The Wittgenstein family is a German-Austrian family that rose to prominence in 19th- and 20th-century Vienna, Austria. The family was originally Jewish and originated from the Wittgensteiner Land in Siegen-Wittgenstein, Germany.
The Austrian branch of the Wittgenstein family began with the emigration of Hermann Christian Wittgenstein[1]
to Vienna in 1851. By 1910, 26 members of the Wittgenstein family were among the 929 wealthiest people in Vienna.Members of the Wittgenstein family include successful merchants, entrepreneurs, industrialists, lawyers, musicians, patrons of the arts, and philosophers:
The earliest known family members are the estate manager Ahron Moses Meier (died 1804) and his wife Sarah. They lived in Laasphe in the Wittgensteiner Land and worked for the Counts of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Hohenstein.
Their son, Moses Meyer, was initially the estate manager of the Counts. In 1806, after the Reichsdeputationshauptschluss, the Wittgensteiner Land fell to Hessen-Darmstadt. In 1808, Napoleon initiated the Jewish emancipation and Jews were required to adopt a fixed surname within three months. Moses chose the name Meyer-Wittgenstein. This led to a conflict with the Prussian Wilhelm zu Sayn-Wittgenstein-Hohenstein , who had been elevated to Reichsfürst in 1804. Moses left the Wittgensteiner Land with his family and moved to the nearby Principality of Waldeck. It was there that he created a successful business as a wool trader in the former Hanseatic City Korbach, an area with many sheep.