See as well:

• The Bamberger Family of Muschenheim
• The Family of Julius & Irene (née Mayer) Bamberger
• The Family of Johanna Mayer, née Krämer
• The Family of Rosa Bamberger, née Borngässer

Historical postcard of Wohnbach , ca 1898

We can locate the family of Heyum (Heinemann) and Jette Meyer/Mayer firmly in Wohnbach where a Jewish community had existed since the beginning of the 17th century. Obbornhofen and Bellersheim, two neighbouring small villages with fewer numbers of Jews,  formed one Jewish community with Wohnbach. The synagogue and cemetery for the Jewish communities of the three villages were located in Obbornhofen. In 1888, the Jewish community of Wohnbach was allowed to hold religious instruction for Jewish children in the town hall. 

Hugo Mayer, was born on 16 March 1876 in Wohnbach, which had just over 600 residents in the year of his birth; fewer than 35 were Jews. By 1905, seven Jewish families lived in Wohnbach; two were fruit traders, three were grocers and one was horse trader. One of these families was that of Hugo and Johanna (née Krämer) Mayer. Their marriage certificate identified Hugo Mayer as a “Handelsmann/Trader” but did not specify the type of trade.

Hugo and Johanna had married on 26 November 1902 in Nieder Weisel, a town about 13 km to the west of Wohnbach. Johanna was born there in 1878; with her marriage, she moved to Wohnbach. On 28 September 1903, Hugo’s and Johanna’s first child, Irene, was born. A second daughter, Paula, was born in 1907.

In 1910 there were no more Jews living in Wohnbach than there had been when Hugo was born and, with migration from the village to larger urban centres, the number of Jewish residents was in steady decline. By 1925, only 17 Jews lived in Wohnbach. Irene Mayer was one of the out-migrants when she married Julius Bamberger in 1926 and moved to live with him in Lich.

Two deaths in 1931 ended the presence of the Heyum & Jette (née Strauss) Mayer family in Wohnbach ended: Hugo, 54 years old, died on 30 January 1931. (His grandson, Hugo Bamberger, born in May 1932, was named in his memory) Two months later, on 11 April 1931, Paula Mayer, 25 years old, died. Hugo was buried in the Obbornhofen Jewish cemetery, Paula in the Lich Jewish cemetery.

On 14 September 1932, Johanna Mayer, age 54, moved from Wohnbach to Lich to live with Irene and Julius. The outline of the family of Heyum (Heinemann) and Jette (née Strauss) Meyer/Mayer suggests that her departure signalled the last of this branch of the Mayer family in Wohnbach.

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The spelling of Hugo’s surname poses a challenge: In the Bamberger family photo album, he appears as “Hugo Meyer.” Yet the inscription on Hugo’s gravestone in the Obbornhofen Jewish cemetery spells his name as “Mayer” as do the gravestones  of his father, David, and mother Karoline.  Most written records also spell it as Mayer, albeit with an umlaut on the “y” — Maÿer — but the handwriting in documents such as his birth certificate makes it difficult to distinguish between an “a” and an “e”!

While the spelling of the surname may have wobbled back and forth between Meyer & Mayer — and sometimes “Meier” — we can trace the ancestors of Hugo Mayer back to his great-grandfather “Meschullam Zwi” whose given names in the days before Jews had surnames appear in the gravestone inscription of his son, Heyum (Heinemann) Meyer.

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Descendants List of Heyum (Heinemann) MEYER and Jette (née STRAUß) MAYER
The list below spells surnames as either Meyer or Mayer as recorded in Jewish cemetery gravestones or in birth, marriage, and/or death certificates. The default surname has been  “Mayer”.

