Itzig family
Encyclopedia
Many of the thirteen children of Daniel Itzig
Daniel Itzig
Daniel Itzig was a Court Jew of Kings Frederick II the Great and Frederick William II of Prussia....

 and Miriam Wulff
, and their descendants and spouses, had significant impact on both Jewish and German
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

 social and cultural (especially musical) history. Some instances are set out below.

Bella Itzig (1749-1824)

Married Levin Jacob Salomon.

Their son Jakob Salomon
Jakob Salomon Bartholdy
Jakob Salomon Bartholdy was a Prussian diplomat, born Jakob Salomon in Berlin of Jewish parentage, and educated at the University of Halle...

(1774-1825) converted to Christianity
Christianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...

 and took the surname Bartholdy. He was for a time Prussian consul in Italy. He persuaded his brother-in-law Abraham Mendelssohn Bartholdy
Abraham Mendelssohn Bartholdy
Abraham Ernst Mendelssohn Bartholdy was a German Jewish banker and philanthropist...

, son of Moses Mendelssohn
Moses Mendelssohn
Moses Mendelssohn was a German Jewish philosopher to whose ideas the renaissance of European Jews, Haskalah is indebted...

, to adopt his surname.

Their daughter Lea (1777-1842) married Abraham Mendelssohn; they were the parents of Felix Mendelssohn
Felix Mendelssohn
Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Barthóldy , use the form 'Mendelssohn' and not 'Mendelssohn Bartholdy'. The Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians gives ' Felix Mendelssohn' as the entry, with 'Mendelssohn' used in the body text...

 and Fanny Mendelssohn
Fanny Mendelssohn
Fanny Cäcilie Mendelssohn , later Fanny Hensel, was a German pianist and composer, the sister of the composer Felix Mendelssohn and granddaughter of the philosopher Moses Mendelssohn...

.

Isaac Daniel Itzig (1750-1806)

Founded with his brother-in-law David Friedländer
David Friedländer
David Friedländer, sometimes spelled Friedlander was a German Jewish banker, writer and communal leader.- Life :Friedländer settled in Berlin in 1771...

 the Jewish Free School in Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...

 in 1778, the first of its kind.

Susanna Itzig (1752-1814)

Married David Friedlander
David Friedländer
David Friedländer, sometimes spelled Friedlander was a German Jewish banker, writer and communal leader.- Life :Friedländer settled in Berlin in 1771...

, joint founder of the Jewish Free School in Berlin, who employed Moses Mendelssohn
Moses Mendelssohn
Moses Mendelssohn was a German Jewish philosopher to whose ideas the renaissance of European Jews, Haskalah is indebted...

 in his silk factory, and founded the bank of 'Mendelssohn and Friedländer' with Moses's son, Joseph. Friedländer was a major force in the movement for Jewish religious reform.

Elias Itzig (b. 1755)

Elias was the father of the lawyer Julius Eduard Hitzig
Julius Eduard Hitzig
Julius Eduard Hitzig was a German author and civil servant.Born into the wealthy and influential Jewish Itzig family, he was between 1799 and 1806 a Prussian civil servant, became Criminal Counsel at the Berlin Supreme Court in 1815 and its director in 1825...

, butt of many gibes by Heinrich Heine
Heinrich Heine
Christian Johann Heinrich Heine was one of the most significant German poets of the 19th century. He was also a journalist, essayist, and literary critic. He is best known outside Germany for his early lyric poetry, which was set to music in the form of Lieder by composers such as Robert Schumann...

, and of Henriette Itzig who married Nathan (Carl Theodore) Mendelssohn, son of Moses Mendelssohn.

Bonem Itzig (b. 1756)

Father of Georg Heinrich Friedrich Hitzig, architect of many 19th century Berlin buildings, including the Stock Exchange built on the site of the Mendelssohn house.

Fanny (Feigele) Itzig (1758-1818)

Main article: Fanny von Arnstein
Fanny von Arnstein
Baroness Franziska "Fanny" von Arnstein, born Vögele Itzig was a leader of society in Vienna....



Married the Viennese banker Baron Nathan Adam von Arnstein. They were both patrons and acquaintances of Mozart in Vienna. Their daughter, Baroness Henriette von Pereira-Arnstein, was a constant correspondent of her cousin, Felix Mendelssohn's mother Lea.

Caecilie (Zipperche) Itzig (1760-1836)

Married the Viennese banker Freiherr Bernhard von Eskeles
Bernhard von Eskeles
Bernhard, Knight and Baron von Eskeles was an Austrian-Jewish banker/financier and Court Jew....

, who joined his brother-in-law Arnstein
Arnstein (onomastics)
Arnstein may refer to:* Arnstein, a town in Bavaria, Germany* Arnstein, Saxony-Anhalt, a town in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany* Arnstein Abbey in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany* Palais Arnstein, Vienna* Fanny von Arnstein * Arnstein Airport, Ontario...

 (see above) in partnership. They were patrons of Mozart and also of Ignaz Moscheles
Ignaz Moscheles
Ignaz Moscheles was a Bohemian composer and piano virtuoso, whose career after his early years was based initially in London, and later at Leipzig, where he succeeded his friend and sometime pupil Felix Mendelssohn as head of the Conservatoire.-Sources:Much of what we know about Moscheles's life...

 who gave piano lessons to Caecilie.

Sarah Itzig (1761-1854)

Married Solomon Levy. A talented keyboard player, she was the favorite pupil of Wilhelm Friedemann Bach
Wilhelm Friedemann Bach
Wilhelm Friedemann Bach , the second child and eldest son of Johann Sebastian Bach and Maria Barbara Bach, was a German composer and performer...

 and supported the widow of Carl Philip Emmanuel Bach. She performed the harpsichord part at the premiere of his Concerto for Fortepiano and Harpsichord by Carl Philip Emmanuel Bach, and probably commissioned the piece. She took a strong interest in the musical education of her great-nephew Felix Mendelssohn
Felix Mendelssohn
Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Barthóldy , use the form 'Mendelssohn' and not 'Mendelssohn Bartholdy'. The Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians gives ' Felix Mendelssohn' as the entry, with 'Mendelssohn' used in the body text...

, recommending Zelter
Carl Friedrich Zelter
Carl Friedrich Zelter was a German composer, conductor and teacher of music.Zelter became friendly with Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, and his works include settings of Goethe's poems...

 as his teacher. Her unique collection of Bach manuscripts was left to the Berlin Singakademie
Berlin Singakademie
The Sing-Akademie zu Berlin is a musical society founded in Berlin in 1791 by Carl Friedrich Christian Fasch, harpsichordist to the court of Prussia, on the model of the 18th century London Academy of Ancient Music.-Early history:...

, in whose concerts she often performed. It was she who gave the manuscript of Bach's St. Matthew Passion to Mendelssohn in 1825; the result was that he led the modern premiere (the first performance since the death of Bach) in 1829, contributing more than any other event to the 19th-Century "Bach Revival."

See also

  • Itzig
    Itzig
    Itzig may mean:* The Itzig family, famous for its contribution to Jewish and German cultural history* Julius Eduard Hitzig, born Isaac Elias ItzigPlace names:* Itzig, Luxembourg...

    , Hitzig
    Hitzig
    Hitzig is the last name of:* Eduard Hitzig , German brain scientist* Ferdinand Hitzig , German Protestant theologian* Friedrich Hitzig , German Jewish architect...

  • Mendelssohn family
    Mendelssohn family
    The Mendelssohn family are the descendants of the German Jewish philosopher Moses Mendelssohn, and include his grandson, the composer Felix Mendelssohn....

  • List of German Jews
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