Austerlitz is the name of a Jewish family. As is the case with all names derived from places, the surname "Austerlitz" does not necessarily signify that all the persons so named belong to one family. The name originated in Austerlitz (Slavkov), Moravia. It denotes that an ancestor of the person came from that place or was for some time a resident there. In the tombstone inscriptions of the old cemetery at

Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...

this name occurs after 1620. The name is also found in Prague among those Jews banished from Vienna in 1670, and in other localities in

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

and

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

. Of the members of this family known in literature and communal life, the following may be mentioned: *Aaron b. Meïr Austerlitz, secretary to the

rabbi A rabbi (; ) is a spiritual leader or religious teacher in Judaism. One becomes a rabbi by being ordained by another rabbi—known as ''semikha''—following a course of study of Jewish history and texts such as the Talmud. The basic form of t ...

nate of Berlin, 1775. *Baruch b. Solomon Austerlitz, rabbi in

Cologne Cologne ( ; ; ) is the largest city of the States of Germany, German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with nearly 1.1 million inhabitants in the city pr ...

and preacher at Prague at the beginning of the eighteenth century; grandson of Baruch, an exile from Vienna. He was son-in-law of Samuel Tausk, or Taussig, primator (president of the congregation) of Prague. He wrote approbations (''haskamot'') to an edition of the ''

Midrash ''Midrash'' (;"midrash"
. ''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary''. ; or ''midrashot' ...

Rabba'' printed at Frankfort-on-the-Oder, 1705, and to the '' 'Arukh ha-Ḳaẓer'', Prague, 1707. One of his sermons was published in Prague, 1713. *Hirschel Austerlitz, a communal leader exiled from Vienna in 1670. In 1675 he, together with Hirz Coma, Max Schlesinger, Solomon Wolf, and Solomon Auspitz, signed a petition to Emperor Leopold I, praying that the Jews might be allowed to resettle in Vienna. *Mayer Austerlitz, rabbi in Eperies, Hungary; was one of Hildesheimer's earliest pupils. *Moses b. Joseph Austerlitz, a scholar and promoter of Jewish learning; lived in Vienna, but when the Jews were expelled from that city and from

Lower Austria Lower Austria ( , , abbreviated LA or NÖ) is one of the nine states of Austria, located in the northeastern corner of the country. Major cities are Amstetten, Lower Austria, Amstetten, Krems an der Donau, Wiener Neustadt and Sankt Pölten, which ...

(1669), he removed to

Nikolsburg Mikulov (; ) is a town in Břeclav District in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 7,600 inhabitants. From the 16th to the 19th century, it was the cultural centre of the Jewish community of Moravia. The historic centr ...

, Moravia. His house was the resort of scholars, especially after the fire of Prague in 1689. *Samuel b. Simon Austerlitz, rabbi in

Miskolc Miskolc ( , ; ; Czech language, Czech and ; ; ; ) is a city in northeastern Hungary, known for its heavy industry. With a population of 161,265 as of 1 January 2014, Miskolc is the List of cities and towns in Hungary#Largest cities in Hungary, ...

, Hungary. He was born 1870 in Vienna, studied in

Pressburg Bratislava (German: ''Pressburg'', Hungarian: ''Pozsony'') is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the Slovakia, Slovak Republic and the fourth largest of all List of cities and towns on the river Danube, cities on the river Danube. ...

under Rabbi Simcha Bunim Sofer and was until 1896 rabbi of the temple club "Am Volkert", which later established "

Pazmanitentempel The Pazmanitentempel, also known as the Jubiläumstempel (), was a Jewish synagogue, located at Pazmanitengasse 6, Leopoldstadt, in the 2nd district of Vienna, Austria. Completed in 1913, the synagogue was destroyed on ''Kristallnacht'' in 1938. ...

" in Vienna's second district Leopoldstadt. After rabbinical positions in

Pápa Pápa is a historical town in Veszprém county, Hungary, located close to the northern edge of the Bakony Hills, and noted for its baroque architecture. With its 28,549 inhabitants (2024), it is the cultural, economic and tourism centre of the r ...

and Somorja, he was appointed 1914 chief rabbi of Miskolc and where he remained till his death in 1938. He was married to the daughter of Rabbi Moshe Aryeh Roth, chief rabbi of Pápa.Bibliography: Kaufmann, ''Die Letzte Vertreibung der Juden aus Wien'', Vienna, 1889;

Steinschneider Moritz Steinschneider (; 30 March 1816 – 24 January 1907) was a Moravian bibliographer and Orientalist, and an important figure in Jewish studies and Jewish history. He is credited as having invented the term ''antisemitism.'' Education Mo ...

, ''Cat. Bodl.'' col. 772; Hock, ''Die Familien Prag's'', ed. D. Kaufmann, Presburg, 1892. * Friedrich Emanuel Austerlitz, later known as Frederic "Fritz" Austerlitz, born September 8, 1868, in

Linz Linz (Pronunciation: , ; ) is the capital of Upper Austria and List of cities and towns in Austria, third-largest city in Austria. Located on the river Danube, the city is in the far north of Austria, south of the border with the Czech Repub ...

, Austria, to Jewish parents who had converted to

Roman Catholicism The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

. He emigrated to the United States. On May 10, 1899, at

Omaha, Nebraska Omaha ( ) is the List of cities in Nebraska, most populous city in the U.S. state of Nebraska. It is located in the Midwestern United States along the Missouri River, about north of the mouth of the Platte River. The nation's List of United S ...

, was born his son Fred Austerlitz - who would later change his name and get world-wide fame as the dancer

Fred Astaire Fred Astaire (born Frederick Austerlitz, May 10, 1899 – June 22, 1987) was an American dancer, actor, singer, musician, choreographer, and presenter, whose career in stage, film, and television spanned 76 years. He is widely regarded as the "g ...

References

Links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Austerlitz Jewish families People from Moravia Czech Jews Austrian Jews