The Leo Baeck Institute, established in 1955, is an international

research institute A research institute, research centre, or research organization is an establishment founded for doing research. Research institutes may specialize in basic research or may be oriented to applied research. Although the term often implies natural ...

with centres in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...

and

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

, that are devoted to the study of the history and culture of German-speaking Jewry. The institute was founded in 1955 by a consortium of influential Jewish scholars including

Hannah Arendt Hannah Arendt (born Johanna Arendt; 14 October 1906 – 4 December 1975) was a German and American historian and philosopher. She was one of the most influential political theory, political theorists of the twentieth century. Her work ...

Martin Buber Martin Buber (; , ; ; 8 February 1878 – 13 June 1965) was an Austrian-Israeli philosopher best known for his philosophy of dialogue, a form of existentialism centered on the distinction between the I and Thou, I–Thou relationship and the I� ...

and

Gershom Scholem Gershom Scholem (; 5 December 1897 – 21 February 1982) was an Israeli philosopher and historian. Widely regarded as the founder of modern academic study of the Kabbalah, Scholem was appointed the first professor of Jewish mysticism at Hebrew Un ...

. The

Leo Baeck Medal The Leo Baeck Medal has been awarded since 1978 by the Leo Baeck Institute of New York City, an international research institute devoted to the study of the history and culture of German-speaking Jewry. It is the highest recognition the Institute b ...

has been awarded since 1978 to those who have helped preserve the spirit of German-speaking Jewry in culture, academia, politics, and philanthropy.

Organizational structure

The Leo Baeck Institute is made up of three independent international institutes, as well as two Berlin centres, and two Berlin working groups that are governed by the Leo Baeck Institute International board: * Leo Baeck Institute New York/Berlin * Leo Baeck Institute Jerusalem * Leo Baeck Institute London * Berlin centres: ** Leo Baeck Institute New York – Berlin office ** Leo Baeck Institute Archives at the

Jewish Museum Berlin The Jewish Museum Berlin (''Jüdisches Museum Berlin'') was opened in 2001 and is the largest Jewish museum in Europe. On of floor space, the museum presents the history of the Jews in Germany from the Middle Ages to the present day, with new foc ...

* Berlin working groups: ** ''Freunde und Förderer des LBI e.V.'' ** ''Wissenschaftliche Arbeitsgemeinschaft des LBI in Deutschland''

History

In the beginning of the 1950s some of the most influential Jewish scholars from Germany met in Jerusalem to discuss what form the Leo Baeck Institute would take. The founding conference took place from May 25–31, 1955;

, Ernst Simon, and

were some of the intellectual heavyweights present. Most attendees as well as the personalities steering the institute had known each other before their flight from Germany through organizations such as the '' Central-Verein deutscher Staatsbürger jüdischen Glaubens'' and the ''

Zionist Federation of Germany The Zionist Federation of Germany () also known as the Zionist Association for Germany was a Zionist organisation in Germany that was formed in 1897 in Cologne by Max Bodenheimer, together with David Wolffsohn and Fabius Schach. It had attracte ...

''. Others had held positions with the ''

Reichsvertretung der Deutschen Juden The Reich Representation of German Jews () was a Jewish umbrella organization founded in Germany on 17 September 1933. It was established to coordinate and represent the activities of Jewish political and religious groups, with headquarters in Be ...

'' (formed under

Leo Baeck Leo Baeck (; 23 May 1873 – 2 November 1956) was a 20th-century German rabbi, scholar, and theologian. He served as leader of Reform Judaism in his native country and internationally, and later represented all German Jews during the Nazi ...

's direction, and later renamed the ''

Reichsvereinigung der Juden in Deutschland The Reich Association of Jews in Germany (), also called the ''new one'' for clear differentiation, was a Jewish umbrella organisation formed in Nazi Germany in February 1939. The Association branched out from the Reich Representation of German J ...

''). It was initially assumed that this project would take the form of a long-term historical project, preparing a comprehensive work on the history of

German Jewry The history of the Jews in Germany goes back at least to the year 321 CE, and continued through the Early Middle Ages (5th to 10th centuries CE) and High Middle Ages (c. 1000–1299 CE) when Jewish immigrants founded the Ashkenazi Jewish commu ...

