Leo Baeck Institute
The Leo Baeck Institute in the Center for Jewish History on 16th Street in Manhattan
The Leo Baeck Institute in the Center for Jewish History on West 16th Street in Manhattan
Leo Baeck Institute New York is located in Manhattan
Leo Baeck Institute New York
Location within New York City
Established1955 (1955)
Location15 West 16th Street
New York City, New York
Coordinates40°44′17″N 73°59′38″W / 40.738056°N 73.993889°W / 40.738056; -73.993889
TypeResearch institute
Executive directorDr. William Weitzer
PresidentDavid G. Marwell[1]
HistorianDr. Frank Mecklenburg[2]
Public transit accessSubway:
14th Street – Union Square
Websitewww.lbi.org

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 Jewish émigrés at a conference in Jerusalem in 1955. The other Leo Baeck institutes are Leo Baeck Institute Jerusalem and Leo Baeck Institute London, and the activities of all three are coordinated by the board of directors of the Leo Baeck Institute. It is also a founding partner of the Center for Jewish History, and maintains a research library and archive in New York City that contains a significant collection of source material relating to the history of German-speaking Jewry, from its origins to the Holocaust, and continuing to the present day.[3] The Leo Baeck Medal has been awarded by the institute since 1978 to those who have helped preserve the spirit of German-speaking Jewry in culture, academia, politics, and philanthropy.[4]

History

The Leo Baeck Institute New York is one of three independent research centers founded by a group of German-speaking Jewish émigrés at a conference in Jerusalem in 1955. The other Leo Baeck institutes are Leo Baeck Institute Jerusalem and Leo Baeck Institute London, and the activities of all three are coordinated by the board of directors of the Leo Baeck Institute.[5]: 38–45 

Under its first executive director, Max Kreutzberger, Leo Baeck Institute New York established itself as the institute's library and archive. The library collection began with books that had been looted from Jewish libraries and collectors, and were recovered by Allied forces in World War II and restituted to Jewish libraries. Later in the 1950s, Kreutzberger and his staff began acquiring books and manuscripts from New York booksellers, and solicited donations of the personal papers and libraries of German-Jewish émigrés in New York. By 1960, when Leo Baeck Institute New York moved into a townhouse at 129 East 73rd Street on the Upper East Side in Manhattan, the collection included some 30,000 books, 250 unpublished memoirs, and extensive archives.[5]: 142 

Significant private donations secured in the first two decades of the Leo Baeck Institute's existence included the literary estates of German philosopher Constantin Brunner, Austro-Hungarian novelist and theatre critic Fritz Mauthner, German theologian and philosopher Franz Rosenzweig, and Austrian journalist and novelist Joseph Roth.[5]: 151 

By the 1990s, Leo Baeck Institute New York's Upper East Side townhouse could no longer efficiently or safely accommodate its collections, and LBI president Ismar Schorsch began discussions with other Jewish centers of scholarly research in New York aimed at a partnership in a shared facility. In 1993, Leo Baeck Institute, YIVO Institute for Jewish Research, Yeshiva University Museum, and the American Jewish Historical Society announced plans to jointly establish the Center for Jewish History in the former American Foundation for the Blind building on West 16th Street in Manhattan.[6] Leo Baeck Institute New York moved its administrative offices and collections to the Center for Jewish History in 2000.[7]

Today, Leo Baeck Institute shares library infrastructure (storage, reading room, digital and conservation labs, and information systems) as well as programming and exhibition facilities with the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research, Yeshiva University Museum, American Jewish Historical Society, and American Sephardi Federation.[8]

Presence in Germany

Jewish Museum Berlin

In the 1990s, Leo Baeck Institute New York deepened its ties with the Federal Republic of Germany, and received increased financial support from the West German government and private sources in Germany such as publisher Axel Springer.[5]: 144–147 

Preliminary discussions about an official presence of Leo Baeck Institute New York in Germany began by the 1970s at the latest,[5]: 163  and concrete plans for such a presence were initiated by German-born American Michael Blumenthal proposing that the Leo Baeck Institute establish a presence at the new Jewish Museum Berlin in 1998. In late 1999, the board of LBI International reached an agreement with the Jewish Museum Berlin to establish an office in the museum, and house microfilm copies of the Leo Baeck Institute archives there in order to provide easier access to the collections for researchers in Europe. In 2013, Leo Baeck Institute established an administrative office in Berlin.[9]

Components

The Leo Baeck Institute New York includes a library, an archive, an art collection, and an exhibition centre. Its offices and collections are housed in the Center for Jewish History, a centralized partnership with other Jewish organizations that share one location, with separate governing bodies and finances, but collocate resources. in New York City.[6]

  • Leo Baeck Institute'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.[10]
  • 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.[11]
  • 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

Collections

Feuerbach-mädchenkopf, 1868, oil on canvass

The bulk of Leo Baeck Institute New York's archives are the personal papers of German-speaking Jews. The library contains over 80,000 volumes.

