EISENSTADT, EIZENSTADT, AISENSTADT, AISENSHTADT

 

Surnames derive from one of many different origins. Sometimes there may be more than one explanation for the same name. This family name is a toponymic (derived from a geographic name of a town, city, region or country). Surnames that are based on place names do not always testify to direct origin from that place, but may indicate an indirect relation between the name-bearer or his ancestors and the place, such as birth place, temporary residence, trade, or family-relatives.

 

An important center of Jewish life in central Europe, Eisenstadt, literally "iron town" in German, is the capital of the Austrian province of Burgenland. Jews lived there in an organized community since the 14th century. In Hebrew documents, they called the city Ir Barzel ("iron city"), a translation of Eisenstadt, whose Hungarian name is Kismarton. The oldest known form of a Jewish surname indicating that its bearer came from Eisenstadt is found in 1444 with Abraham von Eysneinstadt. A document drawn up 11 years later, mentions Eschlein von Der Eysneustat. As a Jewish family name, Eisenstadt is recorded with the 16th century Sofer (Hebrew for "scribe") Abigdor Eisenstadt. A Latinized form of the city's Hungarian name, borne by a Jewess, is documented in 1728 with Szara Kismartoniensis ("Sara of Kismarton (Eisenstadt))". Variants of this Jewish family name generally concern different spellings determined by pronunciation. The first syllable sometimes appears as "Ai"/"Aj" as in Aisenstadt/Ajsenstadt; the final consonants "-dt" become "-tt" as in Eisenstatt; "s" is transformed into "z" as in Eizenstadt; and the last vowel changes into Staedt, as in Eisenstaedt. An American transcription reads Eisenshtat. The German suffix "-er" is added to indicate "from" Eisenstadt.

 

Distinguished bearers of the Jewish family name Eisenstadt include the Latvian-born Talmud scholar and rabbi of Eisenstadt, Meir ben Izsak (Isaac) Eisenstadt, also known as Meir Asch and Maharam Esh (circa 1670-1744); the 18th century English scholar, Jacob Eisenstadt; and the Russian-born Hebrew writer and Eretz Israel pioneer, Josua Eisenstadt (1855-1918), who published his stories under the pen-name of Barsilai; the German American photographer Alfred Eisenstadt (1898- 1995), who photographed the famous kiss in Times Square, New York, on August 15, 1945, during the celebrations of the surrender of Japan at the end of World War II; and Beyla Eisenstadt of Munich, Germany, who perished in the German concentration camp at Theresienstadt in August 1942.