I find the name Lt. David Bauernfreund Lt. David Bauernfreund to be interesting... I have heard the name Bauernfeind, with origins in the 12th century as knights and their helpers who were hard on farmers / peasants... it is a family name you sometimes see in Bavaria... but bauernfreund is new to me. I was once told that back in the Kaiser years it was possible to have Jewish names "Germanized" for a fee... does anyone know anything about the "How's and when's ". Apparently the names were not German as such, just germanized versions of the original name.