Bertha Kornmehl Gets Married, Part 2

This is Day 7 of the Family History Writing Challenge. One week down, three to go, lord help me. 

As I continue my search for information on my great aunt and uncle, Bertha and Adolf Schweitzer, here’s a wrap up of what I’ve discovered so far.

Marriage No. 1

Bertha Kornmehl became Bertha Singer on March 18, 1894; she was divorced from Samuel Singer on December 28, 1896. According to my contact at the IKG, divorce documents aren’t held at the Jewish Community Archive, but divorce was not uncommon among Jews in the 19th century. I may try to find the divorce papers at the Vienna Municipal Archive — or not.

I’m still not entirely sure who Samuel Singer was, but the couple did not have any children so none of Samuel’s relatives are blood relations of mine. 

Marriage No. 2

Here’s the official document:

And here’s the information I gleaned from it — with the help of a transcription under the bridegroom column:

V: Moses Schweitzer M: Mindel geb: Reiter Der Zuname des hier als Bräutigam Verzeichneten hat richtig Reiter (nicht Schweitzer) zu lauten. Er ist ein unehel. Sohn der Mindel Reiter, (nicht ein Sohn des Moses Schweitzer und der Mindel geb. Reiter. Der Bürgermeister als Landeshauptmann hat dem hier als Bräutigam Verzeichneten die Änderung des Vor- und Zunamens Abraham Reiter in Adolf Schweizer bewilligt. Verfügung des Magistrates Wien vom 20.XII.1927, Z:50/II/7307/12/1927 *für tot erklärt Bg f ZRS 48T644/57-15, BNr. 1912/58

On November 13, 1899, Bertha Kornmehl Singer married Adolf Schweitzer. Only his name was not originally Schweitzer because his mother’s husband, Moses Schweitzer, was not his father, and therefore he used the name of his mother, Mindel Reiter. One translation says he is illegitimate. 

On December 29, 1927, Abraham Reiter was granted permission to change his name to Adolf Schweitzer. I’m not sure what happened in 1927 to allow that change; perhaps Moses Schweizer died. I’ll have to locate him to find out. 

But the following information about the bridegroom are not under dispute.

• He was born in Tarnopol on September 3, 1875.
• He was not previously married.

And he was — wait for it — a butcher. The witnesses to the wedding were Martin Kornmehl and Siegmund Kornmehl, both of them butchers (Siegmund the one for whom this blog is named). 

And so Bertha/Beila Kornmehl Singer became Bertha/Beila Kornmehl Singer Reiter Schweitzer/Schweizer. And married into the family business.