The Family of Löw/Leopold & Adelheid (née Krempler) LUDWIG

PLEASE NOTE: September 2026 – this page is being updated. Thank. you for your patience.

Leopold Ludwig
Entry in Jewish Family Matrikel/Register of Marisfeld for family of Leopold & Adelheid (Krempler) Ludwig. Translation of text at top of entry: “Leopold Ludwig, Jewish Lehrer, b. 11 July 1835 in Simmershausen, married Miss Adelheid Krempler, b. 16 April 1839 in Maßbach, in Marisfeld on 29 March 1865.”

In July 2015, a page was posted to the Themar website about the family of Leopold Ludwig, one of the eight (8) Jewish Lehrer/teachers of the Jewish communities of Marisfeld and Themar.

At that time, we were able to identify his wife, Adelheid, née Krempler, b. 16 Apr 1839 in Maßbach, and the 7 children born in Marisfeld; the names and dates of birth came from an entry in the Jewish Family Matrikel/Register of  Marisfeld. The entry also told that in the secular world, “Löw Ludwig” was known as “Leopold Ludwig.”

The only additional pieces of data found at that time were that Hermann Ludwig, b. 1872, also became a Jewish Lehrer, and Siegfried Ludwig, b. 1879, the youngest child, was killed in the First World War.

There the account rested until mid-2026, when a great-great-grandson wrote asking what the names of Leopold Ludwig’s parents were. This query prompted a major review of available online sources, which in turn led to a significant updating of our knowledge of the family — including the names of Leopold’s parents!

Should anyone reading this page have more knowledge to share or corrections or questions, please contact Sharon Meen at s.meen79@gmail.com

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Löw (later Leopold) Ludwig was born on 11 July 1835 in the village of Simmershausen (population about 300 with 57 Jews) to the west of Themar. The entry in the marriage certificate for his second wedding in 1882 identifies his father as Moses Ludwig; his mother’s surname was Rosenstein, but her given name is difficult to decipher.

Text in 1882 marriage certificate states that Leopold Ludwig was the “son of the deceased cattledealer Moses Ludwig in Simmershausen, and his wife NN Rosenstein, who is also deceased.” Source: Germany, Marriages, 1874-1940, Ancestry.com

According to R. A. Human, in his 1898 Geschichte der Juden im Herzogtum Sachsen-Meiningen-Hildburghausen, Leopold trained at the secular Teacher’s College in Hildburghausen. He completed his teacher training in 1857. Between 1857 and 1865, he worked in Gleicherwiesen and Meiningen. On 29 March 1865, he married 26-year-old Adelheid Krempler, born in 1839 in Maßbach, a village in Unterfranken (part of Bavaria), to the southwest of Themar. He had a teaching position in Dreißigacker (near Meiningen), where the Ludwigs’ first child, Rosa, was born in 1866.

R. A. Human, 1898 Geschichte der Juden im Herzogtum Sachsen-Meiningen-Hildburghausen, identifies the men who had completed the seminar program in Hildburghausen and were ready to become trainee Lehrer/teachers. Löw, later Leopold, Ludwig in 1857 and his son Hermann 25 years later.

Despite the huge fire that destroyed most of the village of Marisfeld in 1865, and prompted many of the Jewish families to leave for towns such as Themar and Meiningen, Leopold and Adelheid moved to Marisfeld in 1866 and remained there until the mid-1870s.  The Ludwig’s second child and second daughter, Ella, was born in March 1868, the first of six children to be born in Marisfeld. In 1867, he began a Matrikel/Register of the Jewish families of Marisfeld. (This Register has been a critical source in reassembling the Jewish families of Marisfeld and other places to which the families migrated such as Themar or outside Germany altogether.)

Ludwig took on increasing responsibilities for the Jewish community of Themar, and in the 1874 listing of who’s who in state employment, he is identified as a teacher of the Jewish children in both Marisfeld and Themar in religious studies and Hebrew. .

Screen Shot 2015-07-07 at 5.16.06 PM
1874 listing of Löw (Leopold) Ludwig in Church and School District of Themar.

