The Emrich family in Mühlacker
This article deals with the Jewish Emrich family and their life and work in the Mühlacker community .
Emrich family
Isidor Emrich
The head of the family was Isidor Emrich (* August 5, 1848, † August 15, 1930), married to Berta Emrich, née Aberle (* April 2, 1855, † November 16, 1921). The couple had three children together: Alfred Emrich, Richard Emrich and Alice Bach, née Emrich (* 1886, † 1984). Isidor Emrich founded the Emrich brand in Pforzheim in 1878 and also worked in Mühlacker from 1899. Despite the blossoming of National Socialism in Germany, Isidor Emrich could not part with his life's work. It was only after his death in 1930 and the expropriation of the family's property that the family decided to flee.
Alfred Emrich
Alfred Emrich (* 1876, † 1943) was the eldest son of Isidor and Berta Emrich. He ran the company from 1899 to 1912 together with his father and then took over sole management of the company. With his entrepreneurial skills, he expanded the company in the following years. Together with his wife Laura, née Horkheimer (* 1885, † 1942), he had a daughter named Marianne (* March 30, 1915, † 1942). Laura Emrich was a pianist and taught her daughter Marianne as a music teacher. She celebrated appearances at public festivities and maintained close contacts with famous musicians. Her daughter Marianne went to the Hilda-Gymnasium Pforzheim . After a visit to the USA in 1938, she returned to Mühlacker.
The Alfred Emrich family in particular suffered from harassment and persecution by the National Socialists . After the liquidation and the forced sale of the company headquarters, the family probably fled to Le Mans via Paris at the end of August 1939 . Alfred Emrich was arrested on August 21, 1942. On June 23, 1943, he was deported to Auschwitz and murdered there. His wife Laura and daughter Marianne were arrested two days after him. They were deported on September 11, 1942. Neither of them survived the Auschwitz concentration camp . Since May 2009, three stumbling blocks in front of the staff entrance to Villa Emrich have been a reminder of the family's fate. It was the first stumbling block that was laid in Mühlacker. In Mühlacker, Alfred Emrich shaped the townscape through the Uhlandbau as well as the construction of the Villa Emrich. His social engagement for his employees, for the district hospital and the Jewish community in Freudental are also remembered.
Richard Emrich
Richard Emrich (born September 17, 1878, † 1947) was the second born son and managed the company's sales office in Pforzheim. He emigrated to London in 1934 , where he also died. He had a son named Kurt Emrich (* February 16, 1910, † December 16, 1967), who went to London a year before his father.
Alice Emrich
Alice Bach, née Emrich (* 1886; † 1984) was the third child of Isidor and Berta Emrich. She was married to Karl Bach (* 1885, † 1942). The two lived in Munich until 1938 . Alice died in the USA.
Villa Emrich and Uhlandbau
Villa Emrich
The Villa Emrich was built in 1912 by the architect Christian Aichelin from Mühlacker. Special features of the building are bay windows , dormers and half- hipped roofs as well as slug panes and half-timbering and the use of regional building materials such as wood and sandstone. In art history these features correspond to the style of historicism or traditionalism . From its completion until 1938, Alfred and Laura Emrich lived in the building together with their daughter Marianne. Due to the expropriation, the family was moved to the cellar of the house until August 1939. The Villa Emrich is now a listed building, which since September 1999 has housed a kindergarten in cooperation with Lebenshilfe Vaihingen-Mühlacker. The three stumbling blocks of the family members Alfred, Laura and Marianne Emrich can be found in front of the staff entrance to the villa.
Uhlandbau
Uhlandbau is based on a common idea of the then mayor Richard Woerner and the board of directors of the Natural Science Society Alfred Emrich. The government master builder Richard Bihl was commissioned with the construction in 1921. Alfred Emrich took over the financing of 750,000 Reichsmarks, on condition that the building had to be completed in less than 100 days. In just 99 days, the Uhlandbau was completed and ready for occupancy in October 1921. Designed as a gymnasium and ballroom, the Uhlandbau also housed a library, office space and a conference room. The event hall offered space for 800 visitors for events, had an orchestra pit for a 45-man orchestra and a stage with the most modern lighting systems of the time.
From 1921 to 1930, theater, opera and concert performances with well-known artists took place in the ballroom of the Uhlandbau. Laura Emrich let her contacts play and was able to engage Fritz Busch and Rudolf Serkin for concerts , among others . The program included the following plays and operas: The Broken Jug; The conceited sick person; The poacher; Cabal and Love; Fist; The abduction from the Seraglio; The beaver fur; Tsar and carpenter; Rigoletto, Wilhelm Tell as well as many other plays of world literature and concerts.
At the time of National Socialism, NSDAP events took place in Uhlandbau . Among other things, they organized election meetings, rallies, German evenings and other gatherings there. In the summer of 1938, the building was extended by an extension on the north side. There was also a balcony with a swastika carved in stone . Today the Uhlandbau is a listed building. The building is still the venue for major concerts and also serves as a school canteen. The Mühlacker Adult Education Center presents a varied program there every year.
social commitment
Social commitment in the Emrich company
The Emrich family was very committed to the employees of their company. The employees were able to take their children to the company kindergarten, which was open from 1911 to 1922, free of charge. At lunchtime there was a canteen with hot meals for the staff. In addition, company apartments (including in Hindenburgstrasse) were offered for sale or rent.
