Hersch Family Collection

The dramatist and author Hermann Hersch was born in Jüchen, Germany, in the Rhineland. After attending the University of Bonn he went to Munich where in 1854 his first work, Alfonso Guzmann der Getreue, appeared. One of his better known works was Die Anna-Lise, about the marriage of Prince Leopold I of Anhalt-Dessau to the titular apothecary's daughter. Hersch later went to Berlin, where he met his wife, Betti Rosa Lövinson, whom he married in 1860. Together they had four children. Hermann Hersch died in 1870, his wife a few years later.

Their eldest son was Heinrich Hersch, was born July 11, 1861. After his parents' deaths he came into the care of a maternal uncle who was a physician in Berlin. After graduating from the Königliche-Wilhelms Gymnasium in Berlin, he went on to study medicine at the universities of Berlin and Bonn. In Bonn he laid aside these studies to turn to literature; his first published work was a translation of Erasmus's Encomium moria (Das Lob der Torheit) in 1884, followed by Saint-Reals Geschichte des Dom Carlos, die Stoffquelle zu Schillers Drama in 1885. His special interest, however, lay in the relationship between Friedrich the Great and the philosopher Voltaire; in 1902 the first volume of his study of their correspondence appeared, but the publication of further volumes was hindered by economic difficulties. In order to balance his academic works with other subjects, he also undertook translations of comedies, including those of Molière. In 1866 he married, also producing a small volume of love poetry in the same year; from this marriage came two sons (Hermann and Eugen) and a daughter (Alice). Following his wife's death he returned to his studies and became a dentist while still continuing to write. He married a second time to Bertha Ollendorff; they had one daughter (Rose Agnes). Heinrich Hersch died June 12, 1938 in Charlottenburg, Berlin, Germany.

Eugen Hersch was born August 21, 1887. From 1905 through 1909 he studied at the Königliche akademische Hochschule für die bildenden Kunst zu Berlin. In 1910 he was awarded the first scholarship of the Michael Beerschen Stiftung for a year's study in Italy. He became noted for his portrait paintings, including one of President (then Field Marshal) Paul von Hindenburg in 1915. In 1939 Eugen Hersch left for England with his wife, where he rebuilt his career. His work was featured in exhibitions at the Royal Academy of Arts, among other institutions. His final work was a mural composed of twelve paintings, "A Requiem to Comfort the Bereaved." Eugen Hersch died in London in 1967.