Paul Loewenberg, 1914
Paul Kurt Loewenberg was born to Abraham Albert (known as Albert) and Henriette Jenny (nee Schottlaender) Loewenberg on February 28, 1892, in Berlin, Germany. He was the last of six children, joining older siblings Alice (1881-1938, m. Wedell), Valentin Albert (1882-1914), Bertha (1884-1969, m. Chaskel), Harry Richard (1887-1968), and Alfred Ludwig (1889-1981).
Albert and Henriette lived in Honolulu, Hawai’i after their wedding, where Albert was a partner with M. Phillips & Co., a San Francisco importer of dry goods. After Henriette became homesick, she returned to her family home in Posen, Posen, Prussia to be near her mother and sister. (Note – Posen was both a city and a state at the time). Albert continued to work in Hawai’i, travelling home at least once a year. In 1891, he dissolved his partnership with Phillips and remained in Prussia with his family. They moved to Berlin shortly before Paul was born, most likely for Albert to find work as a salesman.
According to family history, the Loewenberg fortunes took a downturn due to ill-fated investments and speculative ventures. In 1909, Albert succumbed to the challenges posed by diabetes and a stroke, marking a significant turning point in the family’s financial trajectory.
It is said that Henriette was extremely frugal, often turning the heat off overnight, with the children waking to frozen water on their bedroom washstands. The sons maintained cold relationships with their mother. Valentin is said to have referred to her as “the wife of his father.” An Orthodox Jew, Henriette broke ties with Harry when he married a Christian woman, and later with Paul when he did the same.
| Paul’s birth certificate, which reveals he was unnamed at his birth on March 1, 1892. Te hand-written text in the right margin, dated April 8th, states he was later named Paul Kurt. |
In 1919, Paul married Erna Marie Stassen in Wiesbaden, Hessen, Germany. They lived at 55 Immanuel-Kirchstrasse in Berlin, and he worked as a salesman.
Paul was closest to his brother Harry, sharing a bond of marrying Christian women and of being ostracized by their mother.
A photo in the home of Stephanie Haitz, Paul’s future sister-in-law, from 1912. Paul is seated second from the left, and his brother Harry is seated on the right, with his future wife Stephanie to his left.
On 4 January 1925, Paul died at the age of 32 in Wiesbaden, a result of an overdose of Barbital (a barbiturate used as a sleeping aid). Erna later married Rudolf Stawitz and possibly had a daughter Margot. Erna died 1 December 1942 in Wiesbaden.
Photos courtesy of Peter Loewenberg.
Sources
Abraham Albert Loewenberg Biography, written by Dorene Nowatzke.
Alice Loewenberg Wedell Biography, written by Dorene Nowatzke.
Berlin Addressbuch, 1925, genealogie.net
Berlin, Germany, Births, 1874-1899, Ancestry.com.
Berlin, Germany, Marriages, 1874-1920, Ancestry.com.
Death notification from Wiesbaden police archives.
Family history as told to Peter Loewenberg.
Geneanet Family Trees.
Hesse, Germany, Deaths, 1851-1955, Ancestry.com
Hesse, Germany, Marriages, 1849-1930, Ancestry.com
Valentin Albert Biography, written by Dorene Nowatzke.
The Budding Genealogist 