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A listing of members of the Talmud Association of Berlin, as of November, 1864. The listing is in alphabetical order. Jews first arrived in Berlin at some point in the 13th century. Prior to this period, German Jews had lived primarily in southern Germany, in communities along the Rhine. But in the 13th century, the Jews began to migrate to the cities of the north, to escape the persecution and expulsions that had become a constant since the Crusades began in 1096.
The Jews would not find matters much better in Berlin. In fact, the first time they are mentioned in any city documents is in an ordinance enacted in 1295, forbidding wool merchants to sell yarn to Jews. In the following centuries, they continued to be the target of oppression. In 1349, the Jews were accused of starting the Black Plague that was sweeping through Europe, and were expelled– but not before many were killed, and had their houses burned down. The Jews were allowed back in 1354, but were expelled once again in 1446. In 1510 and 1571, the Jews were again expelled en masse, after having been allowed to return in between. The motivations behind these expulsions varied: in 1510, the exile followed an unfounded accusation of host desecration; in 1446 and 1571, the Jews were simply told to leave so the government could confiscate their property.
Between expulsions, the Jews of Berlin were primarily engaged in money-lending and petty trade. They lived in a ghetto in the Grosser Judenhof ("Jew's Court") area, and on Juddenstrasse ("Jew Street").
As the 18th century drew to a close, Berlin became the center of the Haskalah, or Jewish enlightenment, which came to advocate Jewish equality and secularism. Internal communal authority subsequently broke down, and many Berlin Jews moved out of the ghetto, and became unaffiliated with traditional Judaism. In 1812, the Jews succeeded in attaining Prussian citizenship; the various regulations and taxes that had unfairly targeted the Jews were rescinded.
As Berlin's Jews continued to infiltrate the social and economic elite, their ranks continued to grow, despite skyrocketing intermarriage and apostasy. By the turn of the century, there were more than 110,000 Jews in Berlin, comprising more than 5% of the total population. Communal institutions thrived as well: between 1880 and 1930, eight elaborate new synagogues were constructed, raising Berlin's total to sixteen. Numerous Jewish newspapers were founded, and organizations such as B'nei B'rith, Poalei Zion, and Hibbat Zion attracted many new members. At the same time, however, anti-Semitism was on the rise, and, in the years leading up to the Nazi's ascendence to power in 1933, attacks on Jews increased. |
