 1859 - 1927 (67 years)
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| Name |
Paul Eichenberg |
| Born |
15 Oct 1859 |
Adelebsen, Germany  |
| Gender |
Male |
| Biography |
Attended university. Served in the Franco-Prussian War. Moved to Hamburg where he started Eichenberg & Co. His brother, Karl, established branch in Galveston, Texas. There may also have been a branch in New Orleans. Offices were in Free Harbour of Hamburg. Buried in Neiderstedten cemetery. He was honourary president of the Chamber of Commerce for 25 years. A very hard working, well known and well liked man with a very dry sense of humour. He was one of the delegates present at the signing of the Treaty of Versailles.
Paul was born and grew up in Adelebsen, Germany. His father, Abraham was the town Tierartz, or vetinarian. Many of the residents of town were his relatives, and there were his brothers and sisters. Eichenbergs had lived in this mountain village for 400 years, since the Reformation in 1540. The Eichenbergs can be traced back to the 1600’s. There were five sons and two daughters: Max, Caroline, (Paul) , Adele, Sigusmund, Carl and Otto. Paul was the third child.
His mother, Augusta Berthe, called “Bertie” by everyone. Paul served in the Prussian army in 1870-71 war as a youth, and then attended the University, probably at Goettingen. Abraham Levi Eichenberg died in 1894.
Paul moved to Hamburg where he learned import-export of agricultural products by working near the port as a merchant, where he did business with many foreigners and foreign ports . Once established, he began investing in agricultural cargo and futures and started Eichenberg & Co. , which company eventually had offiices in every major port around the world Rotterdam, Netherlands, Brussels, Stockholm, St. Petersburg. ..Sao Paulo for sugar and coffee, Buenas Aires for grain, leather and beef, Shanghai and Singapore for soya beans and oil, Santiago, Chile, New York , Galveston, Texas, Portland Oregon are ones I have knowledge of.His brother, Carl, established branch in Galveston, Texas. There may also have been a branch in New Orleans. Offices of the Terminal Market were in the Hanseanic Free Port of Hamburg, and the red brick building housing the firm was right on the water of the Elbe River, which had been deepened and widened to form the old commercial Port of Hamburg. My mother (Ernst’s wife, Alma) told me that the office was quite impressive, with about 15 office employees that she saw. Dark, mellow furnishings with leather, oriental carpets and world globes filled the offices, with charts, paintings and photos on the walls. Paul went every business day at 2:00 to the Stock Exchange in the Wharves area where he checked on futures, commodities, and various investments of Eichenberg & Co. Carl, Paul’s younger brother, whom Paul had helped send to university opened their offices in Galveston, Texas, where cotton and fodder were exported. Later, both Hans and Fritz were involved in the business with their father, becoming multi-lingual and cosmopolitan young businessmen.
Coffees were of special interest to Paul. He was interested in the various blends. He could taste a cup of coffee and tell you where each coffee bean was from that constituted that blend, and at what altitude it might have been grown.
It is not known how Paul met little Gertrud Henriett Hesse, whose father , David Hesse, was a merchant in Hamburg, but their marriage, Feb 2, 1886, was in Hamburg. He was 27 and she was 19. She had been born in Ovelgome sp, a harbour district on the Elbe River inland . They lived in the city until 1895 when my father was 5 years , Fritz was 6, and Hans 8. They planned more children, and had a lovely three floored home built in Gross Flottbek. The address then was #5 Goethestrasse (later, Hoelderlinstrasse #8. (or 22).
Paul had become by now a well known and popular young, upwardly mobile businessman of Hamburg. He was very hard working, a charming conversationalist, formal and yet warm, with a dry sense of humour. He was appointed Justice of Peace, and made Honorary President for Hamburg Chamber of Commerce for 25 years. During WW 1, he was appointed Food Administrator to the Netherlands by Kaiser Wilhelm. (PS Paul Eichenberg was not a mayor of Hamburg. He was a member of the Chamber of Commerce (Handelskammer und Börse) in Hamburg in 1911 (State Handbook of Hamburg 1911, p. 27).
After the was, he served as Counselor to the Kaiser and was present at the signing of the Versailles Treaty. He was a successful businessman, notable for his diplomacy, civic and national involvement. His firm hired former convicts in their warehouse and allowed them to work their way up in the business.
Paul and Gertrud made a practice of taking a few poor boys from the mining community around Adelebsen to live with them every summer. They bought them clothes, and saw that they learned a trade. They also established a nursing home in Hamburg (which is now a Holiday Inn), according to Christian Eichenberg. They helped administer it. I see them as very thoughtful and kind people.
Paul and Gertrud were members of the Lutheran Church and were generous contributors to philanthropic causes. I have a copy of his funeral services that extols this and also his fondness for gardening. I know that he had a full time gardener, Herr Mueller in 1926, and that he inspected the greenhouses and gardens often. He had a German Shepherd dog, (Sebl sp) who was his constant companion on these inspections.
Their home had a roaming garden with lawns, hedges and a huge orchard in back, which used to the “heaven” of Gisela’s (Fritz’ daughter) childhood days, according to her journal. At harvest time in June and July there were strawberries, cherries, raspberries, black, red and white currants, gooseberries of all descriptions. In autumn, vegetables of the world! O’Mama (Gertrud) was very proud to even grow mealies (What’s that) and Palestinian artichokes there, which were considered an absolute delicacy. (And still are!) Once, my sister “Chickie” bit Rolf in the stomach as they climbed a tree looking for fruit.