In October 2012, Leo Baeck Institute New York announced that it had digitized nearly its entire archival holdings and a large portion of its art collections and rare books as part of the DigiBaeck[12] project.[13] The DigiBaeck digital collection portal includes nearly 75% of the Leo Baeck Institute's holdings, including archival materials, memoirs and manuscripts, art and objects, books and periodicals, photographs, and audio recordings.

Highlights

Moses Mendelssohn papers
  • First editions of philosopher Moses Mendelssohn and poet and writer Heinrich Heine
  • Early 16th century writings, including Martin Luther, Sir Thomas More, and Erasmus, as well as a comprehensive collection of periodicals published from the 18th to 20th centuries
  • Limited editions of 20th century artists’ portfolios and several illustrated 18th-century books on Jewish customs in the rare book collection.

Digitization

  • Karl Otten, German expressionist writer and broadcaster

Fellowships, seminars, and medals

Dr. Ruth Westheimer

In addition to the archival processes of acquiring, cataloguing, and preserving, Leo Baeck Institute New York promotes study by sponsoring several fellowships for scholars working the field of German-Jewish history, holding seminars, and creating exhibits.

Leo Baeck Institute New York also annually awards the Leo Baeck Medal to individuals whose humanitarian work promotes tolerance, social justice and upon those who have helped preserve the spirit of German-speaking Jewry in culture, academia, politics, and philanthropy.[4] It is the highest recognition the institute bestows.[4]

Some past recipients include German Chancellor Angela Merkel, German Ambassador Wolfgang Ischinger, businessman and journalist Mathias Dopfner, economist and former president of the World Bank James D. Wolfensohn, German Minister of the Interior Otto Schily, sex therapist talk show host and Holocaust survivor Dr. Ruth Westheimer (Dr. Ruth), German President Johannes Rau, and business leader, economist, and political adviser W. Michael Blumenthal.[18]

Exhibitions

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Board of Trustees". Leo Baeck Institute.
  2. ↑ "Staff Directory". Leo Baeck Institute.
  3. ↑ Leo Baeck Institute; Folio Corporation (1999). Weltsch, Robert; Paucker, Arnold; Grenville, John (eds.). Leo Baeck Institute Year Book. Volumes I-XL, 1956-1995 (CD-ROM) (in German and Yiddish). New York: Leo Baeck Institute. ISBN 978-1-571-81183-7. OCLC 54877908. Retrieved July 23, 2015. Online Resource
  4. 1 2 3 "Honors". Leo Baeck Institute.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 Hoffmann, Christhard, ed. (2008). Preserving the Legacy of German Jewry: A History of the Leo Baeck Institute, 1955-2005. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck. ISBN 978-3-161-49668-4. OCLC 257584531.
  6. 1 2 Shepard, Richard F. (April 28, 1997). "Archives of Jewish History, Now Under One Roof". The New York Times. Retrieved May 31, 2015.
  7. ↑ Blumenthal, Ralph (October 26, 2000). "A Museum Wing To Bear Witness To Jewish Life". The New York Times. Retrieved May 31, 2015.
  8. ↑ Wiener, Julie (October 24, 2000). "New History Center Touted As Jewish 'library of Congress'". Jewish Telegraphic Agency. Retrieved May 31, 2015.
  9. ↑ Kauschke, Detlef David (May 15, 2014). "Leo-Baeck-Medaille für Joachim Gauck". Jüdische Allgemeine. Retrieved July 27, 2015.
  10. ↑ Kahn, Eve M. (August 5, 2010). "Resurrecting Laurelton Hall: A Book Burning Debate". The New York Times. Retrieved July 30, 2015.
  11. ↑ Mecklenburg, Frank (Spring 2004). "Inventing a Discipline: The Leo Baeck Institute and German-Jewish Studies". Association for Jewish Studies (AJS). Berman Jewish Policy Archive. Retrieved July 30, 2015.
  12. ↑ "DigiBaeck". Leo Baeck Institute. October 16, 2012.
  13. ↑ Pogrebin, Robin (October 9, 2012). "Archive of Jewish Life in Central Europe is Going Online". The New York Times. Retrieved June 24, 2013.
  14. ↑ "Freimann-Sammlung / All Titles [1-20]". sammlungen.ub.uni-frankfurt.de.
  15. ↑ Dolnick, Sam (March 7, 2011). "Jewish Texts Lost in War Are Surfacing in New York". The New York Times. Retrieved May 31, 2015.
  16. ↑ "Funded Projects: Wissenschaft des Judentums: An International Digital Collection". National Endowment for the Humanities. Retrieved May 31, 2015.
  17. ↑ "Judaism, Special collection 7.7 of the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG)". Frankfurt University Library. March 27, 2015. Retrieved May 31, 2015.
  18. ↑ "The Leo Baeck Medal". Leo Baeck Institute. Retrieved June 24, 2013.
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