Jüdischer Niederrhein

In 1904, the silk and velvet wholesale business "Merländer, Strauß & Co" was founded by Richard Merländer, Hermann Heymann and Siegfried Strauß. At that time, the Heymanns family had lived in Krefeld for almost 300 years. 

Since the 1920s, the company had its business premises on the third floor in the so-called "Sinn-Haus" on Neusser Straße. The Sinn-Haus was the first department store in Krefeld and was designed by Otto Engler in 1906. 

Otto and Hermann Aschaffenburg, founded the company "Gebrüder Aschaffenburg" in 1897 and started their production mechanical looms. Their weaving mill was initially located in rented rooms of the non-Jewish dye works "Simons & Gier" on today's Künkelerstraße 37. Simons & Gier processed the woven goods made by their tenants directly further.

Abraham Gotthelf founded the company ""A. Gotthelf & Cie" in 1861. The "mixed chairware factory" was located at what is now Kapuzinerstrasse 1. The company name suggests that Gotthelf had a partner who is no longer known today. It was a manual operation and it is not certain that all the manual looms (weaving looms operated by hand, not by machine) were together in the factory building. Nevertheless, the business must have flourished very well, because Abraham Gotthelf was at the top of all tax-paying Jews in Gladbach in the years 1869-1873.

Adolf Abraham and his brother Julius worked towards the end of the 19th century in the Bonn branch of Leonhard Tietz's department store group, which was also Jewish. In 1901, the brothers left this branch and opened their own department store in rented premises at Hauptstraße 59 in Rheydt.

Jonas Benjamin Jonas founded together with his brother Abraham Jonas on 1.11.1869 the leather shop "A. & J.B. Jonas", which moved into its business premises at Lüpertzender Straße 71. In January 1878 Abraham Jonas left the joint enterprise, but the business name did not change. A short time later, a shank factory was added to the leather shop. Although the business continued into the 20th century, Jonas Benjamin Jonas retired from the business at an early age and devoted himself to honorary functions.

In 1869, Salomon Bellerstein, who was just 21 years old at the time, founded his own manufactory goods shop. He moved into his business premises at the former Krefelder Straße 51, which meant that he was in the direct vicinity of Jonas Lennhoff's store, thus competing with him. The Bellerstein fashion house quickly became one of the largest of its kind in Gladbach. In 1888, 20 Jewish employees were employed here in addition to Christian ones. It is possible that Bellerstein's economic success was one reason for Josef Lennhoff's closing down the business.

In 1868, Josef Lennhoff, who had come to Gladbach only a year earlier, founded the "Manufaktur- und Modewarenhandlung Lennhoff". Lennhoff moved into his business premises at the former Krefelder Straße 47, today's Hindenburgstraße.

Josef Lennhoff advertised a lot in the Gladbach daily newspaper. Among them also reports that he had his store closed on (high) Jewish holidays. However, this does not seem to have harmed his business economically.

The house Rektoratstraße 10 was acquired by the Jewish community in 1862. The building served different purposes. In the basement was the Jewish school. The private school was nationalized in 1905. It existed until 1932, when the last Jewish teacher - Israel Nussbaum - retired.

On the second floor of the building, the Jewish community built a prayer hall, which existed until the expropriation of the property around 1939/1940. The building passed into municipal ownership.

In the center of Süchteln, on Hochstraße, the brothers Nathan and Jacob Lifges had their "textile store N.Lifges". The store rooms were on the lower floor, the family lived in the upper.

By 1900, the Lifges brothers had abandoned their butcher shop and moved into the textile trade. In this field they proved to be very successful economically. After the death of Nathan Lifges in 1902, Jacob Lifges took over the business alone.

Aron Elkan founded a cardboard factory in 1861, the "Papier-u. Pappenf. A. Elkan". This must be imagined at first still very small and modest. The company premises were located on Krefelder Straße 175.

From 1896, Aron Elkan's sons Johannes and Peter, who had taken over the company in the meantime, began producing roofing felt. Roofing felt was a new product at that time, which was well received and promised good economic prospects with a rapid expansion of ever new factory facilities. The contested path brought great economic success already a few years.