The Obermayers

The story of a family over many generations is put into an historical context. The first three chapters deal with very different communities in Germany: Creglingen, a rural community in Baden-Wuerttemberg; Fuerth, a city adjacent to Nuremberg which had a large Jewish population and important institutions; and Augsburg, where Jews, from 1438 until 1803, could not reside but lived in its suburb, Kriegshaber. The book interweaves the detail of the family's life with an explanation of the status and experience of Jews in Germany over the centuries, as well as the histories of the cities and towns from which the various branches of the family originated.

Part II describes how the participation by family members in American professional, political, community, economic, philanthropic and family life is intertwined with the nature and locations where family members lived. It initially traces Hermann Obermayer's settling as an immigrant in Virginia, fighting for the Confederacy, living in frontier New Mexico, as a store owner in rural Illinois, and finally in business in Philadelphia. It also covers interesting experiences and travails of family members who lived in and near New York, Philadelphia, Washington, and Boston. This is based primarily on personal family records, many of which have been preserved for as long as 150 years.