Daniel Hirsch

Emmanuel-Daniel Hirsch was a watchmaker and businessman in La Chaux-de-Fonds around the turn of the 20th century.

Ancestry and Early Life

Feiss Hirschel (1773-1832) was the common ancestor of the Hirsch family of watchmakers, including Daniel Hirsch, his brother Achille, and their cousin and fellow watchmaker, Salomon Hirsch. Hirschel lived in Hattstatt, Haut-Rhin, Alsace, and married Léah Leyé Rueff (1777-1849) in 1794. Among Herschel's many children were Moïse Hirsch (April 8, 1801-1876) and Cerf Hirtzel Hirsch (April 6, 1813-October 30, 1888). Moïse's son Salomon-Léopold (1847-1908) would partner with Cerf's sons Achille and Daniel in a variety of watchmaking enterprises and his daughter Rachel Léa (1851-1941) would become Achille's wife in 1875.

Emmanuel Daniel (commonly called Daniel) was born on May 19, 1853. He was the youngest child of Cerf Hirtzel Hirsch and his second wife, Caroline Dreyfus (1822-1874) whom he married in 1843. Most of the Hirsch family emigrated to La Chaux-de-Fonds around 1874 to become involved in watchmaking there.

Daniel Hirsch married Lucie Bloch of Alsace in March 1884 and the couple had a son, Fernand, in April 1885. She is likely the sister of Adrienne and Emma Bloch, who married Alvi and Isaac Braunschweig, also La Chaux-de-Fonds watchmakers from Alsace.

Braunschweig & Hirsch

Hirsch went into business with Isaac Braunschweig, who was likely his brother-in-law as he was married to Emma Bloch. The two formed Braunschweig & Hirsch by 1892. They are mentioned together in the death announcement for Caroline Bloch in 1894, who was perhaps the mother of their wives, and of Ernestine Lévy (née Hirsch) in 1901.

After the death of Isaac Braunschweig in 1903, Hirsch continued the business with his son Gustave Braunschweig.