Simon Höchheimer

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Simon Höchheimer (* 1744 in Veitshöchheim ; † May 26, 1828 in Fürth ) was a German physician and religious educator for the equality of Jews .

Life

The Jewish merchant's son Simon Höchheimer was born in Veitshöchheim in 1744, where an Orthodox Jewish rural community had existed since 1644 and a synagogue since 1730 . After attending the Jewish elementary school , he autodidactically acquired mathematical , economic and geographical knowledge. At the age of thirty he went to Berlin , made his way as a tutor and found access to the intellectual circles around the philosopher Moses Mendelssohn . Armed with a letter of recommendation from Mendelssohn, he hoped for a job with the enlightened Prince-Bishop Franz Ludwig von Erthal in Würzburg (in 1786 Erthal allowed Isaak Bamberger from Heidingsfeld as the first Jew to study medicine at Würzburg University). But Höchheimer's suggestions for improving the social situation of the Jews fell on deaf ears, despite the support of Franz Oberthür , professor of dogmatics at the University of Würzburg .

After years of wandering through Franconia and Bavaria and a renewed stay in Berlin, he began to study medicine at the University of Mainz and finally became the first Jew to acquire a doctorate in medicine from the Albert Ludwig University of Freiburg in 1791.

He published medical and educational writings as well as thoughts on the emancipation of the Jews. With the drama Der Spiegel für Israeliten (Der Spiegel für Israeliten) from 1816/17, he reacted to the stage success Our traffic at the time , a farce full of anti-Jewish clichés .

After years of successful professional activity in Freiburg im Breisgau , and later in princely services in Vienna and Moravia , Höchheimer returned to Würzburg. An appointment as an official coroner , believed to be safe, was withdrawn from him. In Fürth he finally found a job as a poor doctor. Until his death on May 26, 1828, Simon Höchheimer fought for equality between Jews and Christian citizens.

Works

  • About Moses Mendelssohn's death. Stahel, Vienna / Leipzig 1786 ( digitized version ).
  • The mirror for Israelites. A counterpart to the posse: "Our traffic". Campe, Nuremberg 1817 ( digitized ).
  • Sketches of my earlier life and of the things worth knowing about civil and religious life, along with a new type of instruction in four paragraphs. Volkhart, Fürth 1824 ( digitized version ).

literature

  • Karl-Heinz Grossmann: Würzburgs Mendelssohn: the life and work of the Jewish enlightener Simon Höchheimer (1744-1828). Königshausen & Neumann, Würzburg 2011.
  • Gunnar Och, Gerhard Renda: Simon Höchheimer (1744–1829), doctor and writer . In: Manfred Treml , Wolf Weigand (Hrsg.): History and culture of the Jews in Bavaria: CVs (= publications on Bavarian history and culture. No. 18). Saur, Munich 1988, pp. 43-47.
  • Gunnar Och: Simon Höchheimer - a Jewish educator from Franconia . In: Anzeiger des Germanisches Nationalmuseums 1988. Nürnberg 1989, pp. 69–78.
  • Gerhard Renda: "Of course I am a Jew: I feel this serious obstacle." Research on Simon Höchheimer. In: Anzeiger des Germanisches Nationalmuseums 1988. Nürnberg 1989, pp. 59–68.
  • Werner Wilhelm Schnabel: Sketches of a New Type of Instruction? Simon Höchheimer presents his philotheque . In: Andrea M. Kluxen, Julia Krieger, Daniel Goltz (Ed.): Judaism and Enlightenment in Franconia (= Franconia Judaica. Vol. 5). Würzburg 2011, pp. 85-108.
  • Höchheimer, Simon. In: Lexicon of German-Jewish Authors . Volume 12: Hirs – Jaco. Edited by the Bibliographia Judaica archive. Saur, Munich 2008, ISBN 978-3-598-22692-2 , pp. 154-157.
  • Simon Höchheimer Society (ed.): Life and work of Simon Höchheimer. Festschrift for the tenth birthday of the Simon Höchheimer Society. Veitshöchheim 2005.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Ursula Gehring-Münzel: The Würzburg Jews from 1803 to the end of the First World War. In: Ulrich Wagner (Hrsg.): History of the city of Würzburg. Volume III / 1–2: From the transition to Bavaria to the 21st century. 2007, pp. 499-528 and 1306-1308, here: p. 511.
personal data
SURNAME Höchheimer, Simon
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Jewish doctor and religious educator
DATE OF BIRTH 1744
PLACE OF BIRTH Veitshochheim
DATE OF DEATH May 26, 1828
Place of death Fuerth