Louis and Emma Cohn

Louis Cohn (1818–1880)
Emma Jereslaw Cohn (1831–1898)
Born: Louis in Fraustadt (Wschowa); Emma in Königsberg (Kaliningrad)
Died: Louis in Görlitz; Emma in Leipzig (buried in Görlitz)

Louis Cohn was among the very first Jewish residents permitted to settle permanently in Görlitz after the Prussian government lifted its longstanding restrictions on Jewish residence in the mid-19th century. Originally from Fraustadt (Wschowa), he came from a family of merchants rooted in the economic life of the Silesian borderlands.

In 1846, Louis moved to Görlitz to seize the opportunities of a newly accessible city. There he founded a textile factory specializing in wool and cotton stockings—one of the earliest Jewish-owned industrial firms in Görlitz. The company later produced stockings for the Hadeka company, which became one of Germany’s leading hosiery manufacturers.

Louis’s success marked him as one of the city’s most prominent early Jewish entrepreneurs. Together with other merchants, he helped establish the Synagogue Community of Görlitz, serving as one of its founding members and early leaders. In 1865, his younger brother Leopold Cohn (1835–1922) joined him in business, and together the brothers expanded the enterprise and solidified the Cohn family’s reputation for integrity and industriousness.

Louis married Emma Jereslaw, born in Königsberg (Kaliningrad). The couple had no children but were known for their warmth, refinement, and generosity toward family and community. After Louis’s death in 1880, Emma moved to Leipzig, where she lived out her remaining years. Yet even in death, her connection to Görlitz remained profound: her body was brought back to Görlitz for burial beside her husband, a testament to their enduring place within the life of the Jewish community they had helped to build.

Through their work and devotion, Louis and Emma Cohn helped lay the economic and cultural foundations for Jewish life in Görlitz—foundations that endured for generations.

© Lauren Leiderman