My mothers maiden name is Hershkowitz. The Hershkowitzes date all the way back to the Sofers. The family began the legacy in Pressburg. Pressburg was part of Czechoslovakia and before that Austria-Hungary and is now called Bratislava. In Pressburg the relations between the Jews and Christians weren't so good. The Jews were kicked out for seven years in 1360 but came back. After four more years financial dealings were allowed between Jews and Christians. In 1392 Christians were allowed to not pay back interest on the loans from Jews. In 1441 and 1450, all debts were canceled if you owed money to Jews. The first Shul was recorded to have been built in 1335. My 7x great grandfather was Rabbi Moshe Sofer, the Chasam Sofer. The Chasam Sofer was born in Frankfurt. Then the Sofers moved and lived mostly in Pressburg where they started a Yeshiva. The jobs in the town during the Chasam Sofer's time were mostly money lenders and merchants, artisans, vineyard owners, and vintners. In 1820 the community, led by the Chasam Sofer, built an elementary school that combined jewish studies and secular studies. Then they built a Talmud Torah that functioned simlarly A lot of years have sinced passs and now the Jewish population has really diminished due to the Holocausst. Before WWII the Jewish population was 18,000 and after it was 1,500. In the year 2000 there was 800 Jewish people.
At the beginning of the 18th century a beit midrash (religious study hall) was established in the Schlossberg quarter. In 1806 Rabbi Moses Sofer (The Chatam Sofer) was elected chief rabbi of the city. His period of office inaugurated the golden age of the Pressburg Yeshiva. Students between the ages of 18 and 19 were accepted, provided they had previously studied in a yeshiva recognized by Rabbi Sofer. The Yeshiva produced some of the best Rabbis and Scholars of that generation. After the Chasam Sofer it was taken over by his son, the Ksav Sofer, and by the end of the 19th century it had over 500 students. It was then taken over by his great grandson and then in the 1930's it has 200-300 students. The yeshiva building still exists but the actual yeshiva now was moved to Israel.
My cousin, Rabbi Akiva Sofer, greeting Kaiser Franz Josef and his wife on their visit to Pressburg