| Germany
1866 to 1914 Between 1866 and 1871, Otto von Bismarck, the charismatic chancellor of Prussia, presided over three successful wars against Denmark, Austria, and France. In 1871, he oversaw the unification of German states into one powerful empire. The new Germany, headed by the Prussian monarch Wilhelm II, was now the dominant power in Europe. The late 19th century was a golden age for German Jewry. The new German constitution guaranteed the Jews equal rights. Most German Jews lived in large cities and were middle-class. A large percentage of them became highly assimilated and rose to prominence in politics, the economy, and the arts. Many Jews were passionately devoted to Germany and German culture. Jewish scholarship in Germany was also highly esteemed, and the country was a center of neo-Orthodoxy, a movement which held that one could fully participate in modern life, yet remain a strictly observant Jew. |
| Berlin
& Hamburg 1810 to 1818 The movement now known as Reform Judaism first took hold in Germany at the beginning of the 19th century The first Reform "temple" that modified Jewish worship by introducing German-language liturgy and sermons and organ music was established by Israel Jacobson in Seesen in 1810. Later, he moved to Berlin and established a temple in his home. By 1818 there was also a Reform congregation in Hamburg. Both cities, home to many wealthy, acculturated Jews, became centers of Reform Judaism. |
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