People

Arnold Jacobson was born in 1859 in Malchow, Mecklenburg, where he also grew up. He was the son of Salomon and Marianne Jacobson, née Friedheim. The Jacobson merchant family had been living in Malchow since at least the 1760s and was one of the important families of Malchow"s Jewish community.

As a young merchant, Arnold Jacobson came to Lüneburg around 1879, presumably to work in the Heinemann family"s textile business. In 1886, Arnold Jacobson married Klara Heinemann in Lüneburg, who was the eighth child of Marcus and Henriette Heinemann.

Between 1887 and 1898, Arnold and Klara Jacobson had four sons and a daughter. At the same time, the couple built up their own business, initially with a "linen and fashion shop" at Große Bäckerstraße 33 (i.e. Am Markt/corner of Brodbänken), then much larger with the "Arnold Jacobson bedding, linen and trousseau store" diagonally opposite in the house at Am Markt/corner of Grosse Bäckerstraße. This house had been owned by Jewish families since the late 18th century. Arnold Jacobsohn bought it from Bernhard Behrens or his widow Emma Behrens in the 1890s.

Within Lüneburg, Arnold Jacobson and his family moved frequently: for a few years, they lived above their store on Am Markt, then on Ilmenaustraße, and finally together with the family of their son Henry Jacobson on Gartenstraße (now Hindenburgstraße). The Jacobson children were in close contact with their various Lüneburg cousins from the Heinemann, Jacobsohn and Lindenberg families.

As young adults, they almost all left Lüneburg behind: eldest son Ernst Jacobson studied medicine and settled as a doctor in Altona. Daughter Anna studied literature, emigrated to the USA in 1924 and later became a professor of German studies there. Son Richard was killed in the First World War. The youngest son Walter studied law and became a lawyer in Hamburg. Only son Henry became a businessman, stayed in Lüneburg and joined his parents" business.

In 1930, Henry Jacobson took over the flourishing textile business and converted it into the small price store "Gubi". Arnold Jacobson died in February 1933 and was buried in the Jewish cemetery in Lüneburg. His widow Klara continued to work and live with her son and his family in Lüneburg.


Sources and info (in German):

Parents" graves on Malchow Jewish Cemetery:
https://de.findagrave.com/memorial/235974632/salomon-moses-jacobson
https://de.findagrave.com/memorial/235105965/marianne-jacobson

http://www.juden-in-mecklenburg.de/Orte/Malchow

https://www.jüdische-gemeinden.de/index.php/gemeinden/m-o/1259-malchow-mecklenburg-vorpommern

https://alemannia-judaica.de/malchow_friedhof.htm#Zur%20Geschichte%20der%20j%C3%BCdischen%20Gemeinde