GERMAN-RUSSIAN von Löhr Family

Arseniy Rusakov of Moscow, Russia, is responsible for the research on this von Lðhr line.   Whereas Johann Georg von Lðhr (Generation 6) immigrated to American in 1698, his brother Johann Balthasar von  Lðhr II (Generation 6) remained in Germany.

Descendants of Johann Balthasar von  Lðhr II are listed below, starting with Generation 7.

7.  Charlotte  von  Lðhr.  Born 1690.  Died 1727.  Married Johann Heinrich Koch (born Birstein, Germany and died April 9, 1741 in Germany).  Two children identified.  After Charlotte’s death, Johann married her sister Amalie Catharina (1689-1761).

8.  Johann Konrad Koch. Born July 15, 1712.  Died in Offenbach, Germany.  Married Katharine Gertrud Paulstich (1717-1764).

9.  Henriette Katharine Koch.  Married Theophil Koch, born in Siogin, Germany.

10.  Wilhelmina Koch.  Born 7/27/1788 Birstein, Germany; died 6/7/1818 in Birstein.  Married Matthias Heck of Birstein, Germany.  He died 8/23/1824.  Both parents died while children were still very young.  The children were, then, distributed among the relatives. 

11.  Henriette Heck. (1)
11.  Unknown child. (2)
11.  Unknown child. (3)

GERMAN-RUSSIAN BRANCHThis family branch migrated to Russia in 1824 during the same time period numerous Germans were settling to the East.   The first generations in Russian continued to marry fellow Germans and retained their German ethnic identity.   Some family members returned to Germany during the 19th Century.There were several notable family members in Tsarist Russian. This family suffered greatly during the Russian Revolution,  the Stalinist purges, and especially during the 900-day Siege of Leningrad (St. Petersburg) during World War II.  Executed during the Russian RevolutionSergey Timashev and his eldest son.  He was head of the Russian Central Bank. Waldemar M. Trost, a forest commissioner, was executed in 1918.Executed in the Stalinist eraOskar Walther (born 1884, a professor of biology) Robert Bursian, Jr. (born 1889, a doctor) Vladimir Serebryakov (Olga Bursian’s husband)Died in prison or in exile in the Stalinist eraVictor Bursian (born 1886, a physicist) Sophia Bursian (Victor’s sister, a librarian) Aleksandr Walther (killed by a criminal in prison)Died of hunger during the Leningrad BlockadeSofia Walther and her baby daughter Nina Walther (16-years-old in 1942) Robert Bursian, Sr.   (90-years-old in 1942)For history of the Leningrad (St. Petersburg) siege, go to:   www.saint-petersburg.com/history/siege.aspNevertheless, this family line continues to produce gifted individuals (especially in the academic and scientific professions).  Numerous family members left Russian in the 20th Century, emigrating to Germany, Finland, France, Morocco, Canada, and the United States.                  In the interests of privacy, this website does not include the names of  living persons without express permission but it does indicate the whereabouts of various family branches.

                                                                                                                                                            11.  Johann Philipp Heck. (4) Born 1/2/1812 in Birstein, Germany. When his father died, he was only 12 years old.  Johann Philipp traveled alone to live with an aunt, Mrs. Oerlich,  in St. Petersburg, Russia.  He traveled by mail couch pulled by horses from Frankfort to Luebeck (500 km), then by ship across the Baltic Sea to St. Petersburg. 

In St. Petersburg he learned the craftsmanship of a cabinet-maker, especially the manufacturing of furniture.  

Furniture Showroom, St. Petersburg, Russia, c. 1840
Illustration Courtesy: Arseniy Rusakov.

Johann Philipp Heck married Marie Luise Tuhr Aug. 24, 1837, the daughter of a wealthy furniture manufacturer in St. Petersburg.  In later years, Johann Philipp Heck earned a lot of money by buying houses, modernizing and re-selling.  After the death of his father-in-law in 1867, he received a large heritage which enabled him to retire to Wiesbaden, Germany due to his asthma.  He died there on 7/26/1883.

Johann Philipp Heck and Marie Tuhr had 10 children; five lived to adulthood.

