Jewish Higher Education in the Weimar Republic and under National Socialism

In the nineteenth century, Jewish educational institutions were established in Germany that in part survived far into the Nazi period. From a systematic historical perspective, we will pursue the question: What was Jewish higher education in Germany? We will examine three Prussian rabbinical seminaries, Frankfurt and Berlin as intellectual centers, as well as the »Wissenschaft des Judentums« and its research on Jewish tradition. As a critical thinker once proclaimed on the essence of historiography, education does not exist as an end in itself, as it performs an important service for life. The focus on Jewish higher education and Jewish scholarship is inseparable from the focus on a vanished civilization. We will illuminate concepts like emancipation, Zionism, assimilation, Jewish philosophy, the Jewish question, religious law, redemption, and secularization. To this end, we will explore historiographic and contemporary works alongside individual archival materials and scholarly letters. The authors include Leopold Zunz, Leo Baeck, Franz Rosenzweig, Leo Strauss, Ismar Elbogen, Selma Stern, Hannah Arendt, and Isaak Heinemann, among others.

Literature:
David Sorkin, Wilhelm von Humboldt: The Theory and Practice of Self-Formation (Bildung), 1791–1810, in: Journal of the History of Ideas 44 (1983), nr. 1, 55–73.

Open for senior students: no
Enrollment: see central date of the History Seminar
Examinations: Presentation and term paper