Trade and Industry

The reasons for Jews settling in areas ruled by knights were predominantly economic. And Buttenhausen was no exception. Owing to the Jewish protection act, it was expected that the Jews would bring with them industrial improvement and additional revenue. The majority of Jews in country areas made their living from minor trade and peddling. This specialization originated from the fact that initially Jews were prohibited from both professional trade and agriculture. To attend markets and fairs they were required to undertake long journeys, which often meant being away from their homes for months at a time. The main area of trade for Buttenhausen's Jews was southern Germany - Wuerttemberg, and particularly Bavaria and Austria. The range of goods comprised mainly fabric, haberdashery, leather and animal skins. Livestock trade also became important at the local market.

New Laws

The emancipation laws of the beginning of the 19th century were an attempt by the Wuerttembergian government to ruin the Jews' successful methods of trade. Harsh restrictions were placed on peddlers and junk dealers as well as certain rural kinds of credit, since these undertakings constituted "haggling". Despite these restrictions the majority of Buttenhausen's Jews were still considered to be "Schacherjuden" (haggling Jews) in 1832. Alternative opportunities for earning income, for instance in trade or agriculture, were also hardly available to them.

After 1860 there was a noticeable change in the traditional methods of trade. The increasing trend to move to the cities reduced the Jewish population of Buttenhausen. More and more travelling peddlers were removed from the duties they once performed for owners of fixed shops. However, cattle and horse trade did remain important for the Jews in Buttenhausen. Livestock traders were the connecting link between the farmers from the surrounding countryside and the larger markets. Buttenhausen even established a market of its own, which was unusual for a village to do. The Loewenthal brothers attained the greatest significance with their horse-trading firm, "Gebrueder Loewenthal", which merged with "Tannhauser" in the 1920s to form "Vereinigte Pferdehandlung Buttenhausen" (the united horse-traders of Buttenhausen). Together they acquired horses from Rhineland and Bavaria and were represented at the most important southern German markets.

The Lindauers

The development of the Lindauer firm is the history of one of Buttenhausen's financially most successful families. In the beginning, there was Simon Lindauer with his ribbon shop. His son Salomon (1833-1905) founded a junk shop in 1861 which provided Buttenhausen with objects for daily needs. The transition from trading to manufacturing occurred after the turn of the century. Whereas some of Salomon's sons moved away, the brothers Karl, Max and Moritz Lindauer founded a cigar factory in Buttenhausen in 1910. Production continued until 1927. This family of entrepreneurs also assumed social and cultural roles. The foundation of the nurses' association can be traced back to their initiative. Adolf Lindauer's donation for a new clock on the tower of the church in Buttenhausen is proof of this liberal family's good relations with the Christian community. During the NS-period the family had to seek refuge in England and the USA. Two of them, Elisabeth and Moritz Lindauer, were not able to escape the country. They took their own lives in Buttenhausen to evade deportation to a concentration camp.