Markus Magnus ( 1736) was an Elder of the

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

community of

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 ...

in the first quarter of the eighteenth century and

court Jew In early modern Europe, particularly in Germany, a court Jew (, ) or court factor (, ) was a Jewish banker who handled the finances of, or lent money to, royalty and nobility. In return for their services, court Jews gained social privileges, inc ...

to the

crown prince A crown prince or hereditary prince is the heir apparent to the throne in a royal or imperial monarchy. The female form of the title, crown princess, is held by a woman who is heir apparent or is married to the heir apparent. ''Crown prince ...

, afterward

King King is a royal title given to a male monarch. A king is an Absolute monarchy, absolute monarch if he holds unrestricted Government, governmental power or exercises full sovereignty over a nation. Conversely, he is a Constitutional monarchy, ...

Frederick William I. The Jewish community of Berlin was divided into two hostile camps by Magnus' quarrels with his rival, wealthy jeweler Jost Liebmann.

Frederick I Frederick I or Friedrich I may refer to: * Frederick of Utrecht or Frederick I (815/16–834/38), Bishop of Utrecht. * Frederick I, Duke of Upper Lorraine (942–978) * Frederick I, Duke of Swabia (1050–1105) * Frederick I ...

favored the latter, while the crown prince supported Magnus, as did Berlin's increasingly-prominent

Viennese Viennese may refer to: * Vienna, the capital of Austria * Viennese people, List of people from Vienna * Viennese German, the German dialect spoken in Vienna * Viennese classicism * Viennese coffee house, an eating establishment and part of Viennese ...

Jewish families, who had been expelled from their native city under Leopold I. After the death of Liebmann, his widow and sons continued these quarrels, which ended in the victory of Magnus. He induced the members of the community to build a public

synagogue A synagogue, also called a shul or a temple, is a place of worship for Jews and Samaritans. It is a place for prayer (the main sanctuary and sometimes smaller chapels) where Jews attend religious services or special ceremonies such as wed ...

in place of the private synagogue previously maintained by members of the Liebmann family. The new Great Synagogue was consecrated on

Rosh Hashanah Rosh Hashanah (, , ) is the New Year in Judaism. The Hebrew Bible, biblical name for this holiday is Yom Teruah (, , ). It is the first of the High Holy Days (, , 'Days of Awe"), as specified by Leviticus 23:23–25, that occur in the late summe ...

, 14 September 1714, in the presence of Queen Sophie Dorothea. When on 16 March 1722 the government issued a new regulation for the administration of the Berlin Jewish congregation, Magnus and Moses Levi Gumpertz were appointed permanent chief elders with a salary of 300

thalers A thaler or taler ( ; , previously spelled ) is one of the large silver coins minted in the states and territories of the Holy Roman Empire and the Habsburg monarchy during the Early Modern period. A ''thaler'' size silver coin has a diameter o ...

each.

References

17th-century births 1736 deaths Court Jews 17th-century German Jews Jews and Judaism in Berlin People from Berlin {{jewish-bio-stub