THE TUHR FAMILYThe Tuhr’s were a prestigious German-Russian family.   Marie’s father, Andreas Stanislaus Tuhr (b. 1791 in Danzig, Germany and died 1866 St. Petersburg, Russia) owned a joiner’s workshop.  He married Marie Elisabeth Kraebs (1795-1849).Their daughter, Marie Luise Tuhr, was born Aug. 14, 1819 in St. Petersburg and died June 11, 1897 in Halle a.d. Saale.Marie Tuhr’s brother, Karl, married Charlotte Oerlich, a cousin to Johann Philipp Heck.  Karl Tuhr and Johann Philipp Heck traveled throughout Europe in the mid-1800’s, perfecting the art of furniture manufacturing.Another brother, Nikolai Tuhr, was a senator and member of the Imperial State Council.  His son-in-law, Sergey Timashev was head of the Russian Central Bank from 1903-6 and later the Minister of Commerce and Industry.  Sergey Timashev and his eldest son were executed during the Russian Revolution.   Two of his sons eventually came to America:  Andreas Timashev was a professor of electronics at Lavale University in Canada and Nickolas Timasheff  was a sociologist professor at Harvard.

Left-to-right:  Marie Tuhr Heck (mother), Luis, Carl, Johann Philipp Heck (father), Wilhemine, and Philipp seated.  Oldest daughter, Sophie Marie was already married and is not pictured.  Photo taken in Munich about 1868.
Photo Courtesy:  Arseniy Rusakov

12.  Marie Heck. (1)  Born 1839.  Died as a child.

12.  Andreas Heck.  (2)  (1840-1847)

12.  Sophie Marie Heck. (3) Born 3/1/1843 and died 1/26/1911.  She married Dr. Anton Walther.  There were 9 children.

Left:  Dr. Anton Walther.  Right:  Sophie Marie Heck Walther.  Circa 1875
Photos Courtesy: Arseniy Rusakov

13.  Marie Sophie Walther. (1)  Born 1863 in St. Petersburg. Died after 1941.  She was a school director in Povenz.  Married George Wilhelm Ludwig Weichardt (1855-1914).  He was the Chairman of the Board of Arkhangelsk-Murmansk Shipping Company.  2 children – twins.

14.  Georg Weichardt. (1)  1888-1919.  Physics professor.

14.  Helene Weichardt,. (2) (1888-1934)  Married Jacob David Tamarkin in 1919.  Immigrated to the United States.  David Tamarkin was a mathematician at Brown University.  He died in 1945 in Washington, DC.

15.  Paul Tamarkin. (1)  Born 1922 in St. Petersburg, died 1977 in Washington, DC.  He was a physicist for Rand Corporation.  Married Mary Patricia.   

13.  Anna Walther (2).  Born 1864 in St. Petersburg.  Died 1911 in St. Petersburg. 

       Marie Sophie and Anna Walther, c. 1875
Photo Courtesy: Arseniy Rusakov

Anna Walther married Robert Bursian in St. Petersburg.  Robert was born 1851 in Tsarskoe Selo, Russian.  He died in Leningrad in 1942 of hunger.  He was a doctor and physiotherapist.

Robert Bursian, Sr. (1851-1942).  He obtained a medical degree from the Military Academy.  His wife was Anna Walther (1864-1911).  Photos courtesy: Arseniy Rusakov.

14.  Victor Burisan (1).  Born 1886, St. Petersburg.  Died 12/15/1945  – either in prison or in exile.  Physicist.  Married Alisa Ferchmin (1904-1989).

15.  Erick Burisan (1).  1929-2003 in St. Petersburg.  Physicist.  Married Rimma Ilyina.  Their descendants are still living in Russia.

15.  Arnold Bursian (2)

14.  Sophie Matillda Bursian (2).  Born 1888 St. Petersburg.  Died 1941 in Kazakhstan – either in  prison or in exile.  She was a librarian.  Married Vadim Shpengler. 

14.  Robert Bursian, Jr.  (3).  [Click to view photo.]   He was born in 1889 in St. Petersburg and was a medical doctor by profession.  His wife was Helena Nepomnyashiy.   He was arrested in Leningrad in 1938 after being denounced by a carpenter at the hospital.  He was sentenced to 10 years of imprisonment and sent to Magadan where he worked in a laundry.  He wrote his family from there, stating that he had confessed to all the crimes he was accused of  to save the family.    According to relatives now living in Moscow, Robert’s wife appealed to the authorities, and he was brought back from Siberia to Rostov-on-Don in 1941 where the case was to be reviewed.  However, on the eve of the German occupation of the city all the Rostov prisoners were put into railroad cars that were set on fire.  

