~ Other Christlieb Lines ~

Converts from Judaism to Christianity

Largely in Eighteenth-Century Germany

Friedrich Carl Christlieb, formerly Simon aus Frankenstein, was one of many converts from Judaism who assumed or were assigned the surname, Christlieb, upon their conversions to Christianity. Here follows other Christliebs who were found in the course of research:

• CHRISTOPH FRIEDRICH CHRISTLIEB – Marriage entry 23 November 1778, Friedrich Christlieb, a merchant, to Maria, a well-educated widow. Son of Wilhelm Bernhard Christlieb, Chaplain for City of Augsburg - St. Ulrich. There is a possibility that he may have been the Wilhelm Bernard Christlieb, son of Friedrich August Christlieb.

• FRIEDRICH MARTIN CHRISTLIEB – A 1770 convert from Judaism with ancestors in Hungary. A student at Worms, he was a Lutheran Pastor from 1783 to 1799 in Kleinmanyok, Swaebische Türkei [Turkey]. Pastor at Wolf, 1804–1817.

• AUGUSTA HENRIETTA CHRISTIANA CHRISTLIEB – Kircheimbolanden. “A nineteen-year-old daughter of Jews.” Christened on 3 April 1741. One of her God-sponsors mentioned was the twelve-year-old Princess Sophie Auguste Fredericka, daughter of Prince Christian August of Anhalt-Zerbst. Later in life, Sophie Auguste Fredericka became Empress Catherine the Great of Russia.

• CHRISTLIEB – Abraham Kellermeister from Mannheim was baptized at Mannheim on 22 July 1753.

• FREDERICA LOUISA CHRISTLIEB – Kircheimbolanden. “A single Jew age 20, daughter of Schultzjude from Mollenberg Amt Morsbach.” Christened 20 September 1789. Her daughter was baptized in 1792.

• CHRISTLIEB – While at Waiblingen searching for Christlieb ancestry, a secretary at the Lutheran Church stated that a Christlieb was a Pastor of the Lutheran Church in that city in the 18^th century.

• CHRISTLIEB – A late 18^th-century bassoonist at the Court of Württemburg, who was born of Jewish parents. Cardiologist Dr. Ignacio Christlieb, of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, is one of his descendants.

• The ancestor of Erwin Christlieb, Seeheim, Germany, whose surname prior to conversion was Susseman. According to his family’s oral tradition, a Christlieb immigrated to North America in the 18^th century.

1976: ERWIN AND HELGA CHRISTLIEB WITH “TOPSEY.”

The Württemburg Christlieb Family

The information that follows deals with Christliebs who descended from the legendary Turkish Boy. For many decades, it was erroneously believed that the American Christlieb family descended from him.

• FRIEDRICH AUGUST CHRISTLIEB - There are two traditions regarding this man: According to the first, he was born of Turkish parents. At the Siege of Vienna, the Turks were defeated and in beating a hasty retreat, all their women, who could not be carried away, were slaughtered, leaving their infants alive on the battlefield. Some 500 of these orphans were collected by the Bishop of Neustadt and brought up in the Christian religion. Tradition holds that a mother hid her little son in an outdoor oven for his protection. When the siege ended, the boy was discovered by the Margrave of Durlach. Upon opening the oven the astonished man said, “For the love of Christ this child was spared.” For that reason he was given the name, Christlieb. The Count took the child home to Germany, where he was reared as a Christian at the Court of Baden-Durlach. An artist, Friedrich August Christlieb, was first a decorator at the Court at Durlach, before becoming a Court Decorator at Stuttgart, capital of Württemburg. The other tradition says that he was born of Jewish parents, was separated from them in the eighth year of the Hungarian War ca. 1682, brought to the kingdom, taken in by Markgrafen in Durlach where he was baptized and raised. At whose desire he learned the art of tapestry hanging and was for whom and afterwards employed by Duke Eberhar Ludwig von Württemberg for twenty years. It was recorded that he was employed by decree of 10 October 1710, that he lived in a castle and had two maids. He was released from his position in 1728. From Jewish origin the successors wanted to know nothing more and made a Turkish one out of it. One source states that Friedrich August Christlieb married Anna Elisabetha, daughter of Daniel Schatzmann and became a widower at in 1746, at age 75 ½ years. Another source says that he married a woman from Switzerland whose surname was Von Spir. Whichever the case, Friedrich August Christlieb was the progenitor of a dynasty of widely acclaimed Lutheran theologians. Friedrich August Christlieb was the father of two known children, Wilhelm Bernhard born 13 October 1708 in Basel, Switzerland and Eberhard Ludwig, born 16 August 1712 in Stuttgart. It should be noted that in the early years of` researching the history of the American family of Christlieb, Friedrich August was incorrectly thought to have been a brother of Friedrich Carl Christlieb.

Outstanding Progeny of Friedrich August Christlieb

• WILHELM BERNHARD CHRISTLIEB, son of Friedrich August Christlieb, born 1708; died 1780. At age 17 he matriculated at Tübingen University. A religious scholar, he held various prestigious positions, including Chaplain at the Court of Darmstadt position of Dean of Heidenheim. The father of eight children, he was twice married.

