Robert & Ottilie Reich

Wilhelm Reich’s brother Robert was born 1900. In 1923 he married his wife Ottilie Lang, who was living in Iacobeni (near Suceava), Romania. In 1971 Myron Sharaf did an interview with her. According to it, Ottilie attended the gymnasium in Czernowitz, just like Wilhelm and Robert. She “recalls particularly the happy vacations when she returned to the family’s country home, with holiday parties, and sleighing in the winter. Robert commented that such gaiety was not to be found in his home”. Robert died of tuberculosis in 1926 (like his father Leon) in a sanatorium in Italy. Later on Ottilie married Alfred Pink—the father of Wilhelm’s ex-wife Annie.

Ottilie and Robert had a daughter, Sigrid, who was born in 1923. Her relatives now life in the USA. According to them, Sigrid often visited Iacobeni (near Suceava), Romania. Her grandparents owned or stayed at the Riegler Hotel there (see below).

In the late 19th century Iacobeni became a renowned recreational area in nature. Among the many hotels were: Villa Terschanski, Villa Weiss, Pension Brucker, Restaurant Ellenbogen (“elbow” in German), Hotel Riegler—all had spa facilities with sulfur baths.