SURVIVAL OF ROBERT BURSIAN, JR.’S FAMILY The following is an except from a letter by Robert Bursian, Jr.’s daughter, Irene Bryssine: “After the arrival of the German troops [in 1941], the young people were registered.  As we both [Robert’s daughter, age 18, and Robert’s son, age 14] spoke German we were not sent to Germany.  When the Germans had retreated, they ordered us to follow them, but they did not take our mother.  On January 21, 1943, we went to Kiev  [German-occupied Ukraine] by lorry.  Our mother got a ticket to the last train to Kiev and I met her at a street by accident.  Since that time we were together.  1943 and the beginning of 1944 we spent in Ukraine.  Then we went to Germany through Romania.  We had been sent to a concentration camp in Nuremberg where we worked at a plant.  “Fortunately the German, who had brought our group, went to his native town of Hildesheim.  At home, he had told about us and one of his daughters said that her teacher of English was “Bursian.”  She appeared to be Aunt Olga [Olga Bursian] who escaped from the Leningrad encirclement carrying her daughter Lucie on a sledge.  She was sent to a concentration camp of Lizmanstadt.  With the help of her cousin Zeidler she appeared in Hildesheim.”She [Olga] began to intercede for us.  At first she placed my mother to Frau Heck in Tubingen, and then she sent me up to the Red Cross as a former medical student.  I had begun my work in Hildesheim and then I was transferred to Tubingen where I lived together with my mother at Frau Helen Heck’s place up to the end of the war.”My brother had stayed at the Nuremberg camp and went to Tubingen when the war was over.  My mother began to look for her brother and sister who had immigrated to France in 1918.  With the help of the International Red Cross, she found them in Morocco.  They had invited us and in June 1947, we went to Rabat, Morocco.”At the beginning the life in Morocco had been very hard, but I lived there for 38 years, married Bryssine and gave birth to 2 sons….After his death in 1980 I stayed…3 years more up to retirement.  In 1984 I moved to France to my children….”

14.  Vladimir Bursian (4).  Born 1891 St. Petersburg. 

14.  Anna Bursian (5).  Born 1893 St. Petersburg.  Died 1929 in Leningrad.  Architect.  Married a Mr. Gromov.

14.  Marie Bursian (6).  Born 1894 St. Petersburg. Died 1968 in Munich, Germany.  Married Aksel Emgelbert Lindlov.  Their descendants live in Finland.

14.  Olga Burisan (7).  Born 1904 St. Petersburg.  Died 1996 Hildersheim, Germany.  Married a Mr.  Egorov first. Married second, Vladimir Serebryakov, in 1927.  He was executed in Leningrad.  Olga escaped from the Leningrad encirclement with her daughter Lucie.  [See Irene Bryssine letter above.]    A Zeidler cousin assisted them in getting to Hildesheim, Germany where she taught English.  Their descendants now live in Germany.   Her third husband was Willy Reinecke.

13.  Filipp Walther (3).  Born 1865 in St. Petersburg.  Died 1936 in Leningrad.  He was a Senator and judge.  Married Sofia Gradovskaya in 1896.  Sofia died in 1913 and Filipp married again to Aleksandra Stavorich in 1922.  

Aleksandra Stavrovich was born in 1888 in Slutsk, Belarussia and died in 1936 in Leningrad.   She was a historian and archivist. 
Photo Courtesy: Arseniy Rusakov.

Filipp and Sofia had 2 children.  There were 5 additional children with his second wife, Aleksandra.  

Both parents died in 1936, leaving 5 young orphans in Leningrad.  The older half-brother, Alexandr, cared for the children until he was arrested in 1941.  At that time, the 3 youngest orphans (Irina, Elena and Filipp) were sent to an asylum where they spent 3 years during the Siege of Leningrad.  After the war, they were adopted by their uncle Boris Stavrovich, who gave them his name and brought them to Moscow.

Left photo:  Filipp Walther and his son, Aleksandr, c. 1905.  Right photo:  Aleksandr Walther as adult (about 1930).  Photos Courtesy: Arsiney Rusakov.

14.  Aleksandr Walther (1).  [See above photos.]  Born 1898 in Tsarskoe Selo, Russia.  Aleksandr was a physicist.  He was arrested in September 1941.  There was no legal procedure and he was not sentenced.  But in the fall of 1941, all the prisoners (political and criminal together) from Leningrad jails were put into holds of barges to ship them to Siberia.  Later these ships were called “barges of death” because less than 50% of the prisoners survived the journey.  According to some evidence, Aleksandr was killed by criminals while on the barge.

14.  Sofia Walther (2). [Click to view photo.] Born 1913 St. Petersburg. Died of hunger in 1942 in Leningrad.  Married Mikhail Kulakov. [Click to view photo.]

Children of Filipp Walther and Aleksandra Stavrovich in the autumn of 1941 after the arrest of their half-brother Aleksandr Walther.  When they learned that the three younger children were going to be sent to an asylum, they gathered for this final group photo.   The German siege of Leningrad started soon afterwards.  Standing: Irina and Nina.  Sitting: Ekaterina, Natalia Kulakova, Elena, and Filipp.  
Photo Courtesy: Arseniy Rusakov.

