The Rappolthaus on Mönckebergstrasse is one of the large office buildings in the Altstadt that bear witness to the success of Jewish entrepreneurs. It was built in 1912 by Fritz Höger as the company headquarters for Rappolt & Söhne. The family business was one of the most important German producers of men's clothing and was especially known for raincoats. The Rappolthaus, workplace of more than 600 people, was, like many Kontorhäuser, state-of-the-art equipped for the time. Among other things, it had numerous elevators, an elaborate ventilation system and drinking water points fed from the building's own well.   After the Rappolt family converted to Christianity at the beginning of the century, some members returned to the Jewish community in the 1920s. Under National Socialism, the company quickly suffered from declining sales and political discrimination. Co-owner Franz Rappolt was expelled from the Hamburg Chamber of Commerce, and from 1936 Rappolt & Söhne was gradually expropriated, its Jewish employees laid off by the new owners.   After his retirement in 1940, Franz Rappolt became involved in the Jewish community, including the administration of the Paulinenstift [ÜO 1]. While his sons Ernst and Fritz managed to escape abroad, his late attempts to emigrate were unsuccessful. His brother Paul died of a stroke in 1940, his wife Charlotte took her own life in 1941, as did his brothers Otto and Ernst. Franz Rappolt was deported to Theresienstadt in July 1942 and murdered there.   After partial destruction during World War II, the house was rebuilt in a simplified form; however, the historicizing lettering "Rappolt House" on the entrance gate was not added until the 1980s. Since 2007, a stumbling stone commemorates Franz Rappolt. Architekt 1954: Gerhard Langmaack

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