Babette Bing

Some remarks about her life by Mrs. Bertha Hirschmann‐Nürnberg; some letters from her bridal and married life from the possession of Mrs. Babette Kohn‐Nürnberg.

What you have inherited from your fathers.
Acquire it in order to possess it.

If I say a few words today about the family tree of the Tuchmann family, it is to do a small favour for the grandson of my father's friend and cousin. ‐ I am supposed to report about important things from the life of my father and his parents.

That the Tuchmanns and their descendants were capable people is renowned, as is the fact that their mind remained turned towards all that was high and beautiful in every situation in life. ‐ They fulfilled their business duties with iron diligence, and their leisure hours belonged to the fine arts. ‐ Friedrich Tuchmann senior and Ignaz Bing both belonged to public corporations. If Ignaz Bing stood out even more than Friedrich Tuchmann, it was mainly because he, having matured into a capable merchant, did not comply with the wish of his father, Salomon Bing, to participate in the development of his hop business. Instead, from very small beginnings, he founded his own business, which later led to a large factory in Nuremberg. ‐ His brother Adolf Bing was also involved. ‐ The factory, founded in 1866, was called "Nürnberger Metall‐warenfabrik Gebrüder Bing."

In 1896, the year of the exhibition, the company was converted into a joint‐stock company, which later took the name "Bing‐Werke A.‐G".

Through his connections to industry, my father had the liveliest share in all questions of public life; the flourishing commercial city of Nuremberg offered him a large, grateful field of activity.

The letters that follow speak better than I can about the life and work of my ancestors. ‐ Circumstances dictated that my father was brought up to be independent and to act at an early age. ‐ He was the eldest son of my grandmother, Babette Bing‐Tuchmann, a clever woman who was able to fully live her life. I would just like to add that my father's sister, Ida Ottenstein‐Bing, had to take care of the household after the early death of her mother at the age of 10. Nevertheless, the suffering of orphaned children did not depress her and her siblings; thanks to their Spartan upbringing, they stood bravely together in the face of life.

Even though Mrs Henriette Bing, Salomon Bing's second wife, had some trouble with the children from my grandfather's first marriage ‐ there were three boys and a daughter ‐ they were soon able to leave the parental home and make room for the younger siblings.

My father Ignaz Bing and my aunt Ida Ottenstein were particularly attached to each other. ‐ They were filled with great love for their siblings.

Both had a sense for nature and the fine arts, but both also had a highly developed sense for practical life. The education of the siblings was unusual for that time. They constantly enriched their knowledge by travelling and reading. ‐ The other siblings were characterised by a great sense of humour and a very pronounced musical sensibility. ‐ My uncle Adolf Bing, my father's partner, earned great merits in the Bing business. ‐ The youngest uncle, Berthold Bing, emigrated to America at a young age. The difficult conditions that prevailed at the time forced him and his family to return. His siblings, especially Aunt Ida Ottenstein, stood by him with advice and support; he spent the last years of his life as chief inspector of a large insurance company in orderly, carefree circumstances.

My father remembered everything worth knowing about the chronicle of a large family. He often told us children about it. ‐ During the first years of the war, he wrote his memoirs at the request of all of us. ‐ We are still grateful to him today, because we knew that in those terrible days this work was a source of reassurance and distraction for our father.