born 8 November 1880 in Danzig (Polish: Gdańsk)
died 18 July 1941 in Auckland, New Zealand
Historical former address Am Markt 9
today Am Markt 5
Stumbling stone Am Markt 4
Date of stone-laying 19 May 2022

Julius Fürst was born into a Jewish family in Danzig (Polish: Gdańsk) on 8 November 1880. He was one of nine children of the merchant Nathan Fürst and his wife Berta (née Scheer). On 27 November 1906, Julius married Thea Bonn, born in Fürstenwalde on 2 July 1877, and later ran a department store at the market square.

Thea and Julius had two sons, Gerhard Otto Georg, born on 29 April 1910, and Ulrich Erich, born on 22 March 1912, who died in infancy. Following the premature death of Thea on 19 April 1917, Julius married Hildegard Adler, who was from Obernkirchen, on 8 February 1919.

When the National Socialists seized power in 1933, Hildegard and Julius Fürst decided to leave Germany. On 7 February 1935, they departed London for New Zealand on the New Zealand Shipping Company Limited’s ship “Rangitane”, which was bound for Wellington. Gerhard Fürst, Julius’ son from his first marriage, had already emigrated a few months earlier in the company of a fellow Fürstenwalde family who were friends of theirs, Walter and Luise Brandt. In New Zealand, the family ran a farm and simplified the spelling of their German surname to “Furst”. Julius died in Auckland on 18 July 1941.

Family members:
Edith Fürst née Meyer (later Furst)
Gerhard Otto Georg Fürst (later Furst)
Hildegard Fürst née Adler (later Furst)