Their home used to be the family centre for large gatherings. Even weddings and receptions were held there. Christmas celebrations in the German style made up many a grandchild’s favorite childhood memories, Easter was a beautiful occasion, with the many Dutch Tulips blooming in the gardens, Rhododendrons and Azaleas, fruit trees blooming and yellow Jonquils scattered under them in the grass. Each birthday was celebrated beautifully, with each person made the center of attention as he opened his gift My Mother was impressed with this, because she had grown up with everyone just tearing into their things at once..
By the time I saw the home, with my two daughters and granddaughters in (1998 when we were there for Christian Eich’s wedding), it had been altered by enclosing the upstairs porches which had been so charming, with arched openings and white stone railings. Originally the home had a plant conservatory on the side, a round walled, windowed room toward the rear of the house. That lovely feature helped us identify the home; that, plus the raised (family) crest on the surface of the front of the house.
All the shutters and rounded awnings at entrances were missing. Another thing we recognized was the tall weeping tree to the left of the home, and the chimney of the neighboring home, very visible in photos.
Inflation in Germany played havoc with businesses in Germany. People had to sell their homes rather than pay taxes on their property. By 1921, Paul’s health began to fail badly. He discovered he had cancer, which in those days was a certain death sentence, there not being much effective treatment except rest and visits to the various healing waters of spas such as Baden-Baden.
His older sister, Karoline died in 1926, and he and my father went down to her funeral. In 1927, he succumbed to cancer and died 5 March, 1927. He is buried in Neiderstedten cemetery. His headstone is a large gray granite stone, and since Gertrude’s death in 1951, with both their names. I have a copy of his graveside requium.
Eichenberg & Co. was liquidated, and its assets sold. Gertrud was left a widow at the age of 60. At that time,
Hans and his wife Annalie and their children, little blonde Helga (5 yrs) and Hans Harald ( age) lived near Hamburg.
Fritz (emigrated to Zimbabwe) and Teresita, children Gisela (11) (died under ECT treatment in Bulawayo Zimbabwe) and Rolf, (9), living in Kleine Flottbek .
Elizabeth, at 36 years, (born 1891) I believe, lived in Kleine Flottbek with her husband, Georg Heymann, a solicitor, and her child, Gunther Haas (8 yrs), and their daughter, Elizabeth “Lila” Heymann, and his two children from a previous marriage (Karin Heymann (later Syamken) and Inge Heymann). She had been previously married to Wilhelm Haas, who emmigrated to California, USA.
Anne (Margarethe Anne) was not married, travelled a great deal, playing tennis and skiing. She was only 31 when her father died.
Kurt was married to Brita, (or divorced) a Swedish girl, and living in Berlin, Germany.
We are all very proud to be part of the Paul and Gertrude Eichenberg of Hamburg, Germany. Most of their children were scattered around the globe after that..both for economic and ethnic reasons [1, 2] |
| Hebrew Birth |
17 Tis 5620 |
| Hebrew Death |
1 Vea 5687 |
| Occupation |
Import/export Coffee Grains Fodder |
| Residence |
Adelebsen, Germany |
| Residence |
Hamburg, Germany |
| Died |
5 Mar 1927 |
Hamburg, Germany |
| Person ID |
I1717 |
Blank Family |
| Last Modified |
1 May 2011 |
| Father |
Abraham Levi Eichenberg, b. 31 Dec 1828, Adelebsen, Germany , d. 15 Jan 1894, Adelebsen, Germany (Age 65 years) |
| Mother |
Auguste (Berthe) Freudenstein, b. 13 Nov 1828, Adelebsen, Germany , d. 26 Sep 1890, Berlin, Germany (Age 61 years) |
| Married |
11 Jun 1856 |
Adelebsen, Germany |
| Family ID |
F799 |
Group Sheet | Family Chart |
| Family |
Henriette Gertrude Hesse, b. 17 Mar 1867, Germany , d. 28 Apr 1951, Stockholm, Sweden (Age 84 years) |
| Married |
2 Feb 1886 |
Germany |
| Children |
| | 1. Hans Eichenberg, b. 13 Nov 1887, Hamburg, Germany , d. 1970, Santiago, Chile (Age 82 years) |
| | 2. Fritz Frederic Paul Eriksen, b. 21 Jan 1889, Hamburg, Germany , d. 3 May 1974, Bulawayo, Zimbabwe (Age 85 years) |
| | 3. Ernest Lamar, b. 21 Jul 1890, Hamburg, Germany , d. 9 Aug 1955, Houston, TX, USA (Age 65 years) |
| | 4. Auguste Elizabeth Tut Eichenberg, b. 6 Oct 1891, Hamburg, Germany , d. 26 Oct 1941, Hamburg, Germany (Age 50 years) |
| | 5. Anna Annie Eichenberg, b. Yes - date unknown 1895, Hamburg, Germany , d. 16 Aug 1983, Sao Paulo, Brazil (Age ~ 88 years) |
| | 6. Kurt Eichenberg, b. 25 May 1896, Hamburg, Germany , d. 7 Apr 1987, Stockholm, Sweden (Age 90 years) |
|
| Family ID |
F803 |
Group Sheet | Family Chart |
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| Sources |
- [S98] Hamburg Archives, Hamburg, Germany.
- [S11] E-mail message, from Paula Purcell.
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: County/Shire
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