Bookplate of Aron Hirsch Heymann

Bookplate of Aron Hirsch Heymann

Heymann, Aron Hirsch (1802 or 1803-1880)

This is the bookplate of Aron Hirsch Heymann (1802 or 1803-1880), a salesman, banker and leader of the Jewish community in Berlin. Born in Strausberg, Germany to Joachim Moses and Bella Heymann, Aron Hirsch began his training in business when he was 15, accompanying his father on business trips. He eventually became a successful international banker and founded the A.H. Heymann & Co. Bank in Berlin. Heymann also served as the president of the Berlin Jewish community between 1838 and 1866.

Much of what is known about Heymann’s life comes from his memoir (Lebenserinnerungen), published posthumously in 1909. In this book, Heymann writes about growing up in the German-Jewish community, and describes his participation in both Orthodox and non-Jewish society.

Heymann wrote critically about the traditional system of education, describing his heder (Jewish school) teachers as “Polish melamdim” (Hebrew for “teacher”), who taught their pupils to translate the sacred texts into a “horrible Judeo-German.” In describing the public school in Strausberg around 1815, Heymann wrote that is was “on an even lower level than Reb Akive’s heder.” Aron Hirsch Heymann acquired German high culture and Jewish schooling through self-study, often staying up late at night to read books in German and French, and to study Hebrew grammar.

Heymann, Aron Hirsch, 1802 or 1803-1880

Europeana.eu

Geni.com

Kaplan, Marion A., ed. Jewish daily life in Germany, 1618-1945. Oxford University Press, 2005.

1846

Digital Image: Washington University in Saint Louis

German

Bookplate

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