. With the expectation that this would not last more than a decade, institute members concentrated entirely on research projects and filling in the history of German-speaking Jewry from the

Enlightenment Enlightenment or enlighten may refer to: Age of Enlightenment * Age of Enlightenment, period in Western intellectual history from the late 17th to late 18th century, centered in France but also encompassing (alphabetically by country or culture): ...

to the

Nazi seizure of power The rise to power of Adolf Hitler, dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933 to 1945, began in the newly established Weimar Republic in September 1919, when Hitler joined the '' Deutsche Arbeiterpartei'' (DAP; German Workers' Party). He quickly rose t ...

. The Leo Baeck Institute was created in 1955 at the conference in Jerusalem. It was founded as a board that was made up of two governing bodies, a research and publication board, and an administrative board. Hoffmann 2008, p. 43 It was founded internationally, with multiple locations made up of three independent branches. It is named in honor of its international president,

, the senior Rabbi of Berlin in Germany's

Weimar Republic The Weimar Republic, officially known as the German Reich, was the German Reich, German state from 1918 to 1933, during which it was a constitutional republic for the first time in history; hence it is also referred to, and unofficially proclai ...

, and the last leader of the Jewish community under the

Nazis Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...

. The Leo Baeck Institute, New York, was founded in 1955, at the same time as the parent organization, and is the United States branch of the organization. It is now a central

umbrella organization An umbrella organization is an association of (often related, industry-specific) institutions who work together formally to coordinate activities and/or pool resources. In business, political, and other environments, it provides resources and iden ...

focused on the study of the history and culture of German-speaking Jewry. The Leo Baeck Institute International board coordinates the activities of all three branches, and each branch reports at annual international board meetings about their research and publication projects.

Leadership

Presidents of Leo Baeck Institute International, the umbrella organization of the institute, have been: * 1955–1956:

* 1956–1974:

Siegfried Moses Siegfried Moses (; 3 May 1887 – 15 January 1974) was a German-Israeli politician. Biography Moses was born on 3 May 1887 in Prussia. Moses died on 15 January 1974 in Tel Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo ( or , ; ), sometimes rendered as Tel Aviv- ...

* 1974–1992: * 1992–2013: Michael A. Meyer * 2013–present: Michael Brenner

Leo Baeck Institute New York/Berlin

The

Leo Baeck Institute New York The Leo Baeck Institute New York (LBI) is a research institute in New York City dedicated to the study of German-Jewish history and culture, founded in 1955. It is one of three independent research centers founded by a group of German-speaking J ...

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

includes a library, an archive, an art collection, and an exhibition centre. Its offices and collections are housed in the

Center for Jewish History The Center for Jewish History is a partnership of five Jewish history, scholarship, and art organizations in New York City, namely the American Jewish Historical Society, American Sephardi Federation, Leo Baeck Institute New York, Yeshiva Univ ...

, a centralized partnership with other Jewish organizations that share one location, with separate governing bodies and finances, but collocate resources, in New York City. * ''Leo Baeck Institute New York’s library collection'': 80,000 volumes which range from collected works associated with the 16th century Reuchlin-Pfefforkorn debate over the banning of Jewish books to recent scholarship in the field of German-Jewish studies. * ''Leo Baeck Institute archive'': Over 4,000 linear feet of family papers, community histories, personal correspondence, genealogical materials, and business and public records of German-speaking Jews from the 18th century to the post-WWII era. * ''Leo Baeck Institute art collection'': 8,000 pieces of art that include works created or collected by German-speaking Jews from the 16th through the 20th centuries Additionally, Leo Baeck Institute New York administers several fellowships for scholars working in the field of German-Jewish history, and produces exhibitions and public programming related to German-Jewish history. It also awards the

annually which is the highest recognition the institute bestows upon those who have helped preserve the spirit of German-speaking Jewry in culture, academia, politics, and philanthropy.

