| HOME Go to  Homepage
GENERAL |
| Welcome
to the Steinschneider Home Page
(A website dedicated to unraveling the mysteries of our genealogy.) Family News in 2001: 11/03/2001 A new line of Steinschneiders has been found in Canada. Apparently, these relatives are connected to the Steinschneiders of Ohio, who in turn, are also connected to the Steinschneiders in Texas. Photos of Aaron Joseph Steinschneider, patriarch of the Canadian clan, can be found here. Our thanks go out to Irwin Michael for contacting us and making us aware of the Canadian Steinschneiders. Welcome to the family. 09/28/2001 The introduction to The Vampires of Superstition (Vampyre Des Aberglaubens) has been posted here. 09/15/2001 Thanks to Tatjana Steinschneider, we have now added dozens of new members to the Russian Steinschneider tree, which can be found here. 09/06/2001 A waterfall of new Steinschneider information has just recently become available: First, we have just received a comprehensive genealogy of the Russian Steinschneiders. In the process, we have reunited Ilia Steinschneider with a distant cousin, Tatjana Steinschneider. This new genealogy will be posted very shortly here. Second, thanks to SL Higginbottom, we have discovered a new line of Steinschneiders with a variant spelling. As information becomes available, we will post it. Third, thanks to Robert Hanscom, we have found some incredible information that widens and extends the early Steinschneider line in Prostejov. As more of this data becomes available, it will be posted to the Arron Steinschneider outline and elsewhere. Fourth, Mel Gordon's book on Hanussen (b. Hermann Steinschneider), which had been delayed while Gordon compiled additional research materials, will be released in October. Finally, the new Werner Herzog movie “Invincible”, which tells the story of Siegmund "Zishe" Breitbart, the Jewish strongman, and also stars Tim Roth (Plant of the Apes, Musketeer, Pulp Fiction) as Hanussen, will be released to theaters in Spring 2002. 09/04/2001 Thanks again to cousin Erich Lewitus, the tombs of unclassified Steinschneiders Daniel and Antonie can now be found here. 09/03/2001 Pictures taken by cousin Erich Lewitus of Fritz Steinschneider's tomb in Prague can be found here. Today we were contacted by Tatjana Steinschneider who currently lives in Israel. Welcome to the family Tatjana. We will do everything in our power to help you in your quest to discover your family history. 05/22/2001 Photos of uncle Hermann's (Erik Jan Hanussen's) grave outside of Berlin have been graciously submitted by cousin Hans-Joachim Goldschmidt. They can be viewed here. 04/29/2001 Added a new family outline for a relationship that was recently discovered (based on existing material) between several individuals. The connections were confirmed when we found Dr. Jakob Steinschneider's grave during our visit with Helga and Peter Köpplinger to the Vienna Central Cemetery in March. The new outline report can be found here. Based on some recent research, we are becoming increasingly convinced that all Steinschneider lines are probably related. Unlike many Jewish family names, it appears that the Steinschneider appellate was adopted before the 16th century. This early adoption would have allowed plenty of time for the surname to spread to the locations we find represented on this website. In addition, there is no indication that any family member (in recent history) ever engaged in the occupation of Steinschneider (stone cutter). This lends credence to the idea that the name was taken or bestowed at an extremely early date; very possibly in the late 15th century, somewhere in Germany. Furthermore, there is no record of a Steinschneider descending from a patronymic line. So far, we have only found specific references to the Steinschneider last name (as far back as 1526) and no information on father-to-son descendencies (e.g., Abraham, son of Jacob, son of Moses, etc.). Finally, there is no evidence that the Steinschneider name has ever been anything but a Jewish last name (until the 20th century). This would also increase the probability that all the Steinschneider families are related. All Steinschneiders that have ever been found during the course of our research have been of Jewish heritage. Although the spontaneous appearance of the Steinschneider name in several locations at the same time is still a possibility, the likelihood continues to decrease. Our research would be greatly simplified if it could be proven conclusively that all Steinschneiders are related. Wouldn't that be grand! 04/19/2001 Uncaptioned photos of our recent trip to Europe have been posted here. Captions to accompany the pictures will be added as time permits. Of particular interest to the Steinschneider family is the trip to Vienna and Merano, where the author of this site and his wife met Erika Steinschneider Fuchs (the daughter of Erik Jan Hanussen) and Helga Köpplinger for the first time. 04/10/2001 Added photos of Hermann Steinschneider's birth records from the IKG (Iraelitische Kultusgemeinde Wien--Vienna Jewish Community Center). Although this information was provided by Helga Köpplinger many months ago, we have finally taken the time to post the information. 03/29/2001 New pictures of Phil and Tania Steinschneider's trip to see Erika Steinschneider Fuchs in Meran, Italy and Peter and Helga Köpplinger in Vienna, Austria have been posted to the Family Pictures page. Photos of Hugo Steinschneider's grave have been added to Hugo's new information page. 03/23/2001 Thanks to the wonderful hospitality of aunt Erika Steinschneider and cousins Peter and Helga Köpplinger, we had an incredible time in Meran and Vienna. Pictures of our trip will be posted shortly. My immense personal gratitude goes out to Peter and Helga Köpplinger for helping me find the grave of my great-grandfather Hugo Steinschneider in the Vienna central cemetery. Peter, thank you for being the person who found the grave after so much searching. Also, Helga helped me conclusively identify my great-grandmother, find a list of her belongings in 1938, the date of her deportation to Theresienstadt, and the date of her death at the camp. Thank you cousin Helga. Finally, thank you Peter and Helga for putting us up in your home in Vienna for four days and showing us all around town. Meeting family on the Internet isn't that bad, is it? 03/02/2001 Added a new "Recommended Reading" section here. 02/22/2001 Thanks to the sharp and ever-watchful eye of cousin SL Higginbottom, we have discovered the tomb of Daniel Steinschneider (also known as Daniel Prostitz) at the online Chater Sofer Mausoleum. A reference to this Daniel Steinschneider, or his son, can be found on the list of members of the Chevra Kadisha in Bratislava (Pressburg) (1697-1922). It was one of these Daniels who was the recipient of a letter written by Moritz Steinschneider that is in our archives. References to Steinschneider Rabbis of Pressburg are also made in the inaccurate genealogy documented in Wilfried Kugel's book Hanussen. |