Koenigswarter

Koenigswarter is a surname, derived from the name Kohen, and may refer to the Barons:

• Baron Jules de Koenigswarter
• Baroness Nica de Koenigswarter, known as the "Jazz Baroness"
• Baron Louis de Koenigswarter

The name does not derive from Kohen. It comes from the town of Konigswart, now Kynsvart in the Czech Republic. A Jewish family with the last name of Baruch lived in Konigswart. When one family member, Jonas, emigrated to Furth, Germany, he changed his name to "Konigswarter" meaning "from Konigswart." He had four sons, and founded a banking dynasty. The sons were sent to Paris, Vienna and Frankfurt to open branches of the bank, with one staying in Furth. The Viennese branch of the family became extremely wealthy and were titled. They were bankers to the Kaiser and had large landholdings and art collections. Other branches of the family also did well, including the Parisian branch of the family, whose descendants were also titled. They intermarried with other prominent Jewish banking families including the Rothschilds, and also intermarried among themselves, with first and second cousins frequently marrying.

The family members who stayed in Konigswart kept the Baruch name. They were hoteliers and built the New York Hotel in Konigswart, a town with a decent-sized Jewish population that was later decimated, with the Jewish quarter sacked. The buildings still stands, somewhat in ruins, in what is now a very depressed and small town of Kysvart, and is reputed to have the oldest surviving Mikvah in Bohemia. Emile Baruch went on to build and operate several hotels in Marienbad, now Lazny Mariansky. They are marked with the initials "EB" in the stucco facades, which are still visible.