Hermann Simon (historian)

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Hermann Simon (2016)
Hermann Simon (4th from left), 1988

Hermann Simon (born April 21, 1949 in Berlin ) is a German historian and was director of the foundation “New Synagogue Berlin - Centrum Judaicum” from 1988 to 2015 .

Life

As the son of the Judaist Heinrich Simon and the classical philologist and philosophy historian Marie Jalowicz Simon , Hermann Simon grew up in East Berlin. His family was a member of the Jewish community in East Berlin, which was very small because of the Holocaust and emigration in the post-war years.

He studied history and oriental studies at the Humboldt University in Berlin , where he received his doctorate in 1975. From 1975 to 1985 he worked as a research assistant and custodian of oriental coins at the Münzkabinett of the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin .

In 1988 he took part in the first exhibition in East Berlin on Jewish life, which was shown in the Ephraim-Palais .

Since the foundation of the New Synagogue Berlin - Centrum Judaicum Foundation in the same year, he was its director. In this position, he had to keep in touch with the Ministry of State Security without being its unofficial employee (IM) . On September 1, 2015, he handed over management to his successor, Anja Siegemund . In 2015, Simon received the Order of Merit of the State of Berlin .

Along with Andreas Nachama, he is considered a representative of the “liberal wing” in the Berlin community .

Hermann Simon is married to Deborah née Rix and lives with his family in Berlin.

On January 12, 2018, he was awarded an honorary doctorate from the Department of History and Cultural Studies at the Free University of Berlin.

Fonts (selection)

In his numerous publications, Hermann Simon deals in particular with problems relating to the history of the Jews in Germany. Among other things, he was the editor of the series “Jewish Miniatures”, “Jewish Memoirs” and the Centrum Judaicum series of publications. He also published a number of articles in the field of numismatics and catalogs for Berlin exhibitions.

on topics of Jewish history
  • The New Synagogue Berlin. History. Present. Future , Edition Hentrich, Berlin 1991, ISBN 3-89468-014-8 .
  • The Berlin Jewish Museum on Oranienburger Strasse. History of a destroyed cultural site . Hentrich & Hentrich , Teetz 2000, ISBN 3-933471-14-1 .
  • with Beate Meyer, Chana C. Schütz (ed.): Jews in Berlin 1938–1945 . Accompanying volume to the exhibition of the same name in the foundation “New Synagogue Berlin - Centrum Judaicum”, Philo Verlagsgesellschaft, Berlin 2000, ISBN 3-8257-0168-9 .
  • Jewish Berlin. Culture card: museums, memorials, synagogues, cemeteries, restaurants, cafes, shopping, business , Mosse Verlag der Jüdischen Allgemeine, Berlin 2001, 2003, 2009, ISBN 3-935097-09-3 / ISBN 3-935097-01-8 ( Jewish Berlin , English).
  • with Salomon Korn , Julian Nida-Rümelin a . a .: Jewish Museum Berlin. Special publication for the opening. Mosse Verlag der Jüdischen Allgemeine, Berlin 2001, ISBN 3-935097-06-9 .
  • Moses Mendelssohn. Law-abiding Jew and German enlightener. Published by Centrum Judaicum (= Jewish miniatures volume 1). Hentrich & Hentrich, Teetz 2003, ISBN 3-933471-45-1 ; 2nd extended edition Verlag Hentrich & Hentrich, Berlin 2012, ISBN 978-3-942271-58-5 .
  • with Irene Stratenwerth (Ed.): Pioneers in Celluloid. Henschel, Berlin 2004, ISBN 3-89487-471-6 .
  • The Rykestrasse Synagogue 1904–2004 (= Jewish miniatures volume 17). "New Synagogue Berlin - Centrum Judaicum" Berlin / Verlag Hentrich & Hentrich, Teetz 2004, ISBN 3-933471-71-0 .
  • with Irene Stratenwerth, Roland Hinrichs: Lemberg. A trip to Europe. Links, Berlin 2007, ISBN 978-3-86153-459-4 (volume accompanying the exhibition of the foundation “New Synagogue Berlin - Centrum Judaicum”: “Where is Lemberg?” From September 2nd to December 2nd, 2007).
  • Marie Jalowicz Simon: Submerged. A young woman survived in Berlin 1940–1945. Edited by Irene Stratenwerth and Hermann Simon. With an afterword by Hermann Simon. Fischer, Frankfurt am Main 2014, ISBN 978-3-10-036721-1 (the story of his mother).
    • as an audio book: Nicolette Krebitz reads: Untergetaucht. A young woman survived in Berlin 1940–1945 , with original sound recordings by Marie Jalowicz Simon, edited by Irene Stratenwerth and Hermann Simon, directed by Vera Teichmann. Reading version: Irene Stratenwerth, 7 CDs (8 hours 16 min.), Argon, Berlin 2014, ISBN 978-3-8398-1316-4 .
on numismatic topics
  • The Sasanian coins of the Babylon discovery. Part of the coin treasure found during Koldewey's excavations in 1900 . In: Acta Iranica. Textes and Mémoires . Volume V: Varia, 1976 . Tehran 1977, pp. 149-337 (dissertation).
  • Sasanian coins . State museums in Berlin. Coin Cabinet 1978.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Claudia Keller: This is my baby. Hermann Simon, director of the foundation “New Synagogue Berlin - Centrum Judaicum”, hands over his office . In: Der Tagesspiegel August 30, 2015, p. 11.
  2. ↑ Bernd Kluge : The coin cabinet. Museum and science institute (= Das Münzkabinett. 9). Staatliche Museen zu Berlin - Münzkabinett, Berlin 2004, ISBN 3-88609-494-4 . P. 106.
  3. ↑ Ruth Freydank (arr.): "And teaches them: memory!". An exhibition by the Ministry of Culture and the State Secretary for Church Affairs in cooperation with the Association of Jewish Communities in the GDR to commemorate the fascist November pogrom 50 years ago in Berlin . State Museums, Berlin 1988, p. 111.
  4. ↑ Article on the cooperation with the Ministry for State Security of the GDR, Focus 45/1997 .
  5. ↑ New director at the Centrum Judaicum. Historian Anja Siegemund is moving from Jerusalem to Berlin , accessed on December 15, 2017.
  6. ↑ Jérôme Lombard: Honorary doctorate for Hermann Simon - the founding director of the Centrum Judaicum receives the award for his many years of commitment. In: Jüdische Allgemeine . Central Council of Jews in Germany, January 12, 2018, accessed on January 18, 2018 .
  7. ↑ Deutschlandfunk: Survival in the Nazi Era. A Jewish woman in Berlin in the 1940s , March 24, 2014.
personal data
SURNAME Simon, Hermann
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German historian
DATE OF BIRTH April 21, 1949
PLACE OF BIRTH Berlin