The Population History of German Jewry 1815–1939

Steven Mark Lowenstein was Isadore Levine Professor of Jewish History at the University of Judaism (now American Jewish University). He was recognized as one of the most innovative practitioners of German-Jewish social history and authored important works in the field including the award-winning Jewish Cultural Tapestry. Following retirement, he became a social worker, working on Skid Row in Los Angeles, and completing this book.

“Steven Lowenstein’s demographic history of Jews in Germany is a state-of-the-art study that will certainly become a classic. He has absorbed and presented in highly readable prose the chronological, regional, and topical demographic interpretations of the years 1815-1939 while also engaging in historiographical debates. This new and all-embracing picture of German Jewry offers readers careful analyses of such topics as urbanization, marriage and intermarriage, births and deaths, in and out migration and internal migration, and addresses age, region, and gender while also comparing to non-Jewish populations in Germany. The book is breathtaking in its research and scope and a must-read for every scholar of German-Jewish history.”

— Marion Kaplan, Skirball Professor Emerita of Modern Jewish History, New York University

“Stephen Lowenstein has published the definitive demographic history of German Jewry. This is a monumental curated archive, actually a twice posthumous book. Lowenstein’s initial statistics were compiled by the Israeli demographer Usiel Oscar Schmelz, and Lowenstein himself died before finishing this tome. Family historians, genealogy buffs and population historians will rely on Lowenstein’s volume and appreciate its comparative reach and meticulous detail.”

— Deborah Hertz, Wouk Chair in Modern Jewish Studies, Department of History, University of California at San Diego

“The pioneering research of Usiel Oscar Schmelz and Steven Lowenstein provides a new dimension for German-Jewish History. Instead of relying on a few personal accounts and anecdotal evidence, this book constitutes a tool to decipher the complete picture of the German-Jewish community. It is an indispensable source for everyone interested in the modern Jewish experience.”

— Michael Brenner, President of the International Leo Baeck Institute for the Research of German-Jewish History and Culture

“Steven Lowenstein’s monumental study The Population History of German Jewry: 1815–1939 has finally brought demography to center stage…Its encyclopedic detail, comprehensive narrative, nationwide coverage and at the same time attention to regional detail make it a reliable and handy source of information on the basic social processes which shaped Jewish population in German before the Holocaust.”

— Tomasz M. Jankowski, European Journal of Jewish Studies

“This immaculate work of scholarship and statistical gathering is also an act of scholarly devotion. Not only is this work a posthumous tribute to Steven Mark Lowenstein, it is also based on the work of the late Hebrew University demographer Osiel Oscar Schmelz. The resulting book is a tribute to two extraordinary scholars and to scholarly cooperation itself.”

— AJL 2024 Judaica Reference & Bibliography Awards Committee

