The Gans family is a prominent German family of industrialists and philanthropists from

Frankfurt am Main Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , "Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on its na ...

. It is descended from Ludwig Aaron Gans, a

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

businessman from Celle, who became an apprentice in the firm Caßel & Reiß in Frankfurt in 1814. In 1828, he married Rosette Goldschmidt (1805–1868), a niece and adopted daughter of the firm's owner

Leopold Cassella Leopold Cassella (born 8 December 1766 in Friedberg, Hesse, died 25 March 1847 in Frankfurt) was a German businessman, known for having founded the company Cassella, one of many predecessor companies of today's Sanofi. Biography Born ''David Lö ...

, and was accepted as a partner of the firm. In 1848, Gans became sole owner of Leopold Cassella & Co., as the company was then named. Ludwig Aaron Gans was the father of the major industrialist Friedrich Ludwig von Gans, who was

ennobled Nobility is a social class found in many societies that have an aristocracy. It is normally ranked immediately below royalty. Nobility has often been an estate of the realm with many exclusive functions and characteristics. The characteri ...

in 1912, and of the chemist and industrialist

Leo Gans Leo or Léo may refer to: Acronyms * Law enforcement officer * Law enforcement organisation * '' Louisville Eccentric Observer'', a free weekly newspaper in Louisville, Kentucky * Michigan Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity Arts a ...

. The family converted from Judaism to Protestantism in the late 19th century.

Literature

* Angela von Gans, Monika Groening: ''Die Familie Gans 1350–1963.'' Verlag Regionalkultur, Heidelberg, 2006, * Monika Groening: ''Leo Gans und Arthur von Weinberg. Mäzenatentum und jüdische Emanzipation'' (Biographiereihe der Goethe Universität: Gründer, Gönner und Gelehrte), Societätsverlag Frankfurt am Main 2012, . German families Converts to Protestantism from Judaism German untitled nobility {{Germany-stub