1869 – 1935, USA
Maximilian, son of Rabbi Isak and Eva Frankl and was born in Vienna in June 1869. The family moved back to Louny in Bohemia quite soon after he was born because we know his brother Alois was born there in June 1870. We don’t know much about his childhood or early adult life. Life for young Jewish adults in the 1890s was quite difficult as the rise of Czech nationalism demanding concessions from their German rulers in Vienna made life quite difficult for educated Jews who generally spoke German. They were caught between the Czech independence seekers and the Austrian government. Jewish businesses were ostracised and ignored and opportunities to study became difficult. Maximilian married Theresa Rosalie Steinreich and in 1899 their daughter Anna was born in January 1899 in Rakovnik in Bohemia. It seems that they immediately moved to the USA. Family history relates that they went to New York because he wanted to become a Reform Rabbi. Unfortunately he discovered that the fees at Hebrew Union College were substantial and with the arrival of their second child, Adolph in November 1900, they probably couldn’t afford the fees, so he became a baker and they lived and worked in an area of Manhattan known as the Devil’s Kitchen. That district is traditionally considered to be bordered by 34th Street to the south, 59th Street to the north, Eighth Avenue to the east, and the Hudson River to the west. Another daughter Emma arrived in 1902, but unfortunately died aged 7 in 1909. They stayed living in New York but we don’t know much about the rest of their married life. Maximilian died in 1935 and Theresa in 1941. Please read the stories of Anna and Adolph on their pages.
