Levi Strauss was born in Buttenheim, Bavaria, in 1829.
Strauss was born Löb Strauss into a Jewish family in the Kingdom of Bavaria. Buttenheim is a small town in what is now the German state of Bavaria, near Bamberg. He later emigrated to the United States and became known as Levi Strauss.
In 1853, Strauss settled in San Francisco, where he established a dry-goods business. His company eventually partnered with tailor Jacob Davis, whose riveted trousers became the foundation of Levi Strauss & Co.’s jeans business.
A common mix-up is confusing Buttenheim with Bamberg, the larger nearby city. Buttenheim is the specific birthplace identified in biographies of Strauss, and it now has a museum dedicated to his life and the company’s origins.