Jewish merchants in Solingen-Ohligs

Stop 5: The Davids Family

Düsseldorfer Str. 40 as of today. Photo: Daniela Tobias

Düsseldorfer Str. 40 – go to map – go to starting point

Merchant Simon Davids and his wife Helena Amalie of Hüls, close to Krefeld, became parents to a total of nine children between 1866 and 1883: Josef, Gertrud, Moritz, Johanna, Max, Thekla, Georg, Selma and Sally. The brothers and sisters ran commercial houses for clothing in Solingen-Ohligs, Neuss, Wiesbaden, Remscheid and Bochum.

On 28 June 1907, Georg Davids advertised his clothing store of Ohligs in the local newspaper “Ohligser Anzeiger” and pointed out other subsidiaries in Remscheid, Neuss and Wiesbaden. Source: City Archive of Solingen via zeitpunkt.nrw

Max Davids probably lay the foundation to the family business, first starting it in Wiesbaden in 1896. His sister Johanna Davids moved to Remscheid in 1899 where she was in charge of a branch of “Falk & Cie”, a company from Solingen. In 1906, she married merchant Julius Lange who, in 1914 at the latest, went on to become owner of “Falk & Cie”. Simultaneously, Max Davids was already running the men’s and boy’s clothing store “Gebr. Davids” (literally “Davids Brothers”) in Remscheid since 1907 at the latest.

Georg Davids had been born on 11 October 1878. Aged 21, he moved from Benrath to the emergent centre of Solingen-Ohligs in December 1899. He was listed as salesclerk at first and did his military service in 1900/1901. He got married to Jenny Strauss in 1903. Aschaffenburg is where Jenny had been born on 23 November 1880 and it is also where the couple got married.

On 23 April 1901, Georg Davids advertised the opening of the men’s clothing store “Gebr. Davids” in the “Ohligser Anzeiger”. Back then, the business was located at Düsseldorfer Straße 42 (today: 38) and it was co-owned by Georg’s eldest brother Josef Davids. Josef was a cattle trader in Hüls and, later on, became the provost of the Jewish community there.

The Davids store, Düsseldorfer Str. 40 (on the right), postcard dating ca. from 1910. Source: City Archive of Solingen, PK 1600

Georg Davids built a representative house at Düsseldorfer Straße 40, that still defines the streetscape to this day. His clothing store opened there on 8 November 1907. Georg and Jenny Davids’ personal family life was also flourishing: son Walter was born on 14 June 1904, followed by daughter Hilde on 4 February 1906.

In 1911, Georg Davids advertised [in translation] the “unmatched affordability” of his products and, in 1912, called his business [in translation] the “greatest specialist store in clothing business”. And he had a point: according to the community’s tax estimate, his business ranked second among Jewish-owned businesses in Ohligs for several years in a row. Only the industrialist Nathan Kastor surpassed him. The advertisements Georg Davids placed in the “Ohligser Anzeiger“ were usually large-sized and impressed with their striking design. Both proprietary goods and the store’s own manufacture were advertised for.

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Compilation of different advertisements for the Gebr. Davids store in the local newspaper “Ohligser Anzeiger“. Source: City Archive of Solingen via zeitpunkt.nrw

Davids also advertised on a house wall at Ohligs market. Source: City Archive of Solingen, PK 3455

Georg’s sister Selma moved to Ohligs in 1912. Together with Julius Lange, her brother-in-law, she founded the company “J. Lange & Co.” around 1913. Their store was located at Düsseldorfer Straße 3 and was [in translation] a “specialist fashion store for attire”, selling women’s clothing. On 27 June 1919, Selma married merchant Siegfried Scheiberg of Bückeburg. After being married for nine moths only, she died of pneumonia on 16 March 1920 and was laid to rest on the Jewish cemetery of Solingen.

