Bacharach Family

The Bacharach family was allied by numerous marriages among the leading Jewish families of the seventeenth century such as the Oppenheim and Teomim Franckel families, and most of its descendants achieved distinction. In the case of the descent of Moritz Reis, the connection with the Bacharach family begins with Mendlen (Menachem) Isaac Lauchheim – Bacharach (? – 1599) and his wife Edel Weissenberg. They had a son Samuel Mendel Bacharach (ca. 1548 – 1628) who married Henlen Bloch. Their daughter Edel Bacharach married Simon Wolf Oppenheim (? – 1664) and they were the grandparents of the Prague Rabbi David Oppenheim (1664 – 1736).

Edel Weissenberg, who married Mendlen (Menachem) Isaac Lauchheim – Bacharach, was the daughter of Moses Weissenburg and Gutlin Boppard (her father was Simon Boppard). From this marriage are descended some members of the Bacharach family who form the ancestry of Jonas Reis who married Marian Samuel.

Schmuel Bacharach * >> Isaac (Yitzchak) Bachrach >> Mendlen (Menachem) Lauchheim – Bacharach of Knoblauch (ca. 1535 – 1599) == Edel / Udel Weissenberg >> Samuel Mendel Bacharach (ca. 1548 – 1628) == Henlen Bloch (ca. 1584 – 1643) >> Edel Bacharach (ca. 1605 – 1668) == Simon Wolf Oppenheim (ca. 1600 – 1664) >> Abraham Oppenheim (1633 – 1693) == Blume Wohl (ca. 1637 – 1683) >> Rabbi David Oppenheim (1664 – 1736) == Gnendel Behrens-Cohen (ca. 1670 – 1712) >> Sara Oppenheim [er] (ca. 1695 – 1713) == Chaim Jonah Frankel-Teomim >> Magdelene Genendel Frankel-Teomim (1713 – 1778) == Simon Isaac Bondi (1711 – 1773) >> Jonas Bondi (1732 – 1765) == Bella / Belle Schifra >> Clara / Caroline Bondi (1760-1829) == Koppel Loeb of Bamberg >> Moises Loeb / Moritz Reis (1782 – 1855) == Émilie Bickartt (1784 – ) >> Jonas Reis (1809 – 1877) == Marian Samuel (1825 – 1900) >> REIS FAMILY

  • * He was the brother of Elchanan zur Roten Rose who was the progenitor of the Rothschilds. His gravestone is shown below.

Mendel Isaac Bacharach of the Knoblauch, called Mendel Jotem, died on 23 August 1599 and is buried with his wife, Edel, daughter of Moses Weissenberg. Their beautiful and very legible gravestone (below) records that Mendel is called “Mendel Jotem” not “Mendel Lochem”. Edel is sometimes written Udel.

Knoblauch also Knoblich is a branch of the Bacharach family who lived in Frankfurt from about 1516, and are descended from the Knoblauch family, named after the cloth and silk merchant Mannlin zum Knoblauch. Mendlen (Menachem) Isaac Lauchheim – Bacharach enjoyed great respect in the community, and for many years suffered the status of “village ruler” and was praised on his tombstone as an old man who sat on the prince’s council.

Isaac Bacharach, zum Lindwurm, also known as: “Itsek Luts zum Lindwurm”, “Jizchak Bacharach” (1540 – 1635) was the brother of Samuel Mendel Lauchheim-Bacharach and the son of Mendlen Isaac Lauchheim-Bacharach and Edel (Weissenberg) Bacharach. Isaac Bacharach was the Nth great uncle of Moritz Reis. Isaac married Kinnel Ballin the daughter of Elias Moses Ballin.

Simon (Schimon) aus Boppard KaZ, z. Kessel. Birthdate: estimated about 1480. Death: October 05, 1531 at Frankfurt am Main, Hessen-Nassau, Preussen. Place of Burial: Battonnstraße Jewish cemetery, Frankfurt am Main. Immediate Family: Son of Chaim Hakohen aus Boppard KaZ. Husband of Blume Aschaffenburg. The daughter of Simon and Blume was Gutlin (born ca.1530). She married Mosche von Weissenberg, who also held the title “zum Kessel.” Their daughter Edel Weissenberg married Mendlen Isaac Lauchheim – Bacharach (below). Edel is sometimes written Udel.

Mendlen Isaac Lauchheim-Bacharach; also known as: “Mendlin”, “Menachem ben Jizchak”, or Mendel Bacharach of the Knoblauch or Mendel “Jotem” Bacharach. Birthdate: after 1550 at Lauchheim, Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg. Death: August 23, 1599, at Frankfurt am Main, Place of Burial: Battonnstraße Jewish cemetery, Frankfurt am Main. He was the son of Jitshak zu Lauchheim also known as Isaac Bacharach zu Lauchheim and Brendel Bacharach aus Burgau. He married Edel / Udel Weissenberg. Their son was Samuel Mendel Bacharach (below). The grave shown right is of Mendlen and his wife Edel (Weissenberg) Bacharach. Edel was the daughter of Moses and Gutlin Weissenburg, zum Kessel. Sometimes Edel is written Udel. All being the direct ancestors of Moritz Reis. Details about this grave can be found at the Steinheim Institute’s Epidat – Epigraphische Datenbank

The writing on the two sides of the above grave’s panels is shown below:

Samuel (Schmul) Mendel Bacharach, son of the above Mendlen Isaac and Edel. Samuel was the husband of Henlen Bloch (below). Birth estimated to be about 1584. Death: May 28, 1628, at Frankfurt am Main. Place of Burial: Battonnstraße Jewish cemetery, Frankfurt am Main. He married Henlen Bloch (below). Samuel was a direct ancestor of Moritz Reis.