Leo Baeck Institute Jerusalem

As the second generation took over, the LBI Jerusalem transformed from a memorial community to a research centre. Almost all members of the LBI Jerusalem’s second generation were professional historians. Most had left Germany as children or adolescents, and had either little or no share at all in the founders' memories. For this reason the “memorial function” of the

historiography Historiography is the study of the methods used by historians in developing history as an academic discipline. By extension, the term ":wikt:historiography, historiography" is any body of historical work on a particular subject. The historiog ...

lost significance. In its place came more strictly scholarly aspirations. Through publications, scholarly seminars, academic and cultural events, and an archive, the Leo Baeck Institute Jerusalem has been the leading venue for German-Jewish historiography and documentation in Israel. Its archives consist of a microfilm collection of

Jewish newspaper A Jewish newspaper is a newspaper which focuses on topics of special interest to Jews, although Jewish newspapers also include articles on topics of a more general interest as well. Political orientations and religious orientations cover a wide ra ...

s from the 19th and 20th centuries, as well as a collection of family papers, genealogical materials, and community histories.

Leo Baeck Institute London

The Leo Baeck Institute London, founded in 1955, researches the history and culture of German-speaking Jewry from the 17th century to the present day. It aims to facilitate academic exchange, and to use the German and

Central Europe Central Europe is a geographical region of Europe between Eastern Europe, Eastern, Southern Europe, Southern, Western Europe, Western and Northern Europe, Northern Europe. Central Europe is known for its cultural diversity; however, countries in ...

an Jewish experience from the 17th to the 21st centuries to help understand contemporary socio-political debates concerning immigration, minorities, integration, and civil rights, in particular in the UK. Between 2011 and 2024, the LBI London was based at Queen Mary University of London. In 2024, the institute moved to a central London location, where it is now affiliated with Birkbeck, University of London. The LBI London remains an independent institute.

Publications

The institute’s flagship publication, the ''Leo Baeck Institute Year Book'' (since 1956), is a leading international publication in the field of the history and culture of German-speaking Jews. Published by

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the publishing house of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world. Its first book was printed in Oxford in 1478, with the Press officially granted the legal right to print books ...

with a circulation of over 2,000 copies, it publishes original research on the cultural, economic, political, social, and religious history of German-speaking Jews. The Leo Baeck Institute Year Book Essay Prize is awarded annually to an early-career researcher writing on the history or culture of German-speaking Jewry. In addition to its ''Year Book'', the LBI London publishes monographs and edited volumes in German and English. Its two series, ''Schriftenreihe wissenschaftlicher Abhandlungen des Leo Baeck Instituts'', in German, and ''German Jewish Cultures'', in English, cover the period from the

to the contemporary era with a special focus on European Jewish history.

Academic programmes and events

The institute organises a range of events, such as international conferences and a public programme of lectures and workshops, often in collaboration with other UK or international organizations. Events are aimed at a broad audience. A ''Leo Baeck Fellowship Programme'' (in collaboration with the ''

Studienstiftung des deutschen Volkes The German Academic Scholarship Foundation (German: , or ''Studienstiftung'' for short) is Germany's largest and most prestigious scholarship foundation. According to its statutes, it supports "the university education of young people who, on ac ...

'') was created in 2005 to support doctoral candidates in German-Jewish studies. The programme includes bi-annual seminars during which Fellows discuss their research with senior academics in the field. Up to 12 fellowships are awarded each year.

Digital collections

DigiBaeck

Einstein 1921 by F Schmutzer - restoration

In 2012, Leo Baeck Institute New York announced that it had digitized the majority of its archival holdings, as well as large segments of its art and library collections. Among the over 3.5 million digital images available through the online catalog, known as DigiBaeck, include: *

Albert Einstein Albert Einstein (14 March 187918 April 1955) was a German-born theoretical physicist who is best known for developing the theory of relativity. Einstein also made important contributions to quantum mechanics. His mass–energy equivalence f ...

: Personal papers and photographs *

Franz Rosenzweig Franz Rosenzweig (; ; 25 December 1886 – 10 December 1929) was a German theologian, philosopher, and translator. Early life and education Franz Rosenzweig was born in Kassel, Germany, to an affluent, minimally observant Jewish family. His fa ...

, philosopher and theologian: Diaries and correspondence including writings related to his landmark translation of the Hebrew Bible into German (1926-1929) with

Joseph Roth Moses Joseph Roth (2 September 1894 – 27 May 1939) was an Austrian-Jewish journalist and novelist, best known for his family saga '' Radetzky March'' (1932), about the decline and fall of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, his novel of Jewish life ...

