The Wittgenstein family is a

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

n family that rose to prominence in 19th- and 20th-century

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

, Austria. The family was originally Jewish and originated from the in Siegen-Wittgenstein, Germany. The Austrian branch of the Wittgenstein family began with the emigration of to Vienna in 1851. In 1910, 26 members of the Wittgenstein family were among the 929 wealthiest people in Vienna. Members of the Wittgenstein family include successful merchants, entrepreneurs, industrialists, lawyers, musicians, patrons of the arts, and philosophers: *

Karl Wittgenstein Karl Otto Clemens Wittgenstein (8 April 1847 – 20 January 1913) was a German-born Austrian steel tycoon. A friend of Andrew Carnegie, with whom he was often compared, at the end of the 19th century he controlled an effective monopoly on steel and ...

(1847–1913), steel magnate * Margaret Stonborough-Wittgenstein (1882–1958), philanthropist *

Paul Wittgenstein Paul Wittgenstein (November 5, 1887March 3, 1961) was an Austrian-American concert pianist notable for commissioning new piano concerti for the left hand alone, following the amputation of his right arm during the First World War. He devised nove ...

(1887–1961), concert pianist *

Ludwig Wittgenstein Ludwig Josef Johann Wittgenstein ( ; ; 26 April 1889 – 29 April 1951) was an Austrian-British philosopher who worked primarily in logic, the philosophy of mathematics, the philosophy of mind, and the philosophy of language. He is considere ...

(1889–1951), philosopher

History

The earliest known family members are the estate manager Ahron Moses Meier (born 1804) and his wife Sarah. They lived in Laasphe in the and worked for the Counts of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Hohenstein. Their son, Moses Meyer, was initially the estate manager of the Counts. In 1806, after the Reichsdeputationshauptschluss, the Wittgensteiner Land fell to Hessen-Darmstadt. In 1808,

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...

initiated the

Jewish emancipation Jewish emancipation was the process in various nations in Europe of eliminating Jewish disabilities, e.g. Jewish quotas, to which European Jews were then subject, and the recognition of Jews as entitled to equality and citizenship rights. It incl ...

and Jews were required to adopt a fixed surname within three months. Moses chose the name Meyer-Wittgenstein. This led to a conflict with the Prussian , who had been elevated to

Reichsfürst Prince of the Holy Roman Empire ( la, princeps imperii, german: Reichsfürst, cf. ''Fürst'') was a title attributed to a hereditary ruler, nobleman or prelate recognised as such by the Holy Roman Emperor. Definition Originally, possessors o ...

in 1804. Moses left the Wittgensteiner Land with his family and moved to the nearby

Principality of Waldeck The County of Waldeck (later the Principality of Waldeck and Principality of Waldeck and Pyrmont) was a state of the Holy Roman Empire and its successors from the late 12th century until 1929. In 1349 the county gained Imperial immediacy and in 1 ...

. It was there that he created a successful business as a wool trader in the former Hanseatic City

Korbach Korbach (pronunciation: ˈkoːɐˌbax), officially the Hanseatic City of Korbach (German: Hansestadt Korbach), is the district seat of Waldeck-Frankenberg in northern Hesse, Germany. It is over a thousand years old and is located on the German Tim ...

, an area with many sheep.

Selected members

#Moses Meyer-Wittgenstein (born 1761 in Laasphe; died 3 January 1822 in Korbach), married Bernhardine (Breindel) Simon (1768–1829) ##Simson Moses Wittgenstein (8 December 1788 – 22 March 1853), married on 4 October 1813 in Rheda to Rebecca Rosenberg (born 2 May 1783; died 15 April 1854 in Korbach) ###Friedrike Wittgenstein (born 1820), married on 6 August 1850 to Isaac Koppel (born 1815) ###Marcus Wittgenstein (born 1818 in Korbach; died 1828 in Korbach) Jakob Wittgenstein ca

