The Destruction of Jerusalem in Nineteenth-Century German Culture

Axel Stähler

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The Destruction of Jerusalem in Nineteenth-Century German Culture

Axel Stähler
Funded by: Schweizerischer Nationalfonds zur

Languages: English, German

Published/Copyright: 2025

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About this book

This book explores in a comparative approach the astounding medial variety and intermedial interleaving of cultural engagements with the subject of the destruction of Jerusalem and the Second Temple by the Romans in nineteenth-century Germany. Its main argument is that the pervasive discursive presence of the historical occurrence constitutes a significant but so far largely neglected arena for the negotiation of shifting German and Jewish imaginaries in which both German and Jewish creative minds engaged. Interpreted as pivotal not only for the progression of the history of salvation but also of universal history and responding to such decisive socio-cultural and political developments as the Kulturkampf and the rise of nationalism and antisemitism, the profusion of cultural engagements with the subject reveals its frequently contradictory polyvalence in the tense atmosphere of national unification, the negotiation of religious and national identities, and the positioning of the Jewish other; but also as a vehicle of Jewish self-definition and self-assertion in a period of proliferating antisemitism. The book addresses a broad readership of scholars of the culture of the nineteenth century, of intermediality, and of antisemitism.

Author / Editor information

Axel Stähler, University of Bern, Switzerland.

Reviews

“This magisterial study links the development of cultural attitudes in 19^th-century Germany to shifting trends in German and Jewish imaginaries of the destruction of Jerusalem and its temple in the first century. It is, to say the least, an extremely ambitious and worthy project. The use of the destruction of Jerusalem so brilliantly interwoven by Stähler is a quintessential example of how a past event plays an outsize role in configuring the position of the Jews in a foreign environment. (…) Stähler’s project is a tour de force that will be important to scholars in modern European cultural production.” – Jacob Lassner, Phillip M. and Ethel Klutznick Professor Emeritus of Jewish Civilization in the departments of History and Religion of Northwestern University, USA.

Topics

Frontmatter Open Access Download PDF	I
Acknowledgments Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed
Abbreviations Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed
Contents Open Access Download PDF	V
Introduction: Representations of the Destruction of Jerusalem in Nineteenth-Century German Music, Art, and Literature Open Access Download PDF	1
Chapter I The Jews and the Destruction of Jerusalem in German Art and Oratorios of the Nineteenth Century Open Access Download PDF	17
Digression I Straddling Cultures: Pierson Open Access Download PDF	145
Chapter II Inspiration from Abroad: The Destruction of Jerusalem and the English Precedent Open Access Download PDF	156
Digression II Vice in all its Ugliness: Rittershausen Open Access Download PDF	254
Chapter III The Destruction of Jerusalem and the Trajectory of Ahasuerus: Fleeing the Conflagration or Seeking it? Open Access Download PDF	267
Digression III The Destruction of Jerusalem and the First World War: Krane Open Access Download PDF	314
Chapter IV The Destruction of Jerusalem as a Battleground in the Culture War Open Access Download PDF	318
Digression IV Contest of the Gods and Contesting the Gods―The Extension of the Kulturkampf and the Rise of Humanity: Schneeberger Open Access Download PDF	492
Chapter V The Destruction of Jerusalem in the German Jewish Literary Imagination Open Access Download PDF	502
Digression V Berenice: belle juive, juive fatale, juive bestiale Open Access Download PDF	656
Works Cited Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed
Index Open Access Download PDF	741

Publishing information

Pages and Images/Illustrations in book

eBook published on:

July 24, 2025

eBook ISBN:

9783111662954

Hardcover published on:

July 25, 2025

Hardcover ISBN:

9783111540085

Pages and Images/Illustrations in book

Front matter:

16

Main content:

806

Illustrations:

37

https://doi.org/10.1515/9783111662954

eBook ISBN: 9783111662954

Hardcover ISBN: 9783111540085

Keywords for this book

Antisemitism; 19th century; Jerusalem; identity

Audience(s) for this book

Literary studies scholars, music scholars, scholars in the fields of antisemitism, the 19th century and cultural history

Creative Commons

BY-NC-ND 4.0

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The Destruction of Jerusalem in Nineteenth-Century German Culture

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About this book

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