Paul Stephanus Cassel

Paul Stephanus Cassel

Paulus Stephanus Cassel (actually Selig Cassel ; born February 27, 1821 in Glogau , Silesia , † December 23, 1892 in Berlin-Friedenau ) was a German journalist , Christian theologian and writer of Jewish origin .

Life

Origin, first professional activities, conversion

Paulus Stephanus Cassel was born the son of the Jewish sculptor Hirsch Cassel. His original first name was Selig. Cassel graduated from grammar school in Schweidnitz and then studied history at the Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Berlin , where he heard, among other things, the lectures of Leopold Ranke .

In 1849, as a staunch royalist in Erfurt, he first published the Constitutionelle Zeitung and later - from 1850 to 1856 - the Erfurter Zeitung . On May 28, 1855, he received his Christian baptism in the Evangelical Church of Büßleben near Erfurt . He then became librarian at the Royal Erfurt library . A year later he was promoted to secretary of the Erfurt Academy and received the title of professor from Friedrich Wilhelm IV because of his loyal attitude and work .

Around 1860 he held the position of high school teacher in Berlin for a short time, but worked primarily as a freelance writer. In 1866 and 1867 he was elected to the Prussian House of Representatives as a member of the Conservative Party .

Cassel's grave in Berlin-Kreuzberg

Missionary of the Jewish Christian Mission Society

Around 1867 Cassel came into contact with the London Society for the Propagation of Christianity among the Jews , which hired him as a travel preacher. When he assumed the duties of a pastor at the time Free Church oriented Christ Church in Berlin. Here he made a lasting impression on the young Adolf Damaschke , who later became a teacher and soil reformer .

While his theological work in the first phase of his 24-year pastoral ministry was primarily focused on mission to the Jews , in the last years of his life he fought increasingly against the flaring up anti-Semitism of the late 19th century.

In 1872 Cassel received an honorary doctorate from the University of Vienna .

Cassel's brother David worked as a lecturer at the Berlin University for the Science of Judaism .

Paulus Stephanus Cassel died in 1892 at the age of 71 in Friedenau near Berlin. His grave monument made of black granite on Cemetery I of the Jerusalem and New Churches in Berlin-Kreuzberg has been preserved, but a medallion with his portrait has been lost. His very extensive library was auctioned off in December 1893 in a five-day auction.

plant

Paulus Stephanus Cassel was active as a writer in many fields; The following (incomplete) bibliography gives an impression of this:

Historical writings:

• German speeches. Berlin 1871.
• "Christmas, Origins, Customs and Superstitions - A Contribution to the History of the Christian Church and the German People," Erlangen 1856
• From Warsaw to Olomouc. Berlin 1851.
• Historical experiments: Notes on Benjamin of Tudela. French city names. Apology. Berlin 1847.

Theological writings:

• The Book of Judges and Ruth. In: Theological-Homiletic Biblical Work. JP Lange, ed., 1887.
• The book of Esther. A contribution to the history of the Orient, translated from the original Hebrew text, explained historically and theologically. Berlin and Leipzig 1885.

Fight against anti-Semitism:

• How I think about mission to the Jews. Berlin 1886.
• Against Heinrich von Treitschke - for the Jews. Berlin 1880.
• Ahasverus, the legend of the eternal Jew with a critical protest against Eduard von Hartmann and Adolf Stöcker . Berlin 1885.
• Der Judengott and Richard Wagner , an answer to the Bayreuth papers. Berlin 1885.

Geographical descriptions:

• About Thuringian place names. Erfurt 1856–58.
• From the Nile to the Ganges. Wanderings into the oriental world. Berlin 1880.

Hymn collection:

• Hallelujah. One hundred and eight and eighty spiritual songs. Berlin 1889.

Literary Studies:

• Eddic Studies. Weimar 1856.
• The Swan. 3rd edition Berlin 1872.
• Rose and nightingale. Berlin 1860.

literature

• Cassel, Paulus Stephanus. In: Lexicon of German-Jewish Authors . Volume 5: Carmo – Donat. Edited by the Bibliographia Judaica archive. Saur, Munich 1997, ISBN 3-598-22685-3 , pp. 38-47.

Web links

Commons : Paulus Stephanus Cassel  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Wikisource: Paulus Stephanus Cassel  - Sources and full texts

• Literature by and about Paulus Stephanus Cassel in the catalog of the German National Library
• Franz Brümmer:  Cassel, Paulus . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 47, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1903, p. 465 f.
• Cassel, Paulus Stephanus (Blessed) in the Jewish Encyclopedia (English)

Individual evidence

1. ^ Hans-Jürgen Mende: Lexicon of Berlin burial places . Pharus-Plan, Berlin 2018, ISBN 978-3-86514-206-1 , p. 212.
2. ^ Teltower Kreisblatt dated December 19, 1893, p. 2.