People

Descendants of Aaron and Rieke Behr, née Levy, repeatedly appeared as merchants in Lüneburg in the late 19th century. The Behr family played an important role in the town - even though Rieke and Aaron themselves only lived in Lüneburg for a good 15 years.

Rieke Levy (later confusingly referred to as Rieke Oss after her father changed his name) was born in Wunstorf in 1827, the daughter of Levy Simon Oss and Rachel née Lappmann. Her husband Aaron Behr was born in Großenkneten in 1828, the son of Philip Behr and his wife Mindel Aaron.

When the couple got married on 17 February 1853 in Winschoten in the Netherlands, they already had two sons. These sons were recognized as joint children on the birth certificate.  So presumably, this civil marriage had been preceded by a religious Jewish marriage for some time.

The birthplaces of their nine children, who were born between 1850 and 1871, indicate that Aaron Behr was on the road for a long time as a travelling merchant in northwest Germany - and that Rieke naturally moved with him, constantly getting used to new places: Wanna/Amt Otterndorf, Hoya, Sulingen, Vilsen, Bremervörde, Neustadt am Rübenberge, Scharmbeck. The family stayed in Scharmbeck from about 1870 to 1885.

Rieke and Aaron Behr then moved to Lüneburg together with their younger children, where their three sons Philipp, Nathan and Meyer were already living with their wives Jeanette, Auguste and Friederike, all née Marcus. Aaron Behr was now listed in the Lüneburg address book as a merchant, and he and his wife ran a clothes and shoe shop at Lüner Straße 2. The family lived at Im Wendischen Dorfe 29.

Aaron Behr died in Lüneburg in 1903 and was buried in the Jewish cemetery. His widow Rieke moved to Hamburg after his death, presumably to live with one of her children. She died in 1906 and was also buried in the Lüneburg cemetery.

Sources and info:

Winschoten marriage certificate for Aaron and Rieke Behr

Name variants: Riecke Rika Friederike Levi Levie Os Ohs Bähr