Rauh Jewish Archives at the Heinz History Center
The violinist Alexander Schamberg (d. 1864) and his wife Rosa Levi Schamberg (1818-1890) lived in Hesse-Nassau, Germany. They had five children, Nettie, Sol, Regina, Max and Hannah. At least two of their children immigrated to Pittsburgh before the Civil War.
Max Schamberg (d.1895) established a foreign exchange and steamship agency in Pittsburgh in 1867. He employed Isaac Hirsch, who later purchased the company. The business prospered as European emigration increased toward the end of the nineteenth century. The staff of the organization prided themselves on the number of languages they spoke, including Dutch, German, Slavic, Hungarian and French, according to The Jewish Experience in Western Pennsylvania, by Jacob Feldman. The business later became the Foreign Exchange Department of the First National Bank of Pittsburgh. Max Schamberg was appointed Austria-Hungary consul in Pittsburgh in 1876 and died while overseas.
Hannah Schamberg (1853-1922) married Philip Silverman.
Bibliography
Rauh Jewish Archives
- Max Schamberg materials from Reizenstein family papers [MSS 0073] (catalog record).
- Max Schamberg materials from Reizenstein family photographs [MSP 0073] (catalog record).
- Max Schamberg materials from Reizenstein family oversize materials [MSO 0073] (catalog record).
- Max Schamberg materials from Reizenstein family oversize photographs [MSR 0073] (catalog record).
- Max Schamberg papers [2004.0060] (catalog record).
- Max Schamberg materials from Lynne and Blair Jacobson Family Papers and Photographs [MSS 1221] (catalog record).
National Library of Israel
- Schamberg & Co. advertisement, 1902, Der Volksfreund (online).
Exhibit history
- Author: Eric Lidji
- Original: September 16, 204
- Current: March 30, 2026