Jewish life in Harxheim: Family Ferdinand and Judith Mayer
In today’s Untergasse 19 lived for generations the merchant family Mayer. Last were Ferdinand (born 16.07.1880 in Harxheim) and wife Judith, née. Weil (born on 30.03.1881 in Randegg near Esslingen) resident here. They were married on August 20, 1906 in Harxheim. The marriage produced five children, Moritz Fritz, Sara, Johanna, Herta and Simon.
Ferdinand’s father Jakob III (13.11.1850 – 15.10.1921) was the brother of Gottschalk Mayer (26.12.1852 – 04.09.1941). Jacob III was married to Sara, née May (13.04.1844 – 07.07.1903) married. Her sister Babette (01.03.1851 – 18.08.1914) was the wife of Gottschalk Mayer. The May sisters were both from Geinsheim. 1) 2)
Ferdinand was thus the cousin of Moritz Mayer, the son of Gottschalk Mayer, who lived at the same time in today’s Untergasse 13.
Ferdinand himself was the only one to survive his six siblings. These died either in the first years of life or in early adulthood.1)
Ferdinand Mayer ran a very prosperous business in Harxheim, where he sold tobacco products and manufactory and specialty goods en detail. He was the owner of a considerable property with residential and outbuilding. His wife brought financial resources into the marriage. Hereby, the buildings located on the property were converted into a modern and well-equipped retail store with a comprehensive warehouse for the time. Ferdinand took care of the field activities and visited his customers outside Harxheim. Wife Judith managed the sales in the store during the long working days, took care of the orders from suppliers and arranged bookkeeping and banking transactions. Due to the division of duties, the Mayers also employed a domestic helper to manage the household and care for their children. 3)7)
Advertisement by Ferdinand Mayer (top left) in the commemorative book for the 75th anniversary of the Catholic Church Choir Lörzweiler (excerpt)
Image source: Collection Rüdiger Gottwald
Festival book with advertisement by Ferdinand Mayer in the festival book for the 75th anniversary of the Catholic Church Choir Lörzweiler (excerpt)
Image source: Collection Rüdiger Gottwald
The Mayer couple attached great importance to good education. Due to their diligence and their prosperous business, they were all able to enable their five children to attend one of the higher schools in Mainz. 3)
Ferdinand’s father Jakob III and his brother Gottschalk were already members of the three-member board of the Jewish community of Ebersheim-Harxheim. 4)
His son Ferdinand continued this tradition and was also a member of the board and honorary prayer leader from 1896 to 1934. In the magazine Der Israelit of October 25, 1934 – in this year the Mayers left Harxheim – the merits of Ferdinand Mayer as a great personality were comprehensively acknowledged. Special mention was made of his great commitment to his Jewish community during the difficult times of the First World War and the years that followed, during which he saw to the regular continuation of services in the Ebersheim synagogue. His departure was described in this article as a great loss for the community and for rural Judaism in Rheinhessen. 5)
Even before 1933, the anti-Semitism propagated by the National Socialists began to have an effect in Harxheim as well and put a strain on the Mayers’ business, which had been doing well until then. Judith Mayer reported increasing harassment by National Socialists. Even before 1933, her son Fritz had been physically attacked by them. (Correspondence in the files on the action for restitution) 3)6)7)
After the seizure of power in 1933, the company’s sales and profits collapsed as a result of the Nazis’ calls for a boycott of Jewish businessmen on April 1, 1933. Business then came to a complete standstill in the following months. Even previously loyal customers no longer dared to visit the Mayers’ store, supposedly for fear of denunciation. In view of the precarious business situation and already in considerable ill health, Ferdinand Mayer deregistered his business on October 14, 1934. The stock was sold at massive discounts. The property was acquired by Emil Bölli, a merchant from Ebersheim, who continued to run the business as a retail outlet. The family moved to Frankfurt in the same month to Hegelstraße 6 Ferdinand Mayer’s health deteriorated increasingly, he died in Frankfurt am April 7, 1936. 3)
Ferdinand and his wife Judith were described by customers of the house as one of the most respected and wealthy citizens in Harxheim and the surrounding area. 6)
References:
1) Archiv der Verbandsgemeinde Bodenheim; Personenstandsregister der Mairie Harxheim-Gau-Bischofsheim.
2) Municipal archive Trebur
3) HHStA. Wiesbaden 518-77557
4) Tapp, Berthold: Die israelitische Gemeinde Ebersheim mit Harxheim und ihre Synagoge (1830-1938). 2014.
5) www.alemannia-judaica.de image no. 25101934.jpg, taken 01/2023.
6) HHStA. Wiesbaden 518-54523.
7) Rieber, Angelika u. Till Libertz-Groß, eds.: Rettet zumindest die Kinder – Kindertransporte aus Frankfurt am Main. Frankfurt 2018, pp. 246-257.
