ORIGINAL 1911 BIRTH CERTIFICATE OF A GIRL IN VIENNA,
DAUGHTER OF A WEALTHY JEWISH INDUSTRIALIST AND SISTER OF ALICE,
THE JEWISH WOMAN WHO WOULD BECOME
THE DAUGHTER-IN-LAW OF COMPOSER RICHARD STRAUSS
This beautiful antique birth certificate was part of a lot we bought in an antique store in Vienna, Austria over a decade ago. When it resurfaced recently we had no idea what a fascinating story would develop when doing some background research!
The Israelitische Kultusgemeinde was an organization that kept official records for the huge Jewish minority in Vienna and it still exists today. The additions on this 8-⅛ x 13-¼ inch Geburts-Zeugnis were certified by Michael Brösler, the Matrikelführer or Records Registrar in charge at the Israelitische Kultusgemeinde. (Brösler died in Vienna in 1927, his wife Rosalie was deported to the Jewish ghetto at Theresienstadt in July 1942 and died at the concentration camp at Treblinka later that year.)
We discovered on the internet that Margarethe Grab’s father, Emmanuel Grab was a wealthy Jewish industrialist, the owner of several weaving mills in Bohemia (born 28 July 1868 in Prague, Austro-Hungarian Empire, and died 27 June 1929 in Austria). The mother of Margarethe Grab mentioned on her birth certificate was the second wife of Emmanuel Grab and Marie Henriette “Mitzi” Grab who was born in Reichenberg, Austro-Hungarian Empire, now Liberec in the Czech Republic. She died on 4 September 1954 in Garmisch-Partenkirchen in Germany.
Emanuel Grab was made a nobleman by Kaiser Franz Joseph I on 8 March 1915, and his noble name officially became Ritter Grab von Hermannswörth. After the end of World War I and the end of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and its Hapsburg rule, Austria abolished all titles of nobility, so Emmanuel had to drop the Ritter title and changed his name to Emmanuel Grab-Hermannswörth.
Margarethe Grab was the third child of Emmanuel and “Mitzi” Grab. When she was born on 19 May 1911 she had an older brother Paul Friedrich Grab (a very talented pIanist who died as a result of an illness at age 19 in 1924) and an older sister, Alice, who in January 1924 married Dr. Franz Strauss, the son of famous composer Richard Strauss! Alice became Richard Strauss’ secretary and executor of his estate after his death in Garmisch-Partenkirchen in September 1949.
Through the composer’s influence and contacts (Richard Strauss was the first President of the Nazi RKK Chamber of Music from 15 November 1933 through July 1935 and composed the Olympische Hymne for the Olympic Games of 1936 in Berlin), Alice Strauss and her two half-Jewish sons managed to survive World War II. Composer Richard Strauss also used his influence to get “Mitzi”, the Jewish mother of Alice and Margarethe out of Nazi Germany after the Anschluß. She spent the war in Lucerne, Switzerland. However, he was unable to secure the release of Mitzi’s Jewish mother, Pauline Neumann, from the Jewish ghetto at Theresienstadt. Pauline Neumann, and many other relatives of Alice and Margarethe Grab died in Nazi concentration camps.
This historic Geburts-Zeugnis or birth certificate has several important handwritten additions regarding the naming of Emmanuel Grab as a nobleman by the Austro-Hungarian Emperor in 1915, and the resulting name change of the family from Grab to Grab von Hermannswörth. The handwritten addition on the front side is dated 23 April 1919 and the one on the back is dated 6 December 1921 when the family name was officially changed to Grab-Hermannswörth after noble titles were abolished in Austria at the end of World War I. We also discovered on the internet that Margarethe Grab-Hermannswörth married a Vienna-born chemist, Dr. Otto Vetter on 17 January 1932 in Vienna. They had a son and two daughters, all three born in Genoa, Italy. Dr. Otto Vetter died in Genoa on 22 June 1987 and Margarethe Elisabeth Marie Vetter (née Grab) also died in Genoa, on 4 May 2008.
The fascinating but complicated genealogical story of the Grab-Hermannswörth family written above provides the most important historical aspects connected with the background of this rare Austro-Hungarian birth certificate of Margarethe Grab-Hermannswörth, but leaves any potential buyer with the opportunity to round out the rest of the story with information available on the internet.
Our photos show the actual 1911 Viennese Israelitische Kultusgemeinde birth certificate that we are offering for sale. It is 100% original with two small punch holes along the upper left edge. It was folded twice a long time ago and has yellowed along the edges during the past century. We have stored it flat and away from light since we purchased it in Vienna about 30 or so years ago.
Have a look at other historical collectibles in our eBay store!
CONDITION: exactly as shown, no odor.
QUESTIONS: we do not accept returns so if you have any questions about this 100+ year old birth certificate , be sure to ask before you click the Buy It Now button, NOT after you have purchased the item. You are responsible for reading the full item description, including shipping costs and accepted payment methods.
SHIPPING: this item will be shipped in a sturdy package and we are happy to combine shipping of multiple purchases. We do not charge a handling fee and will refund overpayment of postage as soon as a combined order has been shipped.
FOREIGN BUYERS: we ship to most foreign countries at additional cost, however all foreign customers are responsible for any VAT payments, import duties and customs clearing fees. International buyers are required to submit their telephone number along with their shipping address.
DELIVERY: we photograph every parcel we ship by USPS or by the public carrier specified by the buyer. We e-mail that photo and any applicable tracking number to the buyer as proof of mailing or shipping. Delivery responsibility is then in the hands of the USPS or of any other public carrier selected by the buyer, and does not involve Rapidapolis in any way. Communications about, and responsibility for the delivery to the buyer must be between the buyer and the public carrier, and can not include Rapidapolis on eBay.
RETURNS: because of eBay’s approach to returns nowadays we no longer represent anything as being suitable for use for any specific purpose. We sell everything as a surplus curio or relic “as is-where is”, with no implied or other warranties of any kind given, and which may or may not be useful for its original or intended purpose. What you see is what we have photographed and what we will ship.
RAPIDAPOLIS has a long history of selling on eBay since 1999, and of customer satisfaction with the items we sell and with our shipping. We encourage buyers to examine our listings carefully, review our many thousands of feedbacks and buy with confidence
