Objekt des Monats
Jedes Objekt in der Sammlung des Deutschen Auswandererhauses erzählt eine ganz persönliche Auswanderungs- oder Einwanderungsgeschichte. In dieser Rubrik stellen wir Ihnen jeden Monat ein anderes Objekt vor – eine Fotografie, ein Dokument oder ein persönliches Erinnerungsstück.
January 2017
Cookie tin from around 1900
Historical Context
The baker’s apprentice and grandson of the Huguenot Etienne Cabos, Carl Immanuel, establishes his own company in 1864 in the capital of the Habsburg Empire, called ‘First Vienna Cakes and Biscuits Factory Charles Cabos’. After his death, his adoptive son Christian Mörzinger-Cabos takes over the business.
Christian Mörzinger-Cabos is also listed as a ‘Wine, Tea, and Dessert Bakery’ among the imperial and royal suppliers, known as k.u.k., in the year 1899. The k.u.k. suppliers were merchants in the Austro-Hungarian dual monarchy who were permitted to deliver goods to the court in Vienna. Naturally, this could also be publicly advertised and marketed. A famous customer of Cabos was Empress Elisabeth, also known as Sisi. For example, she had confections delivered from Vienna to Corfu, where she commissioned a Greek palace in Pompeian style, the Achilleion, between 1889 and 1891.
Short Biography
The Huguenot Etienne Cabos is born in 1737 in Caussade near Montauban, France. Due to the persecutions of his fellow believers there, the Protestant is forced to flee and finds refuge in Germany. When and through what means he exactly reaches there is not recorded. What is certain is that he marries the Berliner Justine Sircken, and together they leave Germany again in 1780 to move to Rotterdam. However, the couple, which by then has at least four children, finds itself in a very difficult economic situation there, and so the Cabos family returns to Berlin in 1790 to Justine’s family. There, another son is born in 1793. Ultimately, Etienne finds his livelihood here as a dentist. He dies in Charlottenburg in 1808.
Some of Etienne’s descendants remain in Germany, while others find themselves in Austria, the Netherlands, the USA, and even Libya. Grandson Carl Immanuel is born in 1820 in Lippehne, Brandenburg. In 1854, the baker’s apprentice emigrates to Vienna.
Significance of the Object
“Cabos” – a name, a brand. For generations, it created the taste of the “Viennese and French pastry, dessert, and tea specialties” for which the confectionery was renowned. Today, the brand sounds foreign to younger ears – making them wonder how it is even pronounced. Is it French, hence “ka-bó”? Or perhaps German, thus “ká-boss”? Such adaptations of first or last names to the phonetic rules of the language spoken in the host country are common – just think of the well-known German example “Schimanski.” Often, the name is the only trace left that testifies to the fact that one’s ancestors immigrated…
In the case of the Cabos, the descendants pronounce their name in German. However, the French pronunciation was likely consciously suggested by the company founder Carl Immanuel Cabos, born in Brandenburg, to establish a connection to France and its famous sweet baking tradition. After all, instead of his German first name “Carl,” he chose the French spelling “Charles.” Thus, the brand name sounds “foreign” to those who did not grow up with it naturally. But isn’t there an incentive to learn something about this (immigration) history?
Do You Also Have …
… a story of emigration or immigration in your family that you would like to share with the German Emigration Center together with the related objects and documents for its collection? Then please contact Dr. Tanja Fittkau by phone at +49 471 / 90 22 0 – 0
or by e-mail at: t.fittkau@dah-bremerhaven.de