Itzig family

Many of the thirteen children of Daniel Itzig and Miriam Wulff, and their descendants and spouses, had significant impact on both Jewish and German social and cultural (especially musical) history. Some instances are set out below.

Bella Itzig (1749-1824)

Married Levin Jacob Salomon.

Their son Jakob Salomon (1774-1825) converted to Christianity and took the surname "Bartholdy". He was for a time Prussian consul in Italy. He persuaded his brother-in-law Abraham Mendelssohn Bartholdy, son of Moses Mendelssohn, to adopt his surname.

Their daughter Lea (1777-1842) married Abraham Mendelssohn; they were the parents of Felix Mendelssohn and Fanny Mendelssohn.

Isaac Daniel Itzig (1750-1806)

Founded with his brother-in-law David Friedländer the Jewish Free School in Berlin in 1778, the first of its kind.

usanna Itzig (1752-1814)

Married David Friedlander, joint founder of the Jewish Free School in Berlin, who employed Moses Mendelssohn 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, butt of many gibes by Heinrich Heine, 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)

Married the Viennese banker Baron Nathan Adam von Arnstein. They were both patrons and acquaintances of Mozart in Vienna. Their daughter, 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, who joined his brother-in-law Arnstein (see above) in partnership. They were patrons of Mozart and also of Ignaz Moscheles who gave piano lessons to Caecilie.

arah Itzig (1761-1854)

Married Solomon Levy. A talented keyboard player, she was the favorite pupil of Wilhelm Friedemann Bach 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, recommending Zelter as his teacher. Her unique collection of Bach manuscripts was left to the Berlin Singakademie, 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, Hitzig
* List of German Jews