Ignaz Semmelweis married Mária Weidenhofer (1837-1910), who came from a well-to-do German-speaking family from Pest, on 1 June 1857. Her father, Ignác Weidenhofer gained his wealth from trading, similarly to the Semmelweis family. At that time, Ignác Semmelweis had already been an appointed professor at the university of Pest, and in 1857 he was also invited to teach at the University of Zurich. However, he did not accept the position, a decision most probably influenced by his upcoming wedding. The marriage was blessed in the parish church of Our Lady of the Snows in Krisztinaváros, Budapest. The ceremony was performed by Ignác Semmelweis’s brother, Károly Fülöp (1813-1898), who had regained his right to celebrate a public mass only a year before. He was stripped off that right when he was punished for his role in the War of Independence. Károly, who had his name Hungarianised to Szemerényi already in 1844, was a defining figure in the group of Germans from Pest-Buda who exposed their patriotic feelings towards their Hungarian homeland and encouraged their fellow-citizens to do the same. He was also a highly respected figure within the family, not only as the priest performing the services at weddings and baptisms, but also as someone exerting strong intellectual influence.
