Society for Christian-Jewish Cooperation Stuttgart
The Society for Christian-Jewish Cooperation Stuttgart eV was founded in 1948 and is one of the largest societies of its kind in Germany. The society is a member of the German Coordination Council of the Societies for Christian-Jewish Cooperation and through this in the International Council of Christian and Jews (ICCJ). There is a close cooperation with the “Stiftung Stuttgarter Lehrhaus”. The company's activities are organized by the board of directors and an office.
history
The Stuttgart Society is one of the earliest associations for Christian-Jewish cooperation in Germany and was founded on December 7, 1948. The experiences of the National Socialist dictatorship as well as interreligious and interdenominational motives played an important role. The UN Declaration of Human Rights on December 10, 1948 also belongs to the immediate time context.
After the founding of the Society for Christian-Jewish Cooperation in Munich in 1948, one of its co-founders, Everett R. Clinchy (1897–1986), President of the International Council of Christian and Jews ( ICCJ ), explored the situation in Stuttgart. Clinchy spoke in Stuttgart “with leading Germans and allies” and was also received by the city of Stuttgart. The situation for a dialogue between the religions was favorable, because the newly founded Jewish community in 1945 had consolidated itself decisively: it had just been recognized as a corporation under public law and had hired its own rabbi.
The religious upheavals of the post-war period also inspired the founding of the Stuttgart Society for Christian-Jewish Cooperation: The ecumenical conference in Oxford in 1946 and the founding of the ICCJ (1947), of which the GCJZ Stuttgart is a member to this day. Nonetheless, in the founding years, there were repeated complaints about “lack of sensitivity and anti-Semitism”.
The basic structure of a tripartite board of directors has not changed to this day: The Ministerialrat Heinrich Hassinger was elected as Protestant, the Senior Studies Director Lehmann as Catholic and the President of the Regional Court, Robert Perlen, as Jewish. Of the numerous committees that were supposed to support the work of the board, only the educators' committee still exists.
goals and tasks
The Christian-Jewish dialogue, the memory of the Holocaust and the resulting responsibility as well as the advocacy of human rights have shaped the association since 1948. Christian and Jewish citizens work together there for justice, freedom and solidarity. The GCJZ actively supports the encounter of people of different religions, cultures, social areas and nationalities, is for the observance of human rights, against racism and intolerance, anti-Judaism and anti-Semitism of all kinds, advocates fairness and friendship with Israel, sees itself as an active member civil society, faces up to the responsibility that arises from history and advocates a memory “that has an impact on the future” (Roman Herzog). The teacher exchange with Israel and the Jenny Heymann Prize, which has been awarded since 2014, are further focal points of the GCJZ Stuttgart.
Board
Since March 2011 Martin Schairer has been the Protestant chairman and speaker, Angelika Jung-Sattinger the Jewish chairman and Alfred Hagemann the Catholic chairman. In 2013 Elionora Rosenkranz took over the office of Jewish chairman.
literature
- Esther Braunwarth: The Christian-Jewish dialogue in Germany using the example of the societies for Christian-Jewish cooperation (GCJZ). Tübingen 2009.
- Esther Braunwarth: Intercultural cooperation in Germany using the example of societies for Christian-Jewish cooperation. Munich 2011.
- GCJZ Stuttgart (Ed.): Against forgetting: 40 years of the CJZ in Stuttgart, a small anniversary publication of the Society for Christian-Jewish Cooperation Stuttgart eV on June 25, 1989. Stuttgart 1989.
- Alfred Hagemann, Eberhard Kleinmann, Michael Schoberth (ed.): Perspektiven. 65 years of the Society for Christian-Jewish Cooperation Stuttgart eV, Essen 2013.
- Paul Sauer, Sonja Hosseinzadeh (ed.): Jewish life in the course of time. 170 years of the Israelite religious community, 50 years of the new synagogue in Stuttgart. Gerlingen 2002.