The German translation for Steinhardt is "hard as a stone." There are both Jewish and Christian Steinhardt familes. There was never a Jewish community in the town of Steinhardt in the Palatine but there was one in the town of Steinhart in Bavaria. For an excellent discourse on this name and the many Steinhardt families see Ignacio Steinardt's page at [http://www.steinhardts.com/STEINHARDT/Articles/Introduction/Book.html]