Julius blue

Grave site in the Jewish cemetery on Eckenheimer Landstrasse in Frankfurt

Julius Blau (born May 31, 1861 in Pleschen , Province of Posen ; † February 16, 1939 in Frankfurt am Main ) was a Jewish German lawyer and notary.

life and work

Blau had already come to Frankfurt as a trainee lawyer, where he was admitted to the regional court in 1890. In 1908 he was appointed judicial councilor and in 1920 notary .

Blau was active in Jewish associations early on. Together with Fritz Auerbach and others, he founded the Liberal Association for Jewish Community Life, and was elected to the board of the Jewish community committee in 1900. From 1903 to 1939 he chaired the board of directors of the Israelite community.

Here he was able to actively participate in the development of the Jewish community in Frankfurt. The building of the Westend synagogue , the new building of the Philanthropin and a new hospital, the creation of the new cemetery, the expansion of the Börneplatz synagogue and the move of the municipal administration to the former Rothschild bank in Fahrgasse were milestones in his work.

The change in the community constitution, the reorganization of religious instruction in schools, the creation of a liberal culture commission, an exemplary expansion of the ritual institutions, the establishment of the community library and museum, the inclusion of youth welfare in community work are other areas of activity in which he became involved.

Julius Blau's sphere of activity expanded even further, however, and included the influential work in numerous Jewish aid organizations that helped many co-religionists in Germany and abroad, especially during the Nazi era . As a member of the board of directors of the Jewish Colonization Association , Blau has been instrumental in the areas of settlement, immigration and emigration since 1903. Shortly before his death, he had consulted with aid agencies in Paris.

During the November pogroms in 1938 , his property on Reichenbachweg in Falkenstein - today a district of Königstein im Taunus - was set on fire. The city's documentation states: ... the fire brigade was prevented from carrying out the extinguishing work by civilians present, but they were not recognized.

literature

• Sturm-Godramstein, Heinz: Jews in Königstein , Königstein im Taunus, 2nd edition 1998.
• Barbara Dölemeyer, Counselor Dr. Julius Blau , online résumé (PDF; 185 kB) on the website of the Frankfurt Bar Association, accessed on January 5, 2010