Mendel Bacharach (above). She was born circa 1584. Death: December 26, 1643 at Frankfurt am Main. Henlen’s father was: Jacob Bloch (Jükkel Bloh), zu Bruchsal. He was born circa 1550 at Bruchsal, Karlsruhe, Baden-Württemberg. Death: circa 1610 Frankfurt am Main. The daughter of Samuel and Henlen (Bloch) Bacharach, Edel Bacharach (1605 – 1668), married Simon Wolf Oppenheim[er] (see Oppenheimer family). All are the direct ancestors of Moritz Reis.

The above are the direct ancestors of Moritz and Jonas Reis who were of the Bacharach family. To continue the descent we must go to the daughter of Samuel and Henlen (Bloch) Bacharach – Edel Bacharach (1605 – 1668) – who married Simon Wolf Oppenheim[er]. See Oppenheimer family.

Other members of the Bacharach family included:

Abraham Bacharach, zum Drachen also known as: “Awram ben Schmuel Bacharach”, “Awram Drach” Birthdate: 1611 Birthplace: Frankfurt am Main. Death: August 14, 1687 at Frankfurt am Main. Place of Burial: Battonnstraße Jewish cemetery, Frankfurt am Main. Immediate family: Son of Samuel Mendel Bacharach and Henlen (Bloch) Bacharach (above). Brother of Edel (Bacharach) Oppenheim. Abraham was the Nth great uncle of Moritz Reis. He was the most prominent member of the Drach family, one of the richest and most respected Frankfurt Jewish families. Isidor Kracauer, the chronicler of the Frankfurt Jews, described him as follows: “His breadth of vision, his commercial talent and ability to make best use of favorable times, his skill in handling people and issues, and not least his punctilious honesty with its absolute rejection of any unfair profit gained him the absolute confidence of high and low alike in both Jewish and Christian society. His name was highly valued on the Amsterdam and Hamburg exchanges and at the courts of many neighboring princes whose financial needs he supplied as their court factor.” Drach was frequently given important commissions by the Jewish community and was elected to its highest offices as “master builder” and treasurer. He was appointed plenipotentiary on behalf of the Frankfurt Jews in important negotiations at the imperial court in Vienna. (From http://judengasse.de/ehtml/P009.htm.)

Isaac Bacharach, zum Lindwurm, also known as: “Itsek Luts zum Lindwurm”, “Jizchak Bacharach” Birthdate: circa 1540, Death: July 23, 1635 at Frankfurt am Main. Place of Burial: Battonnstraße Jewish cemetery, Frankfurt am Main. He was the brother of the above Samuel Mendel Lauchheim-Bacharach and the son of the above Mendlen Isaac Lauchheim-Bacharac and Edel (Weissenberg) Bacharach. Isaac Bacharach was the Nth great uncle of Moritz Reis.  Isaac Bacharach, zum Lindwurm’s wife was Kinnel Ballin the daughter of Elias Moses Ballin.

Rabbi Abraham Samuel Bacharach Birthdate about 1575 Birthplace: Drachen, Germany Death: May 26, 1615 Gernsheim, Darmstadt, Hesse. Place of Burial: Alsbach, Rhineland-Palatinate. Immediate Family: Son of Isaac Bacharach, zum Lindwurm (above) also known as Mendel Bacharach, zu Lauchheim his brother was Mendel Isaac Lauchheim-Bacharach. On the charts below, only his father is shown. His uncle would have been Samuel Mendel Bacharach. He would therefore have been a cousin Nth times removed of Moritz and Jonas Reis’. He seems to have come from the city of Worms, but is first met with at Prague, where, in 1600, he married Eva, the granddaughter of the chief rabbi of Prague, Judah Loew ben Bezalel. He was rabbi in Turbin, Kolin (Bohemia), and in Pohrlitz (Moravia); and was subsequently called to the ministry of the very important congregation of Worms. One of the frequent riots against the Jews, instigated by the guilds, caused him to flee from the city. He died during exile, and was buried in Alsbach. Bacharach was respected for his learning and piety. He took a firm stand against the rabbis of Frankfurt, who arrogated to themselves preeminence over all the other rabbis of Germany. A few of his responsa were published by his grandson, Jair Ḥayyim, in the collected “Ḥut ha-Shani” (Frankfurt-am-Main, 1679). Bacharach was the author of an essay on the Jewish calendar, a number of apologetic works against Christianity, liturgical poems, and casuistic treatises. Some of his works are still extant in manuscript.

Gravestone of Elchanan zur roten Rose progenitor of the Rothschild family and the great uncle of Moritz Reis. Elchanan’s brother was Schmuel Bacharach who was Moritz Reis’s 7th Great Grandfather. Elchanan died on August 25, 1550 at Frankfurt am Main and was buried at the Battonnstraße Jewish cemetery, Frankfurt.

To help navigate this family the three charts below should assist: