Though the Loewensteins (Max Loewenstein’s family) were Jewish and the Bäetges (Maria Bäetge Loewenstein’s family) were Lutherans, the families had many important similarities. Both were rooted in the merchant classes of northeastern Europe, and both were full of strong-minded independent individuals, determined to create their own paths.

The patriarchs of both families were successful middle-class-merchants active in local politics. Ernst Karl Bäetge (Maria’s grandfather) was a mayor of Tallinn (formerly Reval), the capital of Estonia. Levin Loewenstein (Max’s grandfather) was the first in the family to gain Prussian citizenship. As part of the citizenship process, Levin chose what would become the family’s surname.  He selected “Loewenstein,” which was the name of an aristocratic family in Germany.

Levin Loewenstein

Levin Loewenstein, Henry Lowenstein's paternal great-grandfather, in Lessen, West Prussia.

The families’ strong-minded, independent thinkers included both men and women. Arthur Bäetge (Maria’s father) and Max Loewenstein chose not to follow their families’ businesses to pursue careers in medicine. Georg Loewenstein (Max’s brother) became a lawyer. Ernestine Loewenstein (Max’s mother) ran the family business and raised her children as a single mother after her husband’s death. Maria Steinberg (née Bäetge) narrowly escaped the Russian Revolution, raised her daughter Karin after her first husband’s death, and lived as a working artist in 1920s Berlin before her marriage to Max. 

Maria’s strength of character and survival instincts would prove crucial to the Loewenstein family’s survival of the Holocaust.

Levin Loewenstein's Prussian Citizenship Papers

Levin Loewenstein's Prussian Citizenship Papers.