Siegmund Stöckel was born as Samuel Nuchem Steckel on August 27, 1868 in Czortkow/Tarnopol. His parents were the merchant Isaac Stöckel and his wife Fradel, née Stöckel. He had another brother Moritz Moses and 2 sisters: Sara and Dwora. Siegmund and Moritz became master builders and went to Berlin to participate in the boom. Siegmund married Elise Hollaender on March 19, 1903, and their dowry became the seed money for a successful construction business.

Elise Hollaender was born in Berlin on September 21, 1872, the 13th and last child of her Jewish parents, Siegmund Hollaender, a general practitioner, and his wife Renette, née Danziger. Elise had 9 sisters and 3 brothers: Adolf Hollaender became a violinist, studied with Joseph Joachim, among others, and directed the Stern Conservatory; Viktor Hugo Hollaender wrote many operettas and was a conductor at the Metropoltheater, his son was the well-known Friedrich Hollaender; Felix Mendelssohn Hollaender was a dramaturge with Max Reinhardt, among others.