🌿3. Marianne Arrives in Altenburg
Episode 3
We go back in time to 1890 when the first member of the family arrives in Altenburg - my great grandmother Marianne, a woman framed like a tiny bird. But someone my father called, the noblest person he’d ever known.
‘She was always the boss of the business’, my father said, ‘nothing ever happened before going through her first’.
And, thanks to her, as a boy, my father never went without Toblerone.
So let’s take a trip back to happy family times in the late 19th century, with Germany in a late industrial revolution, causing an economic boom and a ‘founders’ era.
This growth came to Altenburg through an explosion of metal goods, like sewing machines and hat stands. Eleven factories arose in the area, mostly manufacturing metal. Between 1870 and 1910, the population of Altenburg doubled to 37,000 people. The boom brought an increase in shops of all sizes.
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Marianne (right) and Selma, 1890
It was during this time, in 1890, that Marianne aged 23, arrived in Altenburg, with her 20 year old sister Selma. They came from the then Prussian town of Schwerin an der Warthe to manage a small haberdashery shop, set in the town’s medieval marketplace.
This was possible because an emancipation law was brought in throughout Germany in 1869, removing all travel and trade restrictions on Jews, allowing them free movement and equal access to employment.
The girls’ parents were of Sephardic origin and their father, Ephraim Herz Cohn was a bookseller. Him and his wife had seven children. Ephraim had been head of the reform Synagogue in Schwerin until members decided to get an organ. He then left.
When I heard this, I was amazed, as I had recently left a synagogue for exactly the same reason! The couple’s sons moved to Berlin and taught at university. All three converted to Christianity, changing their surname to Kolsen.
Within two years of the sisters arrival in Altenburg, the shop owners decided to move to Leipzig, and the girls bought the business. The shop was registered as M&S Cohn and appeared in a local directory in 1892 as:
Cohn, M. and S. Textiles and Linen Goods. Owners M & S Cohn, Markt 23.
Markt 23, Altenburg: The shop is a pharmacy today.
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Their older sister Philippine joined them to assist in the shop. I assume she was even more petite than Marianne - her family nickname later became Tante Bienchen. If I am correct, this means Aunt little bean.
Philippine, Tante Bienchen, around 1910
During the sisters early days in Altenburg, there was just a handful of other Jews in the town, most elderly. The girls weren’t religious and didn’t go to synagogue in Leipzig. They had few social opportunities as single women.
Marianne turned her attention to making friends with her customers. She had long conversations when they came into the shop. She discovered their needs and made a big effort to order goods they wanted.
Their business grew, as did others in Altenburg. They appointed an assistant, Salwyn ( Sally) Bucky, the youngest son of a merchant’s family from Leipzig. In 1894, he and Marianne were married and a year later their daughter Franze was born and in 1896 a son, Hans.
Sally and Marianne’s marriage announcement
Four years later, they moved to larger premises at Markt 15, with an expanded range that included wooden goods, tapestries and fashion accessories. Even in a small town like this, news arrived of new ways of selling, such as the American invention of the Department Store.
By 1900, with 15 staff, they were no longer a traditional store. Their final move to Sporen Strasse 2, was around the corner, where the business was situated on the ground floor, while the family lived on the first. With time, they incorporated their apartment into the Store and knocked through into Sporenstrasse 3, around the time when their third child Gerhard was born.
Kaufhaus M&S Cohn in Sporen Strasse around 1910
Marianne realised that, with three children and a growing Department Store, they needed to take on a manager. Selma had herself married and left the business.
A young man, Albert Levy was recommended to her. He had made a good name for himself at the famous Tietz Department Store in Cologne, where he began as an apprentice.
In 1913, Albert arrived early for his interview with the couple. He stood outside M&S Cohn’s and counted the footfall past the Store. If it was low, he would turn down the position. However, it passed Albert’s test.
Marianne had found her manager - and also a son- in- law. Albert married Franze, now 18, and the young couple moved into an apartment below the parents’ one at Bismarck Strasse 2.
Franze; and below her marriage announcement in 1914.
The year is 1914. Germany enters WW1. Life takes a turn for the family, as for all Germans. Marianne’s young son Hans goes to fight on the front line for the Kaiser., as does Albert.
Hans Bucky, in his late teens, goes to fight on the front at the outbreak of WW1.
The Store caters for the boys on the frontline with parcels:
Shortly into the war, Marianne and Franze receive devastating news…..and the family grows…..
Continued next Sunday…….
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References
‘Suchet der Stadt Bestes’ Andrea Lorz (2000) PRO Leipzig
‘Das Marianne Bucky Haus in Altenburg’ Eberhard Heinz (1999) ISBN 3 -9804435-8-2