Alexander Haindorf

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Alexander Haindorf (born May 2, 1784 in Lenhausen (today Finnentrop ), † October 16, 1862 at Gut Caldenhof near Hamm ) was a doctor, Jewish reformer, psychologist, university lecturer, publicist, art collector and co-founder of the Westphalian Art Association .

Alexander Haindorf and his grandchildren (painting by Caspar Göke from 1854. Today in the State Museum for Art and Cultural History Münster )

Origin and education

Haindorf was born as Hirsch-Alexander (Hebrew Zwi Nessannel ) as the son of a merchant. Only in 1808 did he take the name Haindorf. His devout parents initially envisaged him for the career of a rabbi , so his childhood and early youth were determined by Talmudic studies . He learned early on that the majority of Catholic society rejected the Jewish population. After the death of his parents, he first grew up with his grandparents in Hamm. They tried to push him into a commercial profession and to suppress his scientific interest. Some time later he came to the house of the liberal head of the Jewish community in the county of Mark Anschel Hertz . This enabled Haindorf to be the first Jew ever to attend the Hammonense grammar school . Haindorf then studied medicine , psychology and philosophy in Würzburg , Jena and Heidelberg . In addition, he also heard numerous lectures from other subject areas, in particular from the field of history . In 1810 he completed his studies with an award-winning doctoral thesis. In the following year he qualified as a professor with a paper on the pathology and therapy of mental and mental illnesses .

Medical and psychological teaching

Then he began as the first Jewish private lecturer with lectures in Heidelberg. When Haindorf was refused a position as a university professor, not only for objective but also religious reasons, he left the university in 1812 and went on a study trip to France until 1814 . There he mainly visited asylums and asylums for the poor. Haindorf wrote a book about the results. After returning to Germany, he first gave psychological lectures in Göttingen and in 1815 entered the Prussian military service as a hospital doctor in Wesel . After his transfer to Münster , he began to teach at the University of Münster and, after its closure, at the surgical college. He was refused a job as a professor because of his Jewishness. Therefore, he opened a practice as a neurologist, which was especially popular with the Westphalian nobility.

Advocate for the emancipation of the Jewish population

Former building of the Marks Haindorf Foundation in Münster

Haindorf was an advocate of the emancipation of the Jews - he himself spoke of the amalgamation of Jewish and Christian culture. In 1822 Haindorf became a member of the reform-oriented " Association for Culture and Science of the Jews " in Berlin . A few years later, together with his father-in-law, the merchant Elias Marks in Hamm, he founded the “ Association for the Promotion of Crafts Among the Jews and for the Establishment of a School, in which poor and orphaned children are taught and future Jewish school teachers are to be formed. “The aim was to integrate the Jews into civil society in order to ultimately achieve tolerance for the Jews themselves. The model school attached to teacher training followed a holistic pedagogical approach. This included the inclusion of musical and sporting education and also co-education. She tried to convey humanity, practical tolerance and Prussian patriotism. The good reputation led to the fact that until 1839 high-ranking Protestant officials who had been transferred to Münster were sending their children to school. The association was supported by President Ludwig von Vincke and its responsibilities were initially extended to the administrative districts of Münster and Arnsberg and, after merging with a similar association in Minden, to the entire province of Westphalia and later to the Rhine province . Haindorf remained chairman of the association until his death. This was then converted into the Marks Haindorf Foundation .

Art connoisseur and publicist

Grave of Alexander Haindorf in the Jewish cemetery in Munster

In addition to this activity, Haindorf was a member of numerous non-Jewish associations in Münster and Westphalia. In 1831 he was a co-founder of the Westphalian Art Association. As an art connoisseur, Haindorf collected around 400 paintings, sculptures and small works of art, mainly by Old German and Old Dutch masters. The last work he acquired was the central panel of the Fröndenberg Altarpiece. The collection became an important part of the Münster State Museum. The Fröndenberger Altar has been owned by the Museum for Art and Cultural History in Dortmund since 1950 . Haindorf was also a prolific publicist. Initially he wrote mainly about medical topics, later he turned to popular scientific historical representations. He wrote a history of the Germans (Hamm 1821), a history of Spain and Portugal (1830) and a history of Italy (1835) as a “historical reading book for women and girls from the educated classes”. He spent the last few years with his daughter in Hamm.

souvenir

Hainsdorf was buried in the Jewish cemetery in Münster . His life and work is presented in the Jewish Museum Westphalia . In October 2010, Haindorf's descendants handed over his library, which consisted of 2,861 books, to the University and State Library of Münster (ULB).

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. Bernhard Brilling: Alexander Haindorf - his efforts to get a job as a university professor (1812–1815) and his work as a lecturer in Münster (1816–1818 and 1825–1847) In: Westfälische Zeitschrift Vol. 132/133 1981/82 p. 69– 120vc
  2. ^ Diethard Aschoff:  Alexander Haindorf. In: Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon (BBKL). Volume 20, Bautz, Nordhausen 2002, ISBN 3-88309-091-3 , Sp. 693-706.
    juedischeliteraturwestfalen.de: Alexander Haindorf , Diethard Aschoff, in: Friedrich W. Bautz: Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon. Hamm 1975ff. Volume XX (2002), accessed April 8, 2014
  3. Westfälischer Anzeiger from October 20, 2012, A universal scholar from Hamm , Hammer local section