Friedrich (Fritz) Tuchmann

Fritz Tuchmann was one of three co-founders of the "Free Society," a liberal Jewish social club in Nuremberg. The other two founders were Ignaz Bing (Fritz's first cousin on his mother's side) and Josef Merzbacher. In "My Family" (1916), one of three memoirs written by Ignaz Bing, there are many fond remembrances of Fritz, who, although from "a distinguished family," was a "simple man [who] did not hanker after pomp and glitz," but loved "a hearty bowl of soup," was a connoiseur of fine wines, and had a "great sense of humour." Although he was a Jew and fully identified as such, like his cousin Ignaz and other members of the "Free Society," he enjoyed "hog roast" and other non-kosher foods. His "true passion ... was the game of Tarock" [Tarot or Tarocchi]. However, "he did not play well, although he was sometimes "incredibly lucky and won with even the worst of hands." He died suddenly and painlessly (probably from a heart attack or stroke) in 1916 at the age of 74.