People

Gerson (Gershon) David Lindenberg was born in Vilsen in 1808, the son of David Abraham Lindenberg and his wife Clara, née Meyer. He lived in Vilsen as a linen merchant. In the 1830s, he married Rosa Salomon from Winsen an der Luhe.

Together they had five children, who were born in Vilsen between 1836 and 1849. Their first son Salomon stayed in Vilsen, their second son David moved to Ebstorf. The other three children - Henriette, Sophie and Adolf - all married into the extended Heinemann family and settled in Lüneburg.

As a result, Gerson David and Rosa Lindenberg also moved to Lüneburg in old age, where their children could look after them. It seems their son Ferdinand accompanied them.

In 1889, Gerson David Lindenberg died in Lüneburg from pneumonia. His widow Rosa survived him by ten years. They were both buried in the town"s Jewish cemetery. On Gerson David"s gravestone, it says in Hebrew: "Here lies buried, righteous and gentle, the Torah scholar, Mr. Gershon, son of Mr. David. His soul departed in purity."

The two Lindenberg gravestones are among the few that still exist in Lüneburg today, following the destruction and complete leveling of the Jewish cemetery during the Nazi era. Together with several other gravestones, their stones were built into the foundations of a makeshift home erected in 1944. When this makeshift home was demolished in 1967, the stones came to light. It was several years before the gravestones were re-erected in the early 1970s, albeit not in their original location and only as fragments.

Sources and info:

Gravestone for Gerson David Lindenberg, epidat - Forschungsplattform jüdische Grabsteinepigraphik, Lüneburg, lbg-3

Stumbling Stones Bruchhausen-Vilsen - Lindenberg family history

Name variants: Gershon Gerschon