confirmation candidate in 1929 so apparently some members of the family converted.
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  • At first, I thought that Hirsch Elias Paechter had a brother named Deer Elias Paechter also living in Kolberg, until I realized that "deer" is the translation of the German "Hirsch," and that I had automatic German-to-English translation set in my browser. So Deer and Hirsch Paechter in Kolberg are one and the same. 
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  • Hirsch and his family line are descended from one of the two original Paechters in Friedland. The other brother, Israel Moses Paechter, had a daughter born in 1805 named Rahel Friederike Paechter, combining two girls first names that ran in the family. This Rahel married Aron Philipp Mayer Cohn, moved to Berlin, and had at least one son, Philipp Cohn.
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  • Beyond these, there are a number of other Paechters in the West Pomerania region that could be related, but I won't list them until I have more information.