Wilhelm Salomon FREUND was from Posen Province.  He was born in the little town of Schmiegel (now Smigel) in 1831.  In the mid 1830s, the family moved to Breslau. In 1851, he became a lawyer.  I think I determined that he received a degree, presumably a J.D., from the University of Breslau.  In 1901 he received an honorary doctorate degree from the University of Breslau.  His law practice seems to have been quite successful, as was his father's wool business in Breslau.  At some point, he became a city council member, and then president of the city council, a position he may have held for a couple decades.  In 1901, he was made an honorary citizen of the City of Breslau. 

He also held seats in regional and national legislatures. From Wikipedia:  "He served as a member of the Prussian House of Deputies from 1876–79 and a member of the Reichstag from 1879–81."

In 1867, he married (the original) Clara IMMERWAHR (1845-1914) (aunt of Clara HABER geb. IMMERWAHR (1870-1915)).  They had a daughter and three sons.  I believe he was also president of the Breslau Jewish community at one time.  He died in 1915.  

When Maciej Lagiewski researched and began to restore the Lohestrasse Jewish cemetery, he knew that Wilhelm Salomon FREUND was buried there, but he could not locate the gravestone.  In 1999, I found a photograph of the gravestone among family papers that my mother had received from her aunt.  I sent the photo to Lagiewski and he was able to identify the location along the outer wall of the cemetery.  In January 2002, I received photographs from Lagiewski of the newly restored gravestone.  He had a new metal plaque made with the original text (though a different style).  The grave now seems to be on the regular circuit of visitors in the cemetery, based on the stones and candles, we find there when we visit.

There is a sketch of Wilhelm Salomon FREUND by the well-known Breslau artist Eugen SPIRO, and a full-size portrait that was lost in the War (also by SPIRO). 

There are photos from when the Kaiser visited Breslau and also when the Jahrhunderthalle was dedicated in 1913.  I think Wilhelm Salomon FREUND can be found in both of those photographs.

Wilhelm Salomon FREUND's mother's family was from Posen (city).  She was Rosalie ZUELZ (1800-1849), daughter of R. Eleaser (Lazarus) ZUELZ (d.1827), Dajan in Posen, and Brainchen (Bertha) LATZ (ca.1776-1862).  Brainchen's father was the wealthy Salomon Benjamin LATZ (ca.1749-1829) of Posen (see, http://www.math.rutgers.edu/~zeilberg/family/Latz_Pics/sl.html).  Salomon Benjamin LATZ was apparently an ally of R. Akiba EGER of Posen.  He left money in his will for R. EGER to use to build a hospital in Posen.  I believe it is still there.

The Salomon in Wilhelm Salomon FREUND's name seems to come from his great grandfather Salomon Benjamin LATZ.

Stephen Falk

22 December 2015

Wilhelm Salomon Freund

by Stephen Falk

Point Roberts, WA, USA

Eugen SPIRO’s sketch of my great grandfather Wilhelm Salomon FREUND

The original gravestone plaque for Wilhelm Salomon FREUND and Clara IMMERWAHR, and a photo of how the restored grave site looks. The old image would be from the 1930s, most likely taken by Stephen’s mother's aunt, Elisabeth (Doe) FREUND geb. FREUND (1898-1982).