Siegfried Altmann (pedagogue)

Siegfried Altmann (born July 12, 1887 in Nikolsburg , Austria-Hungary ; died September 14, 1963 in New York City ), was a teacher in education for the blind and, before 1938, director of the Israelite Institute for the Blind in Vienna .

Life

Altmann was one of nine children of the Jewish businessman Heinrich A. Altmann and his wife Betty, née Ranzenhofer. His parents' house was in the municipality II of Nikolsburg, a Jewish community with its own administration. His grandfathers Abraham Altmann and David Ranzenhofer both came from Nikolsburg, as did his parents. Together with his four brothers and four sisters, he grew up in simple but sheltered circumstances. He studied philosophy and psychology at the universities of Brno , Prague and Vienna . In 1913 he married Elsie Siebenschein. The couple had a son named Gideon.

From 1907 to 1921 he taught as a lecturer and professor at the Israelite Institute for the Blind in Vienna, interrupted by his military service during the First World War , during which he was active in helping the war blind , before he was director of the Israelite Institute for the Blind from 1922 to 1938. Altmann endeavored to apply the latest pedagogical learning methods in the classroom, introducing stenotype, law, philosophy and foreign language correspondence into the classroom, as well as accompanying professional training. In addition to the traditional blind professions basket weaver and brush maker , he expanded the curriculum to include wood and iron work, stringing tennis rackets and training as a masseur. He advocated giving students access to secondary schools and universities with sighted students. The training also enabled them to attend a university and study at law, philosophical and political science faculties.

In addition to his work at the Israelite Institute for the Blind on the Hohe Warte, Altmann's efforts to provide the best possible education and access to knowledge for the blind led to further activities. In 1925 he was co-founder and until 1939 adviser of a home for blind girls of the Jewish association Providentia in the 2nd district, Darwingasse No. 5 in Vienna and in 1930 founder of a Jewish institute for the blind in Warsaw. In addition, from 1924 to 1934 he worked as a consultant for the city's education and welfare system for the needs of the blind. From 1933 to 1938 he was the founder and advisor of the Jewish Braille Library for Central Europe and in 1936 he founded the Jewish library for the blind “Alexander Hecht”.

Altmann campaigned for an international network of didactic approaches and innovations in the education of the blind with specialist colleagues. On his initiative the annual conference of teachers for the blind in Austria was brought into being and he himself attended the conferences of teachers for the blind in Germany. From 1929 to 1938 he was President of the World Council for Education of the Blind and participated in conferences such as the 1931 World Conference for the Blind in New York as a member of the Austrian delegation, where his teaching methods were received with interest. He published his findings and was the founder and 1934/35 editor of the journal Archive for the blind and for educational work on the visually impaired . Politically active, he was President of the Zionist Organization of Austria from 1929 to 1931 .

After the annexation of Austria in 1939 it became impossible to keep the school going on the Hohe Warte, the students were sent home as far as possible and Altmann emigrated to the USA on the run from National Socialism . There he was involved in the Austrian exile politics, the Free Austrian Movement , from 1942 in the Austrian National Committee and the Austrian Jewish Representive Committee, and also taught again. He worked as a lecturer at Fordham University , from 1944 advisor for the Lighthouse of New York for the Blind of Israel . From 1943 he was Business Director of the newly founded Austrian Institute for Science, Arts and Economy in New York (later Austrian Forum), from 1958 its director.

He died in New York City in 1963 after a brief illness. The memorial service took place in the Riverside Memorial Chapel .

Publications (selection)

• The Reformation of Welfare for the Blind . Lecture given at the 6th Austrian Blind Welfare Day (Blind Teacher's Day) in Vienna on September 30, 1918. Publishing house of the Central Association for the Austrian Blind, 1919
• Archives for the blind and for educational work on the visually impaired . Ed .: Siegfried Altmann, Zoltan Toth, Ottokar Wanecek. Volume 1, No. 1–5 / 6. Schöler, Vienna, 1934–1935
• Siegfried Altmann: Memoirs. Fragment . Manuscript, no year. Excerpt in: Albert Lichtblau (Ed.): As if we had belonged . Vienna: Böhlau, 1999, pp. 305-314

literature

• Werner Röder, Herbert A. Strauss (ed.): Politics, economy, public life. Walter de Gruyter, 1980, ISBN 9783110970289 , pp. 13-14

Web links

• Leo Baeck Institute, Center for Jewish History, New York: Siegfried Altmann Collection - Correspondence and Writings
• Center for Jewish History : Altmann, Siegfried, 1887-1963 .
• Siegfried Altmann in the Vienna History Wiki of the City of Vienna

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Albert Lichtblau: As if we belonged: Austrian-Jewish life stories from the Habsburg monarchy . Böhlau Verlag, Vienna 1999, ISBN 978-3-205-98722-2 , pp. 307, 308 ( books.google.de )
2. ^ Max Kreutzberger (Ed.): Leo Baeck Institute New York Library and Archive. Catalog Volume 1. German-speaking Jewish communities, newspapers, magazines, yearbooks, almanacs and calendars, unpublished memoirs and memorabilia . Series of scientific papers by the Leo Baeck Institute. Mohr Siebeck, Tübingen 1970, ISBN 978-3-16-830772-3 ( books.google.com )
3. ↑ Outlook for the Blind, Vol. XXXII, No. 5, December 1938, Siegfried Altmann Collection, pp. 184, 198-199. In: archive.org. Retrieved December 29, 2015 . 
4. ↑ The New Beacon, Vol. XXII, No. 263, December 15, 1938, Siegfried Altmann Collection. In: archive.org. Retrieved February 7, 2016 . 
5. ↑ Susanne Blume Berger, Michael Doppelhofer, Gabriele Mauthe: Manual Austrian authors of Jewish origin 18th to 20th century. Volume 1: A-I. Edited by the Austrian National Library. Saur, Munich 2002, ISBN 3-598-11545-8 , p. 28 ( limited preview in the Google book search).
6. ^ Jewish blind people in Vienna. (No longer available online.) In: doew.at. doewweb01.doew.at, archived from the original on December 23, 2015 ; accessed on December 29, 2015 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
7. ↑ Evelyn Adunka : The changes in the Viennese Jewish community in the interwar period 1918 to 1938 ( Memento of the original from January 1, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . Lecture manuscript, p. 15 
8. ^ Rudolf Vierhaus: Aachen - Braniss . Walter de Gruyter, 2005, ISBN = 978-3-11-094657-4 ( books.google.com )
9. ↑ Albert Lichtblau: As if we belonged: Austrian-Jewish life stories from the Habsburg monarchy . Böhlau Verlag, Vienna 1999, ISBN 978-3-205-98722-2 , p. 305 ( books.google.de )
10. ↑ Horst Weber, Stefan Drees (eds.): Sources for the history of emigrated musicians 1933-1950 / Sources Relating to the History of Emigré Musicians 1933-1950. Volume 2: New York . Walter de Gruyter, 2005, ISBN 978-3-11-095134-9 , p. 48 ( books.google.de )
11. ^ Institute for Advanced Technology in the Humanities, University of Virginia: Altmann, Siegfried, 1887-1963
12. ^ Obituary in the New York Times of September 16, 1963, Siegfried Altmann Collection. In: archive.org. Retrieved December 29, 2015 .