Dr. Georg Johannes Friedrich von Eppstein

Georg von Eppstein, a writer, lived in an apartment on Charlotten Strasse, Berlin-Mitte, at the turn of the century. In 1901 he was baptized in the Jerusalem parish in Kreuzberg (according to the Nazi priest Dr. Karl Themel’s ‘index of non-natives’ in the Evangelische Landeskirchliche Archiv, Berlin). Georg von Eppstein became an advisor to the last Prince of Lippe. He was ennobled in 1915, appointed privy councillor (Wirklicher Geheimer Rat) with the title Excellency in 1917, and made a Baron (Freiherr) in 1918. He co-founded an academy of administrative studies, the Fürst Leopold Akademie für Verwaltungswissenschaft, where he also lectured. He was awarded an honorary doctorate from this academy.

In 1921 Georg von Eppstein bought a villa at Potsdamer Strasse 32 in Lichterfelde-West. He and his Christian wife, Herta Reymann (1876-1938), had a daughter, Ingeborg (1909-1923). His wife and daughter are buried in the park cemetery at Thuner Platz.

Due to financial difficulties, in 1932, von Eppstein mortgaged his life insurance to a Jewish lawyer, who fled to Switzerland in 1933. He evidently also turned to the church for assistance as, after his deportation, a “national Protestant theologists’ foundation” (Landeskirchliche Stiftung für Evangelische Theologen) in Potsdam claimed mortgage interest from the superior finance directorate.

On 1 June 1942, an order was issued for the confiscation of von Eppstein’s assets. On 26 June 1942, he was taken to the assembly camp at Grosse Hamburger Strasse 26; on 2 July 1942, he was deported to Theresienstadt. Georg von Eppstein died here on 20 September 1942.