Bernhard Cahn
Bernhard Cahn (born 1793 ; died 1877 ) was a German Jew from an Alsatian rabbi family who worked for decades as a teacher, chasan and schochet in Mainz-Kastel . He kept a diary from 1817 to 1871 .
Bernhard Cahn was born as the first child of Abraham and Ella Cahn in 1793 in Balbronn in Alsace . Drafted as a soldier, he did military service in Napoleon's wars against Russia. Wounded in combat operations, he was treated in a hospital in Mainz while the French troops were withdrawing . With the support of the Mainz rabbi, he got a job as a teacher and cantor for the Jewish community in Kastel on the other side of the Rhine.
His diaries, which have been documented for more than 50 years, represent rare personal testimonies by a German Jew during the time of emancipation . The entries provide essential information on the living conditions in Mainz-Kastel and in the Grand Duchy of Hesse .
literature
- Arline Sachs: The diaries of Bernhard Cahn: A man of his time. Life in 19th century Germany , Avotaynu: New Jersey 2003.
- Peri Terbuyken: God, the Rhineland and the world in the 19th century . In: Monika Grübel, Peter Honnen (eds.): Yiddish in the Rhineland. On the trail of the languages of the Jews. Plain text: Essen 2013, pp. 63–83.
Web links
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Cahn, Bernhard |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Bähr, Beer |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | German teacher |
| DATE OF BIRTH | 1793 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Balbronn |
| DATE OF DEATH | 1877 |