Henriette Pressburg

They were prominent members of Nijmegen's growing Jewish community,[b] living first in Nonnenstraat then, when Henriette was 19, in Grotestraat.

[9] In about 1817 Henriette's husband changed his name from Hirschel to Heinrich and was baptised into the Lutheran Church, followed by their children in August 1824.

Henriette became concerned with his lifestyle away from home, including his membership of a local drinking society in Bonn.

[d] Her regular letters to Karl emphasised the importance of healthy living, she advised: "you must never regard cleanliness and order as something secondary, for health and cheerfulness depend upon them.

[13] The following year Karl married Jenny von Westphalen, neither Henriette, nor any other member of the Marx family, attending.

While there, he spent two days with Henriette in Trier, who agreed to cancel several of his older debts,[18] although on his next short visit in August 1862 she refused to give him anything.

[20] In 1820 Henriette's younger sister Sophie Pressburg (1797–1854) married the tobacco merchant Lion Philips (1794–1866) in the Nijmegen synagogue, before moving to the Dutch town of Zaltbommel.

After the death of their mother in June 1833, Henriette agreed that Lion Philips would act as trustee for their parents' legacy for the benefit of the whole family.

He occasionally stayed with them in Zaltbommel, regularly corresponded with Lion Philips and often borrowed money against his legacy, particularly after he moved to London in 1849.

[7] Of Henriette's brothers, David became a lawyer in Amsterdam and later in Paramaribo in Surinam and Martin remained in Nijmegen in the tobacco trade.

[j] Clearly Henriette's main preoccupation was the care of her large family which, over the years, suffered illness and a number of bereavements, five of her nine children predeceasing her.

She handled money better than her famous son Karl Marx.’’[8] Henriette Marx continued to live in Trier, where she died on 30 November 1863, aged 75.

[26] She left her four surviving children substantial legacies, although much of Karl's share was paid to his uncle Lion Philips in settlement of his debts.