Naumburg Family

Within the papers of the Malcolm Stern Collection are include some documents pertaining to the Naumburg Family (FHL film #1013431). In these papers are some of the historical information for the family as far back as 1612. The family has a rich tradition of supplying Cantors to congregations throughout the world.

Beginning with Abraham Naumburg who served as Chasan in Prag in 1612, many generations of the family have served as Cantors, passing it from father to son. A few generations after Abraham we have Baruch, who was the father of;

a. Wolf, who was a cantor in Grosslogou, Germany in the late 1600's. He was the father of;

b. Elkan, who was a cantor at Fuerth in the early 1700's. He had sons;

1. Samuel, who was a cantor in Kassel, Germany where he died in 1754.

2. Baruch, who was a cantor in Witteldhofen, Germany. He had 2 sons;

a. Jacob, who was a teacher in the Isaac Speier School in Offenbach in the late 1780's. He died there in 1811.

b. Elkana, born in 1746, he was the cantor in Treutchlingen, Bavaria and also served as a Mohel in the neighboring communities. Elkana's son Baruch then had a son named Samuel, who became the chief cantor of the Temple Consistorial Israelite in Paris, France. Wolf, the younger son of Elkana, followed his father as cantor in Treutchlingen.

It was the family of Wolf who immigrated to America where they continued their tradition of service to their community. His oldest son, Louis was born on 11 November 1813 in Treuchtlingen. He died on March 4, 1902 in New York. From 1850-1860 he was Chasan at Congregation Keneseth Israel in Philadelphia, and from 1865 to 1870 he was reader and teacher for Congregation Rodeph Shalom in Pittsburg.

Another son, Elkan, was born in Treuchtlingen on 1 Jan 1835 and died in New York on 31 July 1924. Although a well known banker and philanthropist, he is probably best known for his love of music. He was the donor of the band shell located in Central Park in New York City. Because of this donation thousands of people have been able to enjoy wonderful music in a beautiful setting.

The records of this family have now been added to the Knowles Collection - Jews of Europe and Jews of Americas databases.