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On 23 June 1876, Julie Ludwig was born in Themar, an indication that the family had moved from Marisfeld at this time, earlier than the 1877 date that R.A. Human used in his portrait of the Jewish communities of Sachsen-Meiningen (see extract of text above). The were probably the first occupants of the living quarters in the synagogue in Hildburghäuser Strasse 17, which S. Walther donated to the Jewish community in 1870 and was officially dedicated in 1877. The family included Leopold and Adelheid but only six children, as — Jacob — had died in Marisfeld.

As in Marisfeld, Leopold started a Matrikel for the Jewish community of Themar and the entry for the family of Leopold and Adelheid records the death of Max in October 1876 after their move, and identifies three more children born in Themar, two of whom — Julie and Wilhelm — sadly died very young.

The quality of the scan with the entry of Siegfried Ludwig’s birth plus text is so poor that it has not been included here..

As well, Leopold continued to teach the children of both Themar and Marisfeld as a state employee, and this entry in the 1885 Annual Report of the State of Sachsen-Meiningen, detailed his activity: Ludwig provided the Marisfeld ‘Israelite’ children, as well as the Themar children, their religious instruction (within the state curriculum) and Hebrew language lessons.

Annual Report 1885-p.231-a nnual Report 1885-p.230-Marisfeldnnual Report 1885-p.231-Themar

On 20 November 1880, Adelheid Ludwig died, 17 months after the birth of the last of her ten children. She was 41 years old and had borne 10 children over 15 years. How Leopold managed his household of 6 children ranging in age from 17 months (Siegfried) to 14 years (Rosa), is not known. In May 1882, Leopold married a second time in Meiningen. His second wife was Jeanette Amram(m), b. 04 Feb 1844 in Diemerode in Hesse, the daughter of Heinemann and Blümchen (née Wertheim) Amram. (An outline of the Amram family can be found in the geni.com database.) Jeanette was 38 years old when she married Leopold and there are no records to indicate that she and Leopold had any children.1Information about Jeanette’s parents in marriage certificate in Meiningen archives. More information about the Amram family in Hesse records.

Leopold and Jeanette lived in Themar until at least 1889. In January 1889, Leopold became too ill to continue working, and Leo Kahn of Bibra replaced him in his duties from 15 January to 10 October 1889. Kahn then went on to Meiningen, and Gustav Hofmann came to Themar.

Leopold Ludwig died in August 1891; he was 56 years old.

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As the 1900s began, we know that Ella (1868), Moses (1869), Feodor (1870), Hermann (1872), and Siegfried (1879) Ludwig were alive. Information about eldest child Rosa (1866) has not been found, nor anything about Jeanette, Leopold’s second wife.

All five Ludwig siblings were living in eastern Germany, in large urban centres quite unlike Themar. All were married and the four males had started families.

Ella Ludwig married in June 1895; her husband, Emil Wilhelm Albert Radzat, called Albert, was not Jewish and Ella converted to Christianity. They married in Hamburg, but moved to Berlin, where Ella had been living before her marriage. She and Albert were living in Berlin-Grünewald in July 1918, when Ella died, possibly of the so-called “Spanish flu” that was descending upon the city.

Moses Ludwig married in 1899; his wife, Rosalie Kleienberger lived in Halle (Saale), and their first child, Leopold, was born in 1900. Three children followed: Richard, b. 1901; Charlotte, b. 1902; and Wilhelm, b. 1905.

Feodor Ludwig married Käthe Leipziger in May 1900 and they lived in Berlin; in 1901, their first child, Ruth Adelheid, was born, followed by a son, Werner Leopold in 1902.

Hermann Ludwig followed in his father’s footsteps, studying at the Teacher’s College in Hildburghausen and becoming a Lehrer, a teacher in the secular public school in Leipzig as well as the Jewish teacher. He married Bertha Desser, and they had two children in the 1910s: Judith Edith, b. 1914, and Wilhelm Lothar in 1915.

According to a genealogy website, Siegfried Ludwig, the youngest child, married Fany Harburger of Gailingen in Baden-Würtemberg in 1903. They had a son Lothar, b. 1905 in Geldern, North Rhein-Westphalia and possibly a daughter named either Elie or Ellen. Siegfried fought in the First World War and died on 12 October 1918 Cambrai, Nord, Nord-Pas-de-Calais, France.

TO BE CONTINUED: The story of the Ludwig family in the 1920s and early 1930s.