• Heyum Heinemann MEYER, b. 1800 [Wohnbach/HE?], d. 27 May 1860 Wohnbach/HE, buried in Obbornhofen Jewish cemetery
• └ ∞ Jette STRAUß, b. 1804 Geis-Nidda/HE, d. 06 Jan 1875 Wohnbach/HE, buried in Obbornhofen Jewish cemetery
  • 1. Mayer (Moses?) MEYER, b. 04 Sep 1825 Wohnbach/HE, d. 22 Feb 1898 Wohnbach/HE
  • 1. Baruch MAYER , b. 27 Sep 1827 Wohnbach/HE, d. 14 Oct 1905 Obbornhofen/HE, buried in Hungen Jewish cemetery (name of Mayer)
  • └ ∞ Adelheid SCHEUER, b. 03 May 1829, d. 24 Nov 1911, buried in Hungen Jewish cemetery (name of Mayer) 
    • 2. Jetta MAYER, b. 1859, d. 1859
    • 2. Leopold MAYER, b. 1860, d. 1937
    • └ ∞ Ida FROHMANN, b. 1862, d. 1919
    • └ ∞ Berta BLOCH, b. 1872
    • 2. Johanna MAYER, b. 1863
  • 1. Isaak MEYER, b. 1829 Wohnbach/HE
  • 1. Amalie Malchen MEYER, b. 1832 Wohnbach/HE, d. 14 Jul 1913 Oberseemen/HE
  • └ ∞ Löb WAHLHAUS, b. circa 1815, d. 09 Nov 1885 Ober-Schmitten/HE
    • 2. Veilchen WAHLHAUS, b. 24 Apr 1865
    • └ ∞ Heinemann STERN
    • 3. Leopold STERN, b. 17 Jan 1891 Oberseemen/HE, d. 17 Feb 1891 Oberseemen/HE
      • 3. Frieda STERN, b. 05 Apr 1894, Ober-Seemen/HE, d. 03 Mar 1978 Paramus/NJ
  • 1. Herz MAYER, b. circa 1833, d. 17 Feb 1914 Gambach/HE
  • └ ∞ Esther SCHLESINGER, b. circa 1833, d. 03 Jul 1899 Gambach/HE
    • 2. Regina MAYER, b. 10 Nov 1859 Gambach/HE d. 21 Aug 1941 Frankfurt a/Main/HE
    • 2. Josephine MAYER, b. 21 Jan 1862 Gambach/HE
    • └ ∞ Gottfried HECKNER, b. 17 Aug 1861
      • 3. Regina Anna HECKNER , b. 16 Jul 1883 Friedberg/HE, d. 21 Nov 1887 Friedberg/HE
  • 1. Regina MAYER, b. 1836 Wohnbach/HE
  • 1. Jacob MAYER , b. 1838 Wohnbach/HE, d. 1845
  • 1. Sara MAYER, b. 1840 Wohnbach/HE
  • 1.Bettchen MAYER, b. 1845 Wohnbach/HE
  • └ ∞ Samuel KURZMANN, b. Würzburg/BY, d. 1909 Würzburg/BY
  • 1. David MAYER, b. 23 Apr 1848 Wohnbach/HE, d. 20 Jan 1913 Wohnbach/HE
  • └ ∞ (15 JUN 1875) Karoline Steg, b. 19 Jan 1848 Alzey Rhineland-Palatinate, d. 07 Nov 1930 Wohnbach/HE
    • 2. Hugo MAYER, b. 16 Mar 1876 Wohnbach/HE, d. 30 Jan 1931 Wohnbach/HE
    • └ ∞ (26 Nov 1902 Nieder Weisel) Johanna KRÄMER, b. 05 Mar 1878 Nieder Weisel/HE, 1932 fr Wohnbach to Lich, Oct 1936 fr Lich to Frankfurt a/M, 22 Nov 1941 deported fr Frankfurt a/Main to Kovno, murdered 25 Nov 1941 Fort IX, Kovno/Kaunas/Occupied Lithuania
      • 3. Irene MAYER, b. 28 Sept 1903 Wohnbach/HE, 1926 to Lich, Oct 1936 fr Lich to Frankfurt a/M, Jan 1939 to South Africa, d. 30 Oct 1957 Johannesburg/South Africa
      • └ ∞ (23 Feb 1926) Julius BAMBERGER, b. 7 May 1898  Muschenheim/HE, 18 Aug 1936 to South Africa, d. 26 Dec 1957 Johannesburg/South Africa
        • 4. “Child” BAMBERGER, b/d 1927 Giessen/HE
        • 4. Inge BAMBERGER, b. 19 Oct 1928, d. 07 Nov 1928 Giessen/HE
        • 4. Renate BAMBERGER, b. 19 Jul 1930 Giessen/HE, Oct 1936 fr Lich to Frankfurt a/M, Jan 1939 to South Africa
          •  For family outline, see here.
        • 4. Hugo BAMBERGER, b. 09 May 1932 Giessen/HE, Oct 1936 fr Lich to Frankfurt a/M, Jan 1939 to South Africa, 1993 fr South Africa to USA, d. 29 Jun 2021 Plantation/FL
          • For family outline, see here.
      •       3. Paula MAYER, b. 04 Aug 1907 Wohnbach/HE, d. 11 Apr 1931 Wohnbach/HE, buried Jüdischer cemetery Lich 
    • 2. Jenny MAYER, b. 28 May 1877 Wohnbach/HE, murdered 15 Sep 1942 Ghetto Theresienstadt/Occupied Czechoslovakia
    • └ ∞ Leopold BAMBERGER, b. 29 May 1865 Muschenheim/HE, murdered 17 Oct 1942 Ghetto Theresienstadt/Occupied Czechoslovakia
      • 3. Hugo BAMBERGER, b. 11 Feb 1900 Muschenheim/HE, d. 24 Aug 1961 Queens/NY
      • 3. Flora BAMBERGER, b. 25 Jul 1902, d. 28 Oct 1910 Muschenheim/HE
    • 2. Clementine MAYER, b. 30 May 1883 Wohnbach/HE, d. 10 Jun 1883 Wohnbach/HE
    • 2. Irma MAYER, b. 15 Apr 1884 Wohnbach/HE, murdered 1942 Treblinka Extermination Centre/Occupied Poland
    • └ ∞ Leopold KAPENBERG, b. 18 Oct 1880 Kestrich/HE, murdered 1942 Treblinka Extermination Centre/Occupied Poland
      • 3. Erna Esther KAPENBERG, b. 28 Oct 1911 Feldatal/HE, d. 23 Jan 2001 NYC/NY
      • 3. Theo KAPENBERG, b. 14 Jun 1923 Kestrich/HE, d. 11 May 1924 Kestrich/HE

Sources:
Hanno Müller, Dieter Bertram, Friedrich Damrath: Judenfamilien in Hungen und in Inheiden, Utphe, Villingen, Obbornhofen, Bellersheim und Wohnbach. ISBN 978-3-940856-16-6 Hungen 2009.
Ancestry.com, Births, Deaths, Marriage certificates of Hessen