An old, widely ramified family counting many rabbis among its members, who were and are still found in Italy, Poland, Germany, Alsace, and also in America.

It derived its name from the locality of Katzenelnbogen in the Prussian province of Hesse-Nassau.

In 1312 Count Diether of Katzenelnbogen received permission from Emperor Henry VII. to keep twelve Jews at Katzenelnbogen; and Ludwig the Bavarian in 1330 permitted Count Wilhelm and his heirs to keep twenty-four Jews in their dominions (Böhmer, "Regesten," No. 501; Wiener, "Regesten," pp. 23, 33).