Social commitment in Mühlacker
Alfred Emrich taught a class for apprentices in jewelry at the trade school at the time. In addition, the school library was based on a donation from the teacher of 40 books. In 1926 the library already had 300 copies to show.
Social commitment to the district hospital
Alfred Emrich supported the hospital in Dürrmenz by donating a chicken coop. He also campaigned for a home for the workers to be built.
Financial support for the Jewish community in Freudental
Although the Emrich family themselves were not part of the Jewish community in Freudental, Alfred Emrich supported the community in Freudental financially from 1936 to 1938. He also helped the schoolchildren there to take care of the heating and cleanliness of the classrooms themselves.
National Socialist era - persecution of the family and decline of the company
Persecution of the family and decline of the company
In 1933, the National Socialist Adolf Hitler came to power in Germany. On November 4th of the same year, the NSDAP held an election rally in the Emrich company. The speaker was Comrade Brodenbeck. One day before the turn of the year 1933/1934, Laura and Alfred Emrich signed the new year's wish list of the brown transmitter. At the beginning of 1936 a hate article called "Jud Emrich" appeared in the newspaper Der Stürmer . Due to the "Ordinance for the Implementation of the Law on the Change of Family Names and First Names" of the Name Change Ordinance on August 17, 1938, the members of the Emrich family now had either the suffix "Sara" or "Israel". Shortly afterwards, further regulations resulted in the liquidation of the Emrich company. It was forcibly sold and taken over by party comrades Hans Vonessen and Weinmeyer.
The family was evicted from the Villa Emrich premises and had to move into the cellar. In addition, they were forbidden to enter the company premises and the common rooms. This increasingly isolated the family from the public. In 1939 the company property was sold to the city of Mühlacker. The proceeds were paid as a “compensation payment” or retained as a Jewish property tax . Around 100 women were employed in armaments by the company's employees.
Escape and murder of the Emrich family
After the total expropriation of their own belongings, the family probably fled to Le Mans via Paris at the end of August 1939. Alfred Emrich was arrested on August 21, 1942. On June 23, 1943 , he was transported to Auschwitz via the Drancy assembly camp, where he died. His daughter and wife were arrested two days after Alfred Emrich. She was deported to Auschwitz on September 11, 1942.
The bereaved and the rebuilding of the company
Alfred Emrich's siblings survived the Second World War . Richard Emrich and his son Kurt emigrated to London, England in 1933 and 1934. Alice Emrich died in the USA in 1984. Kurt Emrich took over the rebuilding and management of the company after the end of the world war. In 1962 Hanns Born became the sole managing director. The founder's grandson sold land and buildings in Mühlacker. Today the company is part of B + E Bechtold GmbH and still sells beauty products.
literature
- Marlis Lippig (Ed.): Contributions to the history of the city of Mühlacker, Volume 1 . Until the bitter end (The Second World War in Mühlacker). Jan Thorbeck GmbH and Co. KG, Sigmaringen 1995, ISBN 3-931189-30-9 , p. 181 .
- Elisabeth Brändle -zeile: Contributions to the history of the city of Mühlacker, Volume 2 . Historical highlights (victims of Nazi rule in Mühlacker). Regional culture, Ubstadt-Weiher 1997.
- Elisabeth Brändle -zeile: Contributions to the history of the city of Mühlacker, Volume 5 . Historical Streiflichter Part 2 (From primeval agriculture to the inn to the city anniversary). Regional culture, Ubstadt-Weiher 2005.
Individual evidence
- ^ Homepage of the Jewish community in Mühlacker Jewish history in Mühlacker. Retrieved February 16, 2017.
- ^ Alfred Emrich, Life and work of the Mühlacker factory owner PDF for the exhibition with exhibits from the jewelery factory, p. 17, Historisch-Archäologischer Verein Mühlacker eV. Accessed on February 7, 2017.
- ^ Alfred Emrich, Life and work of the Mühlacker factory owner PDF for the exhibition with exhibits from the jewelry factory, p. 18, Historisch-Archäologischer Verein Mühlacker eV Accessed on February 7, 2017.
- ↑ Manufacturer family Emrich Homepage of HAV Mühlackers, Historisch-Archäologischer Verein Mühlacker eV Accessed on February 7, 2017.
- ^ Alfred Emrich, Life and work of the Mühlacker factory owner PDF for the exhibition with exhibits from the jewelry factory, p. 15, Historisch-Archäologischer Verein Mühlacker eV Accessed on February 7, 2017.
- ^ Alfred Emrich, Life and work of the Mühlacker factory owner PDF for the exhibition with exhibits from the jewelry factory, p. 16, Historisch-Archäologischer Verein Mühlacker eV Accessed on February 7, 2017.
- ^ Alfred Emrich, Life and work of the Mühlacker factory owner PDF for the exhibition with exhibits from the jewelry factory, page 19, Historisch-Archäologischer Verein Mühlacker eV Accessed on February 7, 2017.