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TO BE CONTINUED: The story of the Ludwig family from 1933

 

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DESCENDANTS LIST OF LEOPOLD & ADELHEID (née KREMPLER) LUDWIG

The Descendants List of Leopold and Adelheid (née Krempler) Ludwig is based in the entries in the Jewish family registers of Marisfeld and Themar, compiled by Leopold Ludwig. Additional data comes from sources available on the internet, including the R. A. Human 1898 text, Arolsen Archives, databases such as Ancestry.com, MyHeritage, and Family Search, and other sources.

If you have more information about the Ludwig family, please contact s.meen79@gmail.com. And Thank You in advance.

  • Leopold LUDWIG, b. 11 July 1835 Simmershausen/TH, d. Aug 1891
  • └ ∞ (29 Mar 1865) Adelheid KREMPLER, b. 16 April 1839 Maßbach/BY, d. 20 November 1880 Themar
  •      1. Rosa LUDWIG, b. 17 Jul 1866 Dreißigacker bei Meiningen
  •      1. Ella LUDWIG, b. 23 Mar 1868 Marisfeld, d. Jul 1918 Berlin
  • └ ∞ (09 Jun 1895 Hamburg) Wilhelm Emil Albert RADZAT, b. 28 Aug 1867 Berlin, d. 16 Dec 1947 Los Angeles/CA
  •      1. Moses LUDWIG, b. 23 Apr 1869 Marisfeld, d. 22 Aug 1933 Halle/Saale, SA
    • └ ∞ (25 Aug 1899 Halle/Saale) Rosa/Rosalia KLEIENBERGER, b. 06 Feb 1875 Hannover (daughter of David & Sale, née Pommeranz, Kleienberger), d. 22 Jun 1925 Halle/Saale
      • 2. Leopold LUDWIG, b. 21 Oct 1900 Halle/Saale SA, d. 27 Nov 1900 Halle/Saale, SA
      • 2. Richard LUDWIG , b. 12 Sep 1901 Halle/Saale, SA, d. 1972 San Francisco/CA
      • └ ∞ (20 Sep 1933 Halle/Saale, div. 1940) Erika Kaasche, b. 03 Jul 1913
      • └ ∞ (22 Jul 1945) Anna Else Gramsch, b. 19 Aug 1905 Berlin, d. 1995 San Francisco/CA
      • 2. Charlotte Ludwig, b. 17 Oct 1902 Halle/Saale, SA, 1937 deported to Poland/murdered
      • └ ∞ (21 Nov 1924 Halle) Schlama FAIGENBAUM, b. 31 Jul 1892 Belarus, 1937 deported to Poland/murdered
      • 2. Wilhelm LUDWIG, b. 02 Jul 1905 Halle/Saale, SA, 9/10 November 1938 imprisoned in Buchenwald/1939 fr Europe to Shanghai/China, 19 Aug 1948 entry in San Francisco fr Shanghai, d. 09 Mar 1964 San Francisco/CA
      • └ ∞ (21 Jul 1933 Leipzig) Ella (later Elly) Hildegard GIEHLER, b. 11 Dec 1908 Leipzig (daughter of Gustav Giehler, Protestant, & Angelika Anna Siekierkowska, Catholic),2Berlin, Germany, Births, 1874-1910 1939 fr Europe to Shanghai/China, 19 Aug 1948 entry in San Francisco fr Shanghai, d. 30 Sep 1964 San Francisco
        • 3. Dieter (later John) Manfred LUDWIG, b. 18 Dec 1933 Halle/Saale, 1939 fr Europe to Shanghai/China, 19 Aug 1948 entry in San Francisco fr Shanghai, d. 10 Jan 2015, buried Sacramento Valley National Cemetery3U.S., Veterans’ Gravesites, ca. 1775-2019
        • └ ∞ (15 Oct 1960 Alameda/CA, 1970 div) Vivian DePRIEST
          • 4. Michel LUDWIG
          • 4. Debbie LUDWIG
    • 1. Feodor LUDWIG, b. 07 Dec 1870 Marisfeld/TH, d. 13 Jan 1929 Charlottenburg/Berlin
    • └ ∞ (17 May 1900 Berlin) Käthe Catharina LEIPZIGER, b. 16 April 1877 Berlin (daughter of Heinrich Leipziger & Ottilie Fränkel), 05 Nov 1942 deported fr Berlin (Hal Seesenstr. 69) to Theresienstadt Ghetto/16 May 1944 transported fr Theresienstadt Ghetto to Auschwitz, murdered.
      • 2. Ruth Adelheid LUDWIG, b. 07 Aug 1901 Berlin, 29 Sep 1938 adopted name “Sara”4Handwritten entry on her birth certificate
      • └ ∞ (12 Sep 1924 Berlin) Arno Max MARQUARDT, b. 12 Sep 1897 Neu-Köln/Berlin (son of Max Julius Franz Marquardt, 1871-1925, & Anna Margarete Eyssenhardt, 1872-1948) Arno was not Jewish.
      • 2. Werner Leopold LUDWIG, b. 9 Dec 1902 Berlin, d. 04 Jan 1975 Berlin
      • └ ∞ (10 Dec 1929 Berlin) Sigrid Dagmar JESSEN, b. 21 Sep 1901 Plauen, d. 13 Aug 1966 Berlin
    • 1. Hermann LUDWIG, b. 19 June 1872 Marisfeld, d. 02 March 1941 Leipzig
    • └ ∞ Bertha DESSER, b. 05 Feb 1887 Altenstadt/BY (daughter of Max and Karoline, née Schnattinger, Desser), 21 Jan 1942 deported fr Leipzig to Riga, murdered.
      • 2. Edith Judith LUDWIG, b. 21 Feb 1914 Leipzig, 1939 fr. Germany to Palestine, d. 06 Oct 1999 Haifa/Israel, buried Kfar Samir cemetery Haifa
      • └ ∞ (1936) David (Franz) KAELTER, b. 24 Jun 1906 Potsdam/Brandenburg, 1939 fr. Germany to Palestine, d. 18 Feb 1978 Haifa/Israel, buried Kfar Samir cemetery Haifa
      • 2. Wilhelm Lothar LUDWIG, b. 27 Jan 1915 Leipzig, d. 1993
    • 1. Jacob LUDWIG, b. 29 Oct 1873 Marisfeld, d. 21 Mar 1875 Marisfeld
    • 1. Max LUDWIG, b. 24 Dec 1874 Marisfeld, d. 17 Oct 1876 Themar
    • 1. Julie LUDWIG, b. 23 Jun 1876 Themar, d. 02 Sep 1878 Themar
    • 1. Wilhelm LUDWIG, b. 03 Jan 1878 Themar, d. 22 Jul 1882 Themar
    • 1. Siegfried LUDWIG, b. 17 Jun 1879 Themar, d. 12 Oct 1918 Cambrai/Fr
    • └ ∞ (18 Aug 1903) Fany HARBURGER, b. 17 Feb 1880 Gaillingen/BW
      • 2. Lothar LUDWIG, b. 21 Nov 1905 Geldern/NRW
      • 2. Elie or Ellen LUDWIG

