The founders

The roots of the Foundation can be traced back to the Dusseldorf couple Robert and Hedwig Samuel. The Jewish businessman Robert Samuel (born in Dusseldorf in 1871) was involved in the import and sales of tobacco products and supplied among others the royal dynasty of Wurttemberg. In 1927, he made provisions in his will for the creation of the Foundation. After the death of the nonparous couple, the Foundation was to serve as a charitable organisation especially helping “widows and orphans, infirmaries, and old peoples' homes”. As an financial base he contributed the Hohenzollernhaus into the Foundation.

After the death of Robert Samuel in January 1931, the Prussian Ministry of Justice granted permission for the Foundation to be set up in 1932. In the years to follow, public authorities and national socialist organisations tried to obtain access to the alleged Jewish estate. With parts of the government fighting against each other, and the fact that the Foundation did not concentrate its activities solely on Jewish people, it managed to survive the era of the Third Reich.

After the death of her husband, Hedwig Samuel (born in 1892 in Langenfeld) got married for a second time. Her husband was Theo Olbert, a doctor. Up to her death in April 1976, she was active as an advisor to the Foundation's board of directors, which, at that time, was exclusively responsible for administrative operations.