There is no birth certificate available at the Thionville townhall, but a death certificate in Paris 20, as well as there is a birth certificate dated April 19th 1823 in Bengel (available at the Kröw townhall register) for Philipp, but no death certificate anywhere. Presumably, Louis and Philipp are the same person. One may assume that, by his father's death, he was aged 4, his mother was a widow with 6 children, including Caroline, born 1809 out of marriage whose name is only registered as Loeser. She was 18, and married Raphael Loeb, cattle trader in Wintrich with whom she had no children, and may have raised her little half brother, and further emigrated to Thionville, some 50 miles southward. The only known record in France is her death certificate on december 14th 1863 in Thionville, witnessed and signed by Louis Schemann (name maybe willingly misspelled). After the french-prussian war of 1870-71, as Lorraine was annexed to Germany, he moved to Paris 20th (neighbourhood Ménilmontant) with his family, where he died january 26th 1907.
