Hochschule für die Wissenschaft des Judentums

The Berlin-based Academy for the Science of Judaism existed as academic research and study establishment of 1872 until 1942.

History

The Academy for the Science of Judaism opened in Berlin on May 6, 1872 as an independent educational establishment for the purposes of conservation, education and dissemination of Jewish Studies. Among its founding members were Abraham Geiger, Ludwig Philippson and Salomon Neumann. A separate building in the former Artillery Street 14, today Tucholskystraße 9 in Berlin-Mitte received the university in 1907.

From 1883 to 1922, again from 1933 to 1942 it was called " School for the Science of Judaism ".

Precursor was the Association for the Culture and Science of the Jews with his publication of Jewish Studies.

The university should be impartial, not bound to religious direction of scientific research and teaching as the basis have to treat the whole field of Jewish Studies and be available to all students without distinction of religion, and the faculty. In the following years but it was built more for the academic training of rabbis and religious teachers.

Famous teachers were Leo Baeck, David Cassel, Hermann Cohen, Ismar Elbogen, Serious Grumach, Julius Guttmann, Leopold Lucas, Chaim stone valley, Eugen Taeubler, Naftali Tur - Sinai Heart, Max Wiener.

Among the students included, inter alia, Felix Adler, Emil Fackenheim, Abraham Joshua Heschel, Regina Jonas, Alex Lewin, Samuel Poznanski, Solomon Schechter or Leo Trepp.

Final phase

During the Nazi reign of training courses have been set up for Jewish Social Work. A transfer of the Institute to London failed. On 19 July 1942 the facility was closed and confiscated the valuable inventory. The only remaining teacher and Rabbi Leo Baeck was deported in 1943 along with the rest of the students to the concentration camp Theresienstadt. Regina Jonas, who had been trained at the School for religious education teacher and as a result to the first female rabbi, had been deported already on November 6, 1942 along with her mother to Theresienstadt.

Post-history and current situation

As there was no European rabbis, School and more after the closure of the university, was founded in 1956, the Leo Baeck College in London. Was the founding director of the graduate of the College, the Rabbi Werner van der Zyl from Berlin. The first teachers were teachers of the university, such as Rabbi Dr. Leo Baeck, Rabbi Dr. Ignaz Maybaum, Dr. Aryeh Doerfler or Dr. Ellen Littmann. The first librarian, J. Dörfler, was a former librarian of the university.

The former high school building, Tucholsky Strasse 9 was acquired by the Central Council of Jews in Germany and opened as " Leo Baeck House " on 19 April 1999. It serves as the Central Council seat

In 1979, the College of Jewish Studies in Heidelberg was founded in sponsorship of the Central Council of Jews in Germany, which is Europe's largest facility of its kind today and has its own right to award doctorates. It offers both Jewish and non-Jewish students to various science-oriented and community-based Bachelor's and Master's programs including state examination programs for Jewish religious education.

In 1999, the Abraham Geiger College was founded at the University of Potsdam for the education of liberal rabbis. It was part of the library of Leo Baeck, who had been restituted in 2006 the family. On 14 September 2006, the first three rabbis were ordained in Germany since the Holocaust in the New Synagogue in Dresden.

Academy for Jewish Studies

In addition to the university (or educational institution ) for the Science of Judaism there were also in Berlin (and in 1919 ) as a free place of research founded Academy of the Science of Judaism, at the initiative of Hermann Cohen, Franz Rosenzweig inspired by the font it is time, came about. It existed until 1934 and started with the sections: Talmud - General History - History of Literature - Philosophy - Statistics and Economic Studies. Within this academy, there was a research institute; Fritz Bamberger was one of his well-known researchers. The first director was Eugene Taeubler.