Elise Hopf

Under the "Media" tab, see:

• profile from a private family history
• photos
• family tree
• brochure from a 2016 exhibit in Nürnberg about her
• The History of the Hopf Family, Hop Merchants and Bankers in Nuremberg, by Dr. Andrea Dippel

  ---

  
  

[Referencing Hans Hopf, her husband] “[He lived], at least outwardly, in the shadow of his wife, who was without a doubt one of the most forceful personalities in the family and, indeed, among Bavarian Jewry of her time.”

“Her background is sufficiently described in the annals of her parents. Of course, I only remember her in the last decade of her life, but even then she was a dominant personality, full of energy and always active. She must have been a very beautiful woman in her youth and her marriage was undoubtedly a happy one. Apart from looking after her family and keeping a large and hospitable house, she found time to take part in all types of community activities. She was a member of endless committees and councils, as well as a leading member of the women’s suffrage movement. More than any other of Gustave Josephthal’s children did she continue his role in public life and, particularly, in Jewish public life.

Her day started at five in the morning and she was a prolific writer of letters. She kept a diary at least until the mid-twenties. It fell into my hands many years after her death. It was of such a personal nature that I destroyed it, since it cannot possibly have been intended as anything but an outlet for her own feelings. It showed, however, that she tried to live to very high standards and expected them from others. She did not hide her feelings when she was disappointed. It must be said in spite of this, that everyone who came in contact with her fell under her spell and loved and revered her.

She was open-hearted and generous with her time and money. She was buried in the same grave as her husband in the old Jewish cemetery in Nürnberg. The grave is still intact.”

From a private family history by her grandson, Peter Paul Hopf (1915-1998)

"In the foyer of the Stadtarchiv in Nuremberg, an interesting exhibition is to be seen from 16 January to 24 April: Elise Hopf (1865 -1936) and the bourgeois women movement in Nuremberg.

The life and work of one of the most active "makers" in the Nuremberg women's movement from 1893 to 1933 is reconstructed from files of the Stadtarchiv.

In the local group of the General German Women's Association (ADF) Elise Hopf participated in the conceptual and theoretical development of the concerns of women's movement. In the Frauenwohlung in Nuremberg, Germany, with its diverse educational offerings and the Wuechnerinnenheim for women of all levels, including single mothers, it was instrumental in the development of welfare services in Nuremberg.

Her biography is told in five chapters: Daughter from a Good Home, Wife of the Prosperous Hops Dealer Kommerzienrat Hans Hopf, Civilian Women's Rights, Patriotic and Socially Involved Citizen, German Jewess. Approaches of the bourgeois women's movement are related to those of the proletarian movement in Nuremberg.

The controversies, as well as points of contact in Nuremberg would be an exciting field for further research."