Ignatz Bubis Chair of History, Religion and Culture of European Judaism

The endowed professorship was established in 2001. It is dedicated to the memory of Ignatz Bubis, Chairman of the Central Council of Jews in Germany, who died in 1999, and was financed until 2010 by funds from the Alfried Krupp von Bohlen und Halbach Foundation. The chair deals with the history, religion and culture of Judaism throughout Europe, including the diaspora of European communities overseas. The focus is on phases of political, social and cultural transformation as well as the various spiritual and religious movements that characterize the eventful course of Jewish history in Europe.

The aim is to profile this history as an integral part of pan-European history, its religious and cultural diversity and in interaction with the forces that shaped it; at the same time, the diverse cultural manifestations of Jewish existence are to be outlined in teaching and research. The European framework of the Chair allows comparative observations as well as a diachronic or synchronic approach focusing on individual places and landscapes. Macro and micro perspectives complement each other, Jewish-European overall history stands alongside Jewish landscape and local history.
The European framework also allows for links to overarching issues, for example with regard to questions of gender, minority and migration research.

Interest in the past of Jewish history, religion and culture is influenced by the present. In addition to an understanding of the past, it offers experiential science with regard to the future. The historical perspective opens up horizons for understanding present-day Jewish existence, its origins and its form.

The Ignatz Bubis Endowed Chair regularly organizes lectures, including the annual Eugen Täubler Memorial Lecture, conferences and colloquia.