The shop of J. Lange at Düsseldorfer Straße 3. The building doesn’t exist anymore. Source: City archive of Solingen, RS 16540
Selma Scheiberg’s tombstone at the Jewish cemetery. Photo: Daniela Tobias

A major event in the family of Jenny and Georg Davids was the wedding of their daughter. On 10 July 1929, Hilde got married to Karl Eichenberg of Frankfurt. The reception took place at Grafenberger Allee 78, at the Düsseldorf venue of the Jewish organisation “B’nai B’rith”. The restaurant was run by the Lubascher family who had previously lived in Solingen. Hilde followed her husband Karl Eichenberg to Frankfurt where she gave birth to daughter Lore in 1930. The family moved to Aschaffenburg later on.

Marriage announcement of Karl Eichenberg and Hilde Davids in the local newspaper “Ohligser Anzeiger“ of 9 July 1929. Source: City Archive of Solingen via zeitpunkt.nrw

When the National Socialists seized power in 1933, the Davids store’s business development immediately started to decline. Taxes amounted to only a third of what they had been in 1930. Causes were the effects of the world economic crisis and of the new rulers’ boycott measures. The family paid so-called “Reichsfluchtsteuer” (literally “Reich Flight Tax”) in as early as 1934, hence specifically preparing for their emigration. In 1935, however, their business recovered, possibly putting the plan to leave the country on hold for a while.

In August 1935, Walter Davids became companion at the men’s clothing store run by his parents. In April 1936, the “Gebr. Davids” posted a job listing in the “Jüdische Rundschau”, saying [in translation]: “Looking for a thoroughly hard-working, younger decorator for men’s and women’s clothing as well as men’s fashion items. Should be capable of decorating 10 large windows in an appealing and modern way. Should also be good at lacquer writing and painting posters. Starting as soon as possible.” In February 1937, Walter got married to Gerda Stein in Meiningen. Gerda had been born in Meiningen, Thuringia, and moved to Ohligs after the wedding.


Job listing for a decorator in in the Jewish newspaper “Jüdische Rundschau“ of 17 April 1936. Source: University Library in Frankfurt on the Main, Compact Memory

Although many developments in the commercial and personal life of the Davids family still pointed towards the future, the Davids store was “Aryanised” on 28 January 1938, meaning it was (forcibly) transferred to a non-Jewish owner. It became a branch of “Artmeier HG”, a company from Solingen. In early March 1938, Georg and Walter Davids each registered a business as commercial agent for textile goods. However, they both quickly relinquished their new task and the two couples moved to Cologne at the end of March.

Notification of Artmeier acquiring the Davids store in the local newspaper “Ohligser Anzeiger” of 27 January 1938. Source: City Archive of Solingen via zeitpunkt.nrw

Departing from Rotterdam, Hilde and Karl Eichenberg had already managed to emigrate to the USA on 8 November 1938, together with their daughter Lore. Gerda and Walter Davids emigrated via the same route at the end of March 1939, after their first planned passage via ship had failed in October 1938. Their parents remained behind in Cologne by themselves. All subsequent attempts to arrange visa for them were unsuccessful.

Julius Lange was the first member of the Davids family to be deported. On 22 October 1941, he was taken from Cologne to the ghetto of Lodz. Georg and Jenny Davids were deported from Cologne to Berlin from where they were transported to Auschwitz extermination camp on 29 January 1943. Unless they had died of natural causes beforehand, all of Georg Davids’ brothers and sisters fell victim to the Shoah, as did their respective spouses. The surviving children, having managed to leave Europe behind, stayed in the dark about their parents’ fate for a long time.

Hilde Eichenberg died in Toledo, Ohio, on 25 September 1973, just three days after her husband Karl. Her brother Walter died in New York on 3 September 1996.

Seemingly untouched by the course of time, the proud house of the Davids family still exists at Ohligs’ Düsseldorfer Straße 40, diagonally across the former department store of the Steeg and Wertheim families. And still, the former residents of these houses are almost forgotten. In early 2021, however, they made a brief return to no. 40 as part of a small exhibition on the Jewish merchants of Ohligs that included biographical data, pictures and memories of their life and work. Two Stolpersteine have been laid in front of the house, one for Jenny and one for Georg Davids.

Shop window exhibition at Düsseldorfer Str. 40. Photo: Daniela Tobias