List of stumbling blocks in Lauf an der Pegnitz

Stumbling blocks for the Thurnauers, who had to flee to survive

The list of stumbling blocks in Lauf an der Pegnitz contains the currently known stumbling blocks that were laid by Gunter Demnig in Lauf an der Pegnitz as part of the art project of the same name . The stumbling blocks are intended to commemorate the victims of National Socialism who lived and worked in Lauf an der Pegnitz.

Jews in Lauf an der Pegnitz

The Judenturm, built in 1430

Some Jews lived in Lauf an der Pegnitz as early as the Middle Ages. In 1338 a Torah writer from Lauf in Nuremberg was named as a Jewish citizen, in 1347 the Nuremberg Oath of Jews was entered in the Laufer city register. In 1355 Lauf an der Pegnitz was raised to the rank of town. Evidence of Jewish life in the city does not exist until the 15th century, for example the naming of individual Jews in 1408 and 1411. The local Jews earned their living by trading in money. In 1430 the sovereign granted the city the right to dispose of the Jewish tax . In the same year, the so-called Judenturm was built as part of the city wall , a striking structure that still exists today. In 1504 the imperial city of Nuremberg secured rule over the city as an ally of the Munich line of the Wittelsbachers. At this time at the latest, the last Jews left Lauf.

Few Jews settled again in Lauf in the 19th and 20th centuries. They belonged to the Jewish community of Ottensoos, a community that had existed continuously since the 16th century. The Jews from Lauf included Hans and Martin Thurnauer, two cousins ​​who both worked for the Stemag ceramics company, the predecessor company of CeramTec . Both Thurnauers were arrested, expropriated and forced to emigrate. The stumbling blocks laid in 2014 are in front of the main entrance of the Ceramtec factory.

Stumbling blocks in Lauf an der Pegnitz

Stumbling block	inscription	Location	Name, life
	DR. HANS THURNAUER JG WORKED HERE . 1908 PROBLEM 1933 ESCAPE 1934 USA	Luitpoldstrasse 15	Hans Thurnauer was born in 1908. He was the cousin of Martin Thurnauer, the director of Stemag . At the time of seizure of power by the Nazis in early 1933, he worked as an employee in the company and was working on his doctoral thesis. In 1933 Hans Thurnauer and his cousin were arrested, expropriated and forced to emigrate. Hans Thurnauer and his cousin went to the USA in 1934. His daughter Marion had traveled from Boulder to be there when the Stolperstein was laid.
	MARTIN THURNAUER JG WORKED HERE . 1894 'PROTECTIVE' 1933 PRISON NUREMBERG PROHIBITION 1933 ESCAPE 1934 USA	Luitpoldstrasse 15	Martin Thurnauer was born in Nuremberg on March 30, 1894. His parents were the manufacturer Bernhardt Thurnauer (1855–1936) and Josefine, née Rudolph (1869–1948), called Josie. His mother was born in Sitka, Alaska , she was the daughter of Martin Rudolph. Martin Thurnauer was married to Helene, née Franc, called Leni. The couple had two daughters, Stephanie Weiss and Lieselotte Hoffmann, called Lilo. After finishing school he went to the USA to study there. In 1919 he joined SteatitAG, which merged with MagnesiaCo in 1920 to form SteMag. From 1921, Thurnauer was director and board member of this ceramics company, the predecessor of today's Ceramtec company. His negotiations with foreign companies, including in France and England, were used by the NSDAP and competitors as an excuse to force him out of the company. The treaties were interpreted as "betrayal of German industry". In 1933 Martin Thurnauer and his cousin Hans, then employed by SteMag, were arrested and dispossessed. Martin Thurnauer was only released from "protective custody" after giving a declaration that he would no longer enter the SteMag company. Another entry into the company was threatened with another "protective custody". His membership in the German and Austrian Alpine Club was terminated in November 1933 due to his non-Aryan descent. Like his cousin, Martin Thurnauer was forced to emigrate and emigrated with his family to the USA in 1934, where he settled in New Jersey . He was Vice President of Lightolier Inc. and Chairman of the Associates Advisory Board of the New School for Social Research New York . His father died in 1936, his in-laws received transit visas for Switzerland in 1939. Martin Thurnauer died on June 10, 1974 in Riverdale.

Laying date

The stumbling blocks of Lauf an der Pegnitz were laid by Gunter Demnig on September 23, 2014.

Web links

• stolpersteine.eu
• Stumbling blocks for two Jewish Ceramtec employees

Individual evidence

1. ^ ^{A b} Alemannia judaica : Lauf an der Pegnitz (Nürnberger Land district ) , accessed on April 2, 2020
2. ↑ Alemannia judaica : Ottensoos (Nürnberger Land district) , accessed on March 29, 2020
3. ↑ nb (Northern Bavaria): Lauf: Two stumbling blocks remind of a gloomy past , September 25, 2014, accessed on April 2, 2020
4. ↑ Werner Röder, Herbert A. Strauss: Biographical Handbook of German-Speaking Emigration after 1933 Volume 1, KG Saur Verlag, Munich 1980, p. 762
5. ↑ Martin Thurnauer Collection 1933-1998 Bulk date: 1933 , accessed on April 2, 2020
6. ^ Leo Baeck Institute, Center for Jewish History: Guide to the Martin Thurnauer (1894-1974) Collection , accessed April 2, 2020

 Map with all coordinates: OSM | WikiMap