OPPENHEIM

OPPENHEIM, name of a German family derived from the Rhenish town of that name. In Hebrew works the members of the family are always called Oppenheim. Later some of them, especially the Vienna branch, were called Oppenheimer. Another branch of the family settled in Heidelberg and assumed the name of that town. The earliest known mention of the name is that of R. Isaac Oppenheim and R. Joel Oppenheim, both mentioned in the responsa of R. Meir of Rothenburg (d. 1293). In Worms the family early achieved distinction, providing the community with a long line of leaders and representatives, while its members were also to become founders of the Vienna Oppenheimer branch. In 1531 this family appeared in Frankfurt, where they had come from Heidelberg. After the expulsion of the Jews from Frankfurt in 1614, part of the family again settled in Heidelberg. In Frankfurt, too, it was one of the most prominent families, many of its members serving the community as parnasim and shtadlanim, and producing many rabbis, financiers, and successful merchants. More than 200 tombstones bearing this family name are to be found in the old Jewish cemetery in Frankfurt. (Heinrich Flesch)