Sources:
1. Human, Rudolf Armin. Geschichte der Juden im Herzogtum Sachsen-Meiningen-Hildburghausen. Hildburghausen: Kesselring, 1898 Schriften des Vereins für Sachsen Meiningische Geschichte u. Landeskunde, vol. 30, 1 July 1898.
2.  Jüdische Gemeinde Marisfeld (Kr. Hildburghausen), Matrikel, 1768-1936. Koblenz: Bundesarchiv, 1958
3.  Jüdische Gemeinde Themar (Kr. Hildburghausen), Matrikel, 1876-1937, Staatsarchiv Thüringen, Meiningen.
4.  Herzoglich-Sachsen-Meiningen’sches Hof- und Staats-Handbuch: 1874. 1885,
5. Hohenems Genealogie, Jüdische Familiengeschichte in Vorarlberg und Tirol. https://hohenemsgenealogie.at/getperson.php?personID=I18260&tree=Hohenems about Siegfried Ludwig, his wife Fany Haarburger and their son Lothar.
6. Edith Judith Ludwig and her husband David Kaelter donated their papers to the Yad Vashem archive and can be reviewed at https://collections.yadvashem.org/en/documents/8999597
7. Entries in BillionGraves, https://billiongraves.com/grave/%25D7%2599%25D7%2594%25D7%259 and FindAGrave.