Background
She was the daughter of a physician, descended from a Portuguese Jewish family of Hamburg, Benjamin de Lemos (1711–1789) and Esther (1742–1817), née Charleville.
She was the daughter of a physician, descended from a Portuguese Jewish family of Hamburg, Benjamin de Lemos (1711–1789) and Esther (1742–1817), née Charleville.
Markus Herz had studied medicine at the University of Königsberg, one of only three universities that accepted Jews—but only in its medical faculty.
Henriette Herz had grown up in the Berlin of the Jewish emancipation and had shared tutors apparently with the Mendelssohn"s daughters. She was said to be an extremely beautiful woman. Most notable men and women in Berlin were said to have attended her salon.
Alexander von Humboldt often visited and even received Hebrew lessons from Henriette.
The theologian Friedrich Schleiermacher was another frequent visitor.