### (born 1 April 1819 in Korbach; died 3 June 1890 in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

by suicide), married Clara Lippert (divorced on 22 May 1871 from the Stadtgericht Berlin), estate manager in Berlin from 1858, founder of "Simson and Rebecca Wittgenstein Stiftung" (1884) and the "Jacob Wittgenstein`sche Altersversorgungsanstalt" (1894) ##Julia Wittgenstein (born 1790 in Korbach), married Rosenberg ##Abraham Wittgenstein (born 1791 in Korbach), married Julie Fontheim ###Sophie Wittgenstein (born 19 February 1821; died 31 May 1892 in Amsterdam), married Salomon Berg (born 19 January 1804; died 1891 in Warburg) ###Emma (Eva) Wittgenstein (born 1825), married Samuel (Salomon) Nassau (born 1815 in Scherfede) ####Hermann Nassau (born 24 September 1859 in Warburg; died 21 April 1933), married Flora Engel (born 6 May 1866 in

Dzierżoniów Dzierżoniów (; szl, Rychbach; german: Reichenbach im Eulengebirge ) is a town located at the foot of the Owl Mountains in southwestern Poland, within the Lower Silesian Voivodeship (from 1975 to 1998 in the former Wałbrzych Voivodeship). It is ...

, Poland; died 30 November 1950 in London) ###Louis Wittgenstein (born 1834; died 1919 in Warburg), married Lina Berg (born 1837 in Warburg; died 14 July 1909 in Warburg) ####Julia Wittgenstein (born 4 May 1862 in Warburg; died 9 April 1943 in

Sobibór Sobibor (, Polish: ) was an extermination camp built and operated by Nazi Germany as part of Operation Reinhard. It was located in the forest near the village of Żłobek Duży in the General Government region of German-occupied Poland. As ...

, Poland) ####Alfred Wittgenstein (born 10 August 1863 in Warburg), antique dealer in Nice (France), married on 18 May 1897 (Paris IXe) to Henriette Sophie Dreyfus (born 25 January 1873 in Paris) #####Gerard Wittgenstein (1905–1970), married Violette Diedesheim (born 1905; died 1970) ######Francois Wittgenstein (born 1940; deceased) ######Maryse Wittgenstein (born 1940; deceased) ####Selma Wittgenstein (born 20 April 1865 in Warburg; died 7 November 1946 in

Rijsenburg Rijsenburg is a former village and municipality in the Dutch province of Utrecht. Presently, it is a part of the single town of Driebergen-Rijsenburg. The former municipality of Rijsenburg existed from 1818 to 1931, when it merged with Drieberge ...

Utrechtse Heuvelrug Utrechtse Heuvelrug (; en, "Utrecht Hill Ridge") is a municipality in the Netherlands, in the province of Utrecht. It was formed on 1 January 2006 by merging the former municipalities of Amerongen, Doorn, Driebergen-Rijsenburg, Leersum, and Maarn ...

, Netherlands), married Willy Michaëlis Schüler (born 1865; died 19 October 1939 in

The Hague The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a city and municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's administrative centre and its seat of government, and while the official capital of ...

, Netherlands) #####Maggy Schüler (born 11 December 1889 in

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Rotte'') is the second largest city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is in the province of South Holland, part of the North Sea mouth of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta, via the ''"N ...

; died 7 July 1944 in

Auschwitz Auschwitz concentration camp ( (); also or ) was a complex of over 40 concentration and extermination camps operated by Nazi Germany in occupied Poland (in a portion annexed into Germany in 1939) during World War II and the Holocaust. It con ...

), married Dr. Erich Franz Emil Salomon (born 28 April 1886 in Berlin; died 7 July 1944 in Auschwitz) ######Otto Erich Salomon (born 1913 in Berlin; died 3 December 2006 in The Hague), name changed to Peter Hunter ######Dirk Salomon (born 1920 in Berlin; died 7 July 1944 in Auschwitz) ####Dorina Wittgenstein (born 21 January 1866 in Warburg; died 30 November 1939 in The Hague), married Nathan Heinemann #####Regina Heinemann (born 21 May 1894 in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...