• JAKOB HEINRICH CHRISTLIEB, seventh-born child of Wilhelm Bernard Christlieb, was born 29 June 1748 in Weinsberg; died 28 November 1814 in Stuttgart. Jakob Heinrich Christlieb married, 16 July 1793 in Stuttgart, Christina Dorothea Riederer, born 6 May 1767, daughter of Philipp Jacob Riederer and Sophia Margaretha Neuheuser. The grandson of Friedrich August, Jakob Heinrich Christlieb was Registrar to the Ecclesiastical Court at Stuttgart.

• M. HEINRICH CHRISTLIEB, son of Jakob Heinrich Christlieb, was born 13 June 1797; died in 1873. He married, 29 April 1823 in Murrhardt, Amalie Schmoller, born 7 May 1809. In addition to being pastor of a Lutheran Church at Birkenfeld, Württemberg, he was also Dean of Heidenheim and afterwards Ludwigsberg. He and his three siblings were great-grandchildren of Friedrich August Christlieb.

• THEODOR CHRISTLIEB, son of M. Heinrich Christlieb, was a well-known theologian of his day. Like his father, he was pastor of the Lutheran Church at Birkenfeld, Württemberg. Theodor Christlieb was also Professor of Practical Theology at Bonn. In the 1870s, he presented a lecture tour of the United States. It was at this time that he came to the attention of Benjamin Franklin Christlieb, who was in the process of collecting information for his History of the Christlieb Family in America. Through correspondence, the two men became well acquainted. In one of the letters, Theodor Christlieb related how his ancestor was the little Turkish boy who had been brought back to Germany and was educated at the Court of Baden Durlach. Thus, the story of the Turkish Child erroneously became part of the American family’s tradition.

• ALFRED CHRISTLIEB, son of Theodor Christlieb was born 26 February 1866. Like his father and grandfather, he was pastor of the Lutheran Church at Birkenfeld, Württemberg. He was the author of several theological books.

SOURCES:

Pagel, Arno. Alfred Christlieb, Beter und Schriftforscher: Hermann Rathmann, Marburg/Lahn, 1953.

Pfeilsticker, Walther. Neues Würrtemberger Buch: Vol. 1, p. 1081.

Most of the information on the Württemberg Christlieb family came in the form of paraphrased materials from a non-cited source entitled, “Die Chronik der Familie Christlieb.” The work was cited frequently in writings about Wilhelm Bernard and Theodor Christlieb.

---

Nineteenth- and Twentieth-Century Christlieb Arrivals

In America via Ellis Island

According to a database unveiled by Ellis Island, the following persons with the surname Christlieb or Kristlieb arrived in the United States between 1892 and 1924. No persons bearing the names Crislip or Chrislip were found during the 32 years of Elis Island’s operations.

EDUARD CHRISTLIEB, a male aged 19 years arrived aboard the Fürst Bismark from Hamburg, Germany, on 20 August 1892. Place of residence, Hamburg. Place of departure, Gorlace. Ethnicity, German.

A. CHRISTLIEB, a male citizen of the United States, arrived aboard the Friesland from Antwerp, Belgium, on 25 July 1893. No place of residence given. His ethnicity is given as U.S.A. His age at the time of arrival was 41 years.

LUDWIG CHRISTLIEB, a male aged 30 years arrived aboard the Diana from Hamburg, Germany, on 29 June 1895. No place of residence is given. Ethnicity, German.

ALFRED CHRISTLIEB, a male aged 66 years arrived 31 October 1903 aboard the Rhein from Bremen, Germany. No place of residence given. Ethnicity, German.

ARNOLD CHRISTLIEB, a male aged 66 years arrived aboard the Rhein from Bremen, Germany, on 31 October 1903. Place of residence, Gosula. Ethnicity, German.

ALEXANDER KRISTLIEB, a male aged 28 years arrived aboard the Gera on 26 April 1907 from Bremen, Germany. Place of residence given as Hamburg. Ethnicity, German.

LUDWIG CHRISTLIEB, a male aged 37 years arrived aboard the President Grant from Hamburg, Germany, on 7 December 1910. Place of residence, Hamburg. Ethnicity, German.

EMILE KRISTLIEB, a female aged 17 years arrived aboard the Cedric from Liverpool, England, on 16 July 1911. Residence given as Kanda, Russia. Ethnicity, Russian, Lithuanian.

ALFONS CHRISTLIEB, a male aged 64 years, arrived aboard the Imperator from Cherbourg, Manche, France, on 24 June 1914. Residence and ethnicity not given.

ALFONZO CHRISTLIEB, a male aged 30 years, 5 months arrived aboard the Philadelphia from La Guaria, Federal District, Venezuela, on 13 June 1921. Residence, Mexico City. Ethnicity, Venezuela.

CARL CHRISTLIEB, a male aged 34 years arrived aboard the Reliance from Hamburg, Germany, on 17 August 1923. Residence, Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Ethnicity not given.

HUBERT CHRISTLIEB, a male aged 22 years arrived aboard the Deutchland from Hamburg, Germany, on 6 April 1924. Place of residence not given. Ethnicity, German.

Over the course of thirty-plus years’ research, only one person has turned out to be a descendant of any of the aforementioned Christliebs. That person is Dr. Ignacio Christlieb, cited on page 1102 of Ancestors and Descendants of Friedrich Carl and Anna Catharina Christlieb. It seems logical that descendants of these other Christliebs would be living in the United States. Yet, with the exception of Ignacio Christlieb, all other Christliebs encountered have been direct descendants of Friedrich Carl and Anna Catharina Christlieb.

Back to Top