, journalist and novelist: Original manuscripts * Constantin Brunner, philosopher: Entire estate and periodicals including the émigré journal ''

Aufbau ''Aufbau'' () is a term which was used in publications from 1919 to 1947 in the German language German (, ) is a West Germanic language in the Indo-European language family, mainly spoken in Western Europe, Western and Central Europe. It is ...

'' Leo Baeck Institute New York partnered with the

Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American 501(c)(3) organization, non-profit organization founded in 1996 by Brewster Kahle that runs a digital library website, archive.org. It provides free access to collections of digitized media including web ...

non-profit digital library that offers permanent storage of and free public access to digitized materials to complete the project.

Freimann Collection

Th
Freimann Collection
of books related to the ''

Wissenschaft des Judentums "''Wissenschaft des Judentums''" (literally in German language, German the expression means "Science of Judaism"; more recently in the United States it started to be rendered as "Jewish Studies" or "Judaic Studies," a wide academic field of inquir ...

'' (in English: ''Science of Judaism'') is another digitization project. Working in coordination with

Frankfurt University Library The Frankfurt University Library (German: ''Universitätsbibliothek Frankfurt am Main'' (UB Frankfurt), or ''Universitätsbibliothek Johann Christian Senckenberg'', ISIL DE-30) is the library for the Goethe University Frankfurt, Germany. Histor ...

, the Leo Baeck Institute library located about 2,000 volumes in its collections that were missing from the Frankfurt Library’s collection of Judaica created by curator

Aron Freimann Aron Freimann (5 August 1871 at Filehne, Posen – 6 June 1948 at New York City) was a German librarian and historian. He was the son of Israel Meïr Freimann, and grandson, on his mother's side, of the chief rabbi of Altona, Jacob Ettli ...

in the 1920s, and were able to reconstruct the collection. The project was funded by a joint grant from the U.S.

National Endowment for the Humanities The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) is an independent federal agency of the U.S. government, established by thNational Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities Act of 1965(), dedicated to supporting research, education, preserv ...

and the German Research Foundation ''(Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft – DFG)''.

Notable publications

* Arendt, Hannah, Richard Winston, and Clara Winston. Liliane Weissberg. ''

Rahel Varnhagen Rahel Antonie Friederike Varnhagen () (née Levin, later Robert; 19 May 1771 – 7 March 1833) was a German writer who hosted one of the most prominent salons in Europe during the late-18th and early-19th centuries. She is the subject of a celebr ...

: The Life of a Jewess.'' London: Leo Baeck Institute, 1957. Revised edition - Baltimore:

Johns Hopkins University Press Johns Hopkins University Press (also referred to as JHU Press or JHUP) is the publishing division of Johns Hopkins University. It was founded in 1878 and is the oldest continuously running university press in the United States. The press publi ...

, 1997. * Meyer, Michael A., Michael Brenner, Avraham Barkai, Paul Mendes Flohr, ed. ''German-Jewish History in Modern Times, Vol. 1-4.'' New York:

Columbia University Press Columbia University Press is a university press based in New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's la ...

, 1996. English translation of ''Deutsch-jüdische Geschichte in der Neuzeit.'' * Meyer, Michael A., Mordekhai Broier, Mîk̲ā'ēl Greṣ, Michael Brenner, Steven M. Lowenstein, and Avraham Barḳai. ''Deutsch-jüdische Geschichte in der Neuzeit 1 1.'' München: Beck, 2000.

References

Bibliography

* ** ** **

External links

Leo Baeck Institute New York

Leo Baeck Institute London

Leo Baeck Institute Jerusalem

''Freunde und Förderer des Leo Baeck Instituts e.V.''

DigiBaeck
- Digitized collections portal
"Guide to the Leo Baeck Institute London records"
AR 6682 *

Leo Baeck Institute The Leo Baeck Institute, established in 1955, is an international research institute with centres in New York City, London, Jerusalem and Berlin, that are devoted to the study of the history and culture of German-speaking Jewry. The institute was ...

at GLAM-Wiki initiative