; died 23 May 1961 in Bentveld,

Zandvoort Zandvoort () is a municipality in the province of North Holland, Netherlands. It is one of the major beach resorts of the Netherlands; it has a long sandy beach. It is bordered by coastal dunes of Zuid-Kennemerland National Park and the Amsterdam ...

, Netherlands) #####Margot Heinemann (born 16 August 1895 in Amsterdam) #####Mathilde (Tilly) Heinemann (born 15 February 1897 in Amsterdam; died 29 May 1935 in The Hague) ####Sophie Wittgenstein (born 11 June 1869 in Warburg; died 9 October 1946 in The Hague), married Edmund Cohn ####Emma Wittgenstein (born 1876 in Warburg; died 1933), married Abraham (Walter) Herz (born 1878 in

Aachen Aachen ( ; ; Aachen dialect: ''Oche'' ; French and traditional English: Aix-la-Chapelle; or ''Aquisgranum''; nl, Aken ; Polish: Akwizgran) is, with around 249,000 inhabitants, the 13th-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia, and the 28th- ...

; died 1936) #####Berta Grete Herz (born 25 February 1906 in Aachen; died 1988) #####Paul Aron Herz (born 27 July 1907 in Aachen; died 1966), married Kurt Siegmund Hermann Robert Prenzlau (1892–1945) ######Inge Prenzlau (born 30 August 1931 in Berlin), married on 20 June 1953 in Amsterdam to Salomon (Lo) Vecht #######Claudia Louise Vecht (born 22 October 1954 in Amsterdam), married Michael Mogendorff #######Ronald Arthur Vecht (born 3 April 1958 in Amsterdam), married Fanny van der Linden on 11 May 1997 ########David Edward Vecht (born 18 September 1997 in Amsterdam) #####Lisa Herz JenRCohenG

####Rosalie (Rosa) Wittgenstein (born 4 December 1867 in Warburg; died 1 November 1949 in Amsterdam), married on 19 February 1889 to Joseph Cohen (born 25 October 1860 in Dinslaken; died 2 March 1924). Founders of the Maison de Bonneterie, Amsterdam ####Iwan Wittgenstein, married Theodora (Dorle) Freund #####Gert Wittgenstein (born 14 November 1923 in

Goleniów Goleniów ( csb, Gòłonóg; german: Gollnow) is a town in Pomerania, northwestern Poland with 22,844 inhabitants (2011). It is the capital of Goleniów County in West Pomeranian Voivodeship (since 1999); previously it was in Szczecin Voivodeshi ...

, Poland; died 1944 in Auschwitz) ####Harry Wittgenstein (born 1870 in Warburg) Hermann Christian Wittgenstein

##Richard Simon Wittgenstein (born 1796; died 13 February 1862), married Ida (born 1809 in Bielefeld; died 3 July 1880 in Geibsdorf) ###Louise Johanne Henriette Wittgenstein (born 1831), married Heinrich Hirsch (born 5 May 1840) ###Emma Flora Caroline Wittgenstein (1833–1879) ###Max Adolf Georg Carl Wittgenstein (born 1836) ###Ernst Oscar Wittgenstein (born 1844), married Emma Vaerst

## (born 15 September 1802 in Korbach; died 19 May 1878 in Vienna-Hietzing), wool trader in

Gohlis Gohlis is an area in the north of the city of Leipzig, Germany. Once a village outside the city, it is known as the place where Friedrich Schiller wrote the first version of his ''Ode to Joy'' in 1785. It urbanised during the '' Gründerzeit'' pe ...

