City walk on the Jewish economic and trade history Heilbad Heiligenstadt

In today's Lindenallee 14 was from November 1934 the second headquarters of the cigar factory Cahn & Co. After the original headquarters of the cigar factory in the Ibergstraße 6 (today Ibergstraße 8) burned down in a devastating fire at the beginning of 1932, the owner of the company, Adolph Cahn, moved the factory to Lindenallee 14. The new building later belonged to the Schmitz family. Since the house in Ibergstraße was also considered the family's residence, it can be assumed that the new factory headquarters also served as the family s home.

The ready-to-wear clothing store M.G. Oppenheimer was founded in 1849 by Moses Gabriel Oppenheimer at Wilhelmstraße 4. In addition to the name Konfektionshaus M.G. Oppenheimer, the name Manufaktur- und Modewarengeschäft Oppenheimer was also used. After Moses Gabriel Oppenheimer died of old age at the age of 77 on January 21, 1895, his son Max Oppenheimer took over the business. He ran the business until his death on November 13, 2934, after which his son-in-law Erwin Hildesheimer, the husband of his daughter Vera Hildesheimer (née Oppenheimer), took over the business. From the enclosed advertising material and apprentice advertisements, it is clear that the trade in men's and boys' outerwear flourished greatly. Until when the business existed can be approximately inferred from the records of the residents register. In 1934 Erwin Hildesheimer is still listed as a taxpayer and in 1938 also as a merchant. Since he had to flee to Brussels in November 1938 as a result of the November pogroms, it can be assumed that the Oppenheimers' business had to close due to the oppression and reprisals of the National Socialists.

In today's Ibergstraße 8 was the cigar factory Cahn & Co., which the owner Adolph Cahn registered as a manufacturing plant from 1932. The archival documents show that in 1924 there are no entries in the trade register about the cigar factory. Therefore, due to the lack of sources, it can only be speculated from when the cigar factory existed, and whether the cigar production was not still carried out in another place. Based on an entry in a 1928 population register listing Adolph Cahn as a taxpayer, it can be assumed that he was already engaged in a trade, presumably cigar production, at that time. The house in Ibergstraße was owned by the cigar manufacturer Benthacke from Hanover. At 9:15 a.m. on January 05, 1932, an attic fire was reported to the local police at Ibergstraße 6. The newspaper article speaks of a "large damage fire in a Heiligenstadt cigar factory". The fire, which broke out at night, probably resulted from a chimney fire. The fire broke out in the attic, which served as the factory's packing and storage area. Next to the factory, on the second floor, was the apartment of the Cahn family, which became uninhabitable due to the attic fire. On February 07, 1933, the house changed hands and went to Franz Thüne. As a result of the fire, the factory was moved to Lindenallee 14 in November 1934. Already in this year Adolph Cahn, who remained childless throughout his life, was listed in the city's registration registers as tax-exempt. In conclusion, his business could not recover from the catastrophe. Another source indicates that the company would have been relatively large and profitable.

The history of the Löwenthal family in Heilbad Heiligenstadt holds a unique tradition. From 1808, the granting of a letter of protection over the city made it possible again for Jewish citizens to find a home there. The era of the family in today's district town of Eichsfeld began with Levi Meyer Löwenthal. His son Alexander Meyer Löwenthal is the first banker of the family and is active as such in Heilbad Heiligenstadt since 1822. The documents attached to this entry testify that the Löwenthal family banking house was founded as early as the 1820s, but an exact date cannot be determined. From 1867, Alexander Meyer Löwenthal's son, Louis Levy Löwenthal, took over the banking business in Heiligenstadt. In the following generation, it is not known when Alexander Löwenthal, the son of Levy, took over his father's banking business. In the city's residents' register, Alexander is listed as a banker until 1928, but from 1930 he is recorded as tax-exempt. Alexander's son is recorded in 1929 as a bank apprentice, that is, a banker in training. Nothing is known about whether he was able to complete this training. In conclusion, the Löwenthal banking house lasted for more than a century and was involved in the city's money transactions. About a number of bankers within the family can only be conjectured, because not to each person in the register of residents was recorded a trade.