14.  Ekaterina Walther (3)  [Click to view photo.]  Born 1923 Petrograd, Russia.  Graduate of Moscow Aviation Institute in engineering.  Married Abram Shakhat.

14.  Nina Walther. (4)  Born 1926 Leningrad.  Died 1942 in Leningrad of starvation.

14.  Irina Walther (Stavrovich) (5). [Click to view photo.]   Born 2/24/1927 in Leningrad.  Died 1970 Moscow.  Married Taras Rusakov.  [Click to view photo.]

14.  Filipp Walther (Stavrovich) (6).  Born 1928 Leningrad.  He was a Colonel in the military.

14.  Elena Walther (Stavrovich) (7).   Born 1931 Leningrad. Died 1992 Moscow.  Married Victor Baulin.

13.  Karl Anton Walther (4).  [Click to view photo.]  Born 1867 St. Petersburg. Died 1919 in Petrograd.  Educated at the Military Medical Academy.  Head surgeon of Zimniy Palace Hospital.  Married Anna Ispolatova.

13.  Anton Georg Walther (5).  Born 1870 St. Petersburg. Died 1902 St. Petersburg.  Married Elena Goshovich.

13.  Katarina Walther (6).  Born 1872 St. Petersburg.  Married Waldemar M. Trost.  He was executed during the Russian Revolution in about 1918.  He was a forest commissioner.

Katarina, Konstantin, and Sophie Walter, c. 1880
Photo Courtesy: Arseniy Rusakov

13.  Sophie Walter (7).  [Click to view photo.]  Born 1872 St. Petersburg. Died 1961 Helsinki, Finland.  Married Hermann Albert Ludvig Zeidler.  He was educated at the Medical Military Academy and was a professor at the academy.  Relocated to Finland before World War II.  [Click to view photo.]

13.  Konstantin Walther (8). Born 1877 St. Petersburg.  Died about 1915 during World War I.  He was a lawyer.

13.  Oskar Walther (9). [Click to view photo.]   Born 1884 St. Petersburg.  He and his step-son were arrested in July 1941 and executed in Leningrad on 9/16/1941. He was a professor of  biology at Leningrad Agricultural Institute.  Married Elena Knorn.

ADDITIONAL HECK DESCENDANTS

12.  Luise Heck. (4) (1846-1924).  Died in Tubingen Germany. [Click to view photo.]
12.  Wilhelmina Heck. (5).  Born 1848 St. Petersburg. Died in Tubingen, Germany. [Click to view photo.]
12.  Child. (6) Died young.
12.  Child. (7) Died young.
12.  Child. (8) Died young.

12.  Philipp Nicolai Heck. (9)  (1858-1943).  He was a professor for laws since 1901 in Tuebingen, Germany.  In 1911 he was elected to the head of the university and earned the personal peerage title “von Heck” (which was not applicable to his wife!). He married Helene Brueckner in 1895.  Helene was born in 1873 in Dorpat and died in Tuebingen in 1948.  Their descendants now live in Germany.  The Brueckner family stems from northern Bavaria (Franken).   A family history was issued in the 1990’s by Ekkehart Bruieckner, who resides in Basel, Switzerland.

Philipp Nicolai Heck and his wife Helene Brueckner, c 1930.
Photo Courtesy: Arseniy Rusakov. 

13.  Karl Alexander Wilhelm Heck. (1).  [Click to view photo.]  (1896-1997)  He was a lawyer and member of the German Federal Constitutional Court.  Married Elisabeth Stoll.  Their descendants continue to live in Germany.

12.  Karl Heck. (10) (1859-1884).  Returned to Wiesbaden, Germany about 1871. [Click to view photo.]

7.  Johann Georg Koch (2) was born 8/6/1722 in Birstein, Germany.  He married Maria Madelein Horn.  Two children have been identified.

8.  Isaac Koch (1). Born 1744. Died 9/30/1819 in Birstein.  Married 8/25/1782) Anna Maria Catharina Kuhn (1756-1798).

9.  Heinrich Wilhelm Koch (1) (1783-1848). Married Susanna Carolina Philipina Platenius 5/1/1818 in Elberfeld, Germany.

10.  Wilhelm Karl Julius Friedrich Koch (1) (1818-1886).  Married Maria Wilhelmine Schreitmuller 5/3/1840 in Wichlingshausen, Wuppertal, Germany.

11.  Wilhelmine Emile Koch (1) Born 11/13/1848.  Married Gustav Adolf Gosemann. 

8.  Jean Conrad Koch (2) (1746-1818).  Married Anne Elizabeth Hermann.