I am no authority on Jewish surnames of German origin, but even though there
are two families by the name Weichselblatt listed in the Czernowitz 1914
address book, the name is new to me. Possibly, one of your ancestors, Ervin,
grew sour cherries for the making of Vishniak. Until sometime in the late
18th century, the making and selling of alcoholic beverages, in the eastern
part of the Austrian empire, was mostly a Jewish occupation. Consider all
the Weiner, Weininger, Weinstein and Bronfman. On the other hand, your
maternal name in the form of Wechselblatt, meaning a letter of exchange is
also plausible; Jews were also bankers and curriers of money.
An alder tree, in German is called a Erle, a tall tree which does bear small
fruit, from which an alcoholic beverage can be produced. I do not believe it
is ever called a Weichsel-Kirsche. Foremost authorities on anything,
including the origin of Jewish names, are often wrong.
Mimi
On 2/4/10 3:58 PM, "Ervin Spinner" <espinner_at_videotron.ca> wrote:
> Sour cherries, indeed!
> Based on my German dictionary, Weichselblatt (my maternal name) is aleaf of
> a sour cherry tree. The foremost authority on Jewish names, in his book
> says, however, that it is a leaf of an alder tree. Any suggestions?
> Ervin Spinner (also Wechselblatt)
-snip-
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Received on 2010-02-05 13:09:50
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