and estate manager in Vienna, converted to Protestantism in 1839, married Franziska (Fanny) Figdor (born 7 April 1814 in Kittsee; died 21 October 1890 in Vienna-Hietzing) ###''Anna'' Friederike Wittgenstein (born 31 October 1840 in Gohlis; died 22 September 1896 in Hietzing), married Heinrich "Emil" Franz (born 9 December 1839 in Vienna; died 24 March 1884 in Vienna) ###Marie Wittgenstein (1841–1931), married Moritz Christian Pott (1839–1902; iron merchant) ###Paul Josef Gustav Wittgenstein (1842–1928), jurist, married Justine Karoline Hochstetter (1858–1918) ####Johanna Salzer () (1877–1953) ####Hermann Christian Wittgenstein (1879–1953) ####Paul Karl Wittgenstein (1880–1948) ##### (1907–1979), philosopher Karl Wittgenstein 1908

###Josephine Wittgenstein (1844–1933), married (1833–1912) ###Ludwig "Louis" Wittgenstein (1845–1925), owner of

Schloss Hollenburg Burg Hollenburg ( sl, Humberk) is a medieval castle near Köttmannsdorf in Carinthia, Austria. It is on a rock of the northern slope of the Drava valley. Burg Hollenburg is above sea level. One Swiker, Lord of Hollenburg in the Duchy of Carin ...

, married Maria Franz (1850–1912) ###

Karl Otto Clemens Wittgenstein Karl Otto Clemens Wittgenstein (8 April 1847 – 20 January 1913) was a German-born Austrian steel Business tycoon, tycoon. A friend of Andrew Carnegie, with whom he was often compared, at the end of the 19th century he controlled an effective mono ...

(born 1847 in Vienna; died 1913) ####Hermine Wittgenstein (born 1874 in Teplitz; died 1950) ####Dora Wittgenstein (born 1876 in Vienna; died at birth) ####Hans Wittgenstein (born 1877 in Vienna; died 1902 in the

Chesapeake Bay The Chesapeake Bay ( ) is the largest estuary in the United States. The Bay is located in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region and is primarily separated from the Atlantic Ocean by the Delmarva Peninsula (including the parts: the ...

, presumed suicide by drowning) ####Kurt Wittgenstein (born 1878 in Vienna; died November 1918, shot himself on the Italian front) ####Helene Wittgenstein (born 1879 in Vienna; died 1956) married Max Salzer (ministry official) ####Rudolf Wittgenstein (born 1881 in Vienna; died 1904 in Berlin by suicide) chemistry student #### Margaret Stonborough-Wittgenstein (1882–1958), married Jerome Stonborough in 1904. Builder of the

Haus Wittgenstein Haus Wittgenstein (also known as the Stonborough House and the Wittgenstein House) is a house in the modernist style on the Kundmanngasse, Vienna, Austria. The house was commissioned by Margaret Stonborough-Wittgenstein, who asked the architect P ...

and longtime owner of the . Margarete Wittgenstein, ca 1920

####

(1887–1961), concert pianist, married Hilde Schania (1915–2001) #####Paul-Louis Wittgenstein (born 1941) #####Elisabeth #####Johanna ####

(1889–1951), philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein

###Ottilie Ida Bertha Wittgenstein (1848–1908) landowner, cheese producer and patron of the arts in Pyhra, married (1841–1925) ####Paula Franziska Johanna Kupelwieser (1875–1938), married Mathes ####Ida Josepha Johanna Kupelwieser (1870–1927), married Lenz ####Ernst Hermann Leopold Kupelwieser (1873–1892) ####Johann Paul Kupelwieser (1879–1939), medical doctor ###Klara Wittgenstein (1850–1935) ###Lydia Wittgenstein (1851–1920), married von Siebert ###Emilie Wittgenstein (1853–1939), married Theodor von Brücke (1853–1918; judge) ###Klothilde Wittgenstein (1854–1937)

References

* * * * * * * *

Notes

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Wittgenstein Ludwig Josef Johann Wittgenstein ( ; ; 26 April 1889 – 29 April 1951) was an Austrians, Austrian-British people, British philosopher who worked primarily in logic, the philosophy of mathematics, the philosophy of mind, and the philosophy o ...