{geni:about_me} translated from from Renate Hopfinger's book on Floss:

Four Jewish families were permitted to settle in Floss in 1684. These four families were the families of two sets of brothers. All of the Jews who came from Floss thereafter were descended from the original four, either directlyor by marriage. The laws limited the number of Jews permitted to live in Floss; sometimes these laws were loosely applied and other times people were forced to leave Floss because the numbers were too high.

Jews were not permitted to have last names until about 1814, after the hegemony of Napoleon, when last names became required. Before then, each man was known by his name and the name of his father. So that Joel Low (Langermann),was Joel, the son of Low. The Langermann got tacked on in 1814. Joel's son, Low (pronounced Lev or Loeb), was Low Joel. Joel's second son, Zacharias was called Zacharias Bar Langermann. Bar means "son of". We can assume thatthese were tall men, and that is why they took the name"Langermann.

In 1818, Joel Low Langermann, who dealt with Spezereien and colonial-merchandise, got the concession for the manufacture of Rosoglio* and Likor that he sold door-to-door in the countryside. The market-community had immediately agreed to his request because the they could sell him the raw materials that he needed for making spirits. He passed (ubertrug) his concession on to his son Zacharias bar Langermann, who resided in Floss as a Rosogliobrenner. The trade-concession expired with the death of his widowed daughter-in-law Rachel/Regina Langermann (nee Schwarz) in August 1865. Another son, Gabriel Langermann, was the resident Rosogliobrenner in Sulzbach.

*Rosoglio-Likor: a finer schnapps, that was commonly distilled from spirits.


translated from Renate Hopfinger doctoral thesis, "The Floss Jewish Community 1714-1944"
available at the Leo Baeck

see also the web site of the Floss Jewish Community - http://kehilalinks.jewishgen.org/floss/floss-home.html