Adolf Kober
Encyclopedia
Adolf Kober was a rabbi
and a historian.
in Cologne
. He attended the Jewish Theological Seminary in Wrocław, receiving his rabbinical diploma from Israel Lewi in 1907.
Fom 1906 to 1908 he acted as substitute rabbi and religious instructor in the Cologne community. From 1908 to 1918 he was rabbi of the City
and district of Wiesbaden
.
In 1918 he took in Cologne, the then largest Jewish community in Germany, the office of community rabbi. In 1922, at the time of the inflation, he founded an organization for the relief of distress among people ashamed to ask for aid (Notstand für veschaemte Armte).
In 1925 he took the responsibility of the interregional department for Jewish history at the “Millennium Exhibition of Rhineland“, that took place in the Cologne Fair grounds.
In Cologne Kober started in 1929 the "Jüdische Lehrhaus (Jewish training house)" as a site for Jewish adults education and took the responsibility in the same year of the planning of the contents of the Jewish press pavilion in the large Cologne culture exhibition "Pressa". Beside his rabbi activity Kober devoted himself to several scientific publications on the history of Jews of Rhineland. He was a member of the editorial staff of the Germania Judaica. He lectured at the University of Cologne
on Jewish history and Literature.
In the years 1930 he was one of the publishers of the prestigious Zeitschrift für die Geschichte der Juden in Deutschland (magazine for the history of Jews in Germany) .
In 1939 Kober, following the nazis persecution, emigrated into the USA, where, until his death in 1958 in New York, he remained active as a rabbi and a scholar. Also in the USA he was absorbed by the history of the Rhenish Jewish. He still visited Cologne in 1953 and 1957.
In 1963 the town of Cologne gave his name to a street in Stammheim.
Rabbi
In Judaism, a rabbi is a teacher of Torah. This title derives from the Hebrew word רבי , meaning "My Master" , which is the way a student would address a master of Torah...
and a historian.
Life
Kober studied History, Philosophy and Oriental Languages at the University of Wrocław and received a PhD there in 1903 with a thesis on the medieval history of the JewsJews
The Jews , also known as the Jewish people, are a nation and ethnoreligious group originating in the Israelites or Hebrews of the Ancient Near East. The Jewish ethnicity, nationality, and religion are strongly interrelated, as Judaism is the traditional faith of the Jewish nation...
in Cologne
Cologne
Cologne is Germany's fourth-largest city , and is the largest city both in the Germany Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia and within the Rhine-Ruhr Metropolitan Area, one of the major European metropolitan areas with more than ten million inhabitants.Cologne is located on both sides of the...
. He attended the Jewish Theological Seminary in Wrocław, receiving his rabbinical diploma from Israel Lewi in 1907.
Fom 1906 to 1908 he acted as substitute rabbi and religious instructor in the Cologne community. From 1908 to 1918 he was rabbi of the City
and district of Wiesbaden
Wiesbaden
Wiesbaden is a city in southwest Germany and the capital of the federal state of Hesse. It has about 275,400 inhabitants, plus approximately 10,000 United States citizens...
.
In 1918 he took in Cologne, the then largest Jewish community in Germany, the office of community rabbi. In 1922, at the time of the inflation, he founded an organization for the relief of distress among people ashamed to ask for aid (Notstand für veschaemte Armte).
In 1925 he took the responsibility of the interregional department for Jewish history at the “Millennium Exhibition of Rhineland“, that took place in the Cologne Fair grounds.
In Cologne Kober started in 1929 the "Jüdische Lehrhaus (Jewish training house)" as a site for Jewish adults education and took the responsibility in the same year of the planning of the contents of the Jewish press pavilion in the large Cologne culture exhibition "Pressa". Beside his rabbi activity Kober devoted himself to several scientific publications on the history of Jews of Rhineland. He was a member of the editorial staff of the Germania Judaica. He lectured at the University of Cologne
University of Cologne
The University of Cologne is one of the oldest universities in Europe and, with over 44,000 students, one of the largest universities in Germany. The university is part of the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, an association of Germany's leading research universities...
on Jewish history and Literature.
In the years 1930 he was one of the publishers of the prestigious Zeitschrift für die Geschichte der Juden in Deutschland (magazine for the history of Jews in Germany) .
In 1939 Kober, following the nazis persecution, emigrated into the USA, where, until his death in 1958 in New York, he remained active as a rabbi and a scholar. Also in the USA he was absorbed by the history of the Rhenish Jewish. He still visited Cologne in 1953 and 1957.
In 1963 the town of Cologne gave his name to a street in Stammheim.
Works
- Cologne, The Jewish Publication Society of America, Philadelphia 1940 (available online).
- Jewish Monuments of the Middle Ages in Germany. One Hundred and Ten Tombstone Inscriptions from Speyer, Cologne, Nuremberg and Worms (1085-c. 1428), Part 1, in: Proceedings of the American Academy for Jewish Research 14 (1944). p. 149–220, Part 2, in: ibidem 15 (1945). p. 1–91.
- Studien zur mittelalterlichen Geschichte der Juden in Köln am Rhein, insbesondere ihres Grundbesitzes. Breslau 1903 (Univ. Diss).
- Grundbuch des Kölner Judenviertel 1135–1425. Ein Beitrag zur mittelalterlichen Topographie, Rechtsgeschichte und Statistik der Stadt Köln. Bonn 1920 (=Publikationen der Gesellschaft für rheinische Geschichtskunde 34)
- Aus der Geschichte der Juden im Rheinland, in: Rheinischer Verein für Heimatpflege und Heimatschutz 1/24 (1931). p. 11–98.
Literature
- Arand, Tobias: Die jüdische Abteilung der Kölner 'Jahrtausend-Ausstellung der Rheinlande' 1925. Planung, Struktur und öffentlich-zeitgenössische Wahrnehmung, in: Jüdisches Leben im Rheinland – Vom Mittelalter bis zur Gegenwart, hrsg. von Monika Grübel und Georg Mölich. Köln, Weimar, Wien 2005. p. 194–213
- Ausstellungskatalog Historisches Archiv der Stadt Köln – NS-Dokumentationszentrum ‚Jüdisches Schicksal in Köln 1918–1945’. Köln 1988. p. 24–26
- Müller-Jerina, Alwin: Adolf Kober (1879–1958). Versuch einer Bio-Bibliographie anläßlich seines 30. Todestages, in: Menora 1 (1990), p. 278–296
- N.N.: Kober, Adolf, in: Deutsche Biographische Enzyklopädie. Bd. 5. München 1999. p. 635
- Wiesemann, Falk (Hg.), Zur Geschichte und Kultur der Juden im Rheinland, mit Beitr. von Adolf Kober, Elisabeth Moses u. Friedrich Wilhelm Bredt. Neu hrsg. u. eingel. von Falk Wiesemann, Düsseldorf 1985
- Lexikon des Judentums, Bertelsmann Lexikon-Verlag, Gütersloh 1971, ISBN 3-570-05964-2, Sp.385