People

In 1832, Johanne Friederike (usually just called Friederike) Falk was born in the village of Leese, near Stolzenau on the river Weser. Her parents were Philip Michel Falk and Caroline, nee Isaac.The Falk family from Leese originally belonged to the Stolzenau Jewish community which at the time was a relatively large, close-knit group, deeply rooted in their religious traditions. Friederike"s parents left Leese behind them and moved to Hamburg, which is where she then grew up.

Around 1857, Friederike married Lüneburg merchant Gumpel Meyer. His family originally came from Rodewald, not far from Leese, but had lived in Lüneburg for some time. Friederike moved to Lüneburg to live with him. She gave birth to four children between 1858 and 1864. They lived on Lüneburg"s central square Am Sande.

After the early death of Gumpel Meyer in 1867, his widow Friederike now had to raise her children alone. She started her own business as a milliner, staying in the family place Am Sande. In 1877, she handed over the business to another widow from the Jewish community: Julie Salomon, who had previously run a linen store on Bardowicker Strasse. Maybe Friederike Meyer continued to work with her.

In 1895, almost thirty years after her husband"s death, Friederike Meyer, née Falk, died in Lüneburg and was buried in the town"s Jewish cemetery.


Sources and info (in German):

History of the Stolzenau Jewish Community (including Leese): https://jüdische-gemeinden.de/index.php/gemeinden/s-t/1881-stolzenau-weser-niedersachsen

Jewish Cemetery Leese (Zappenberg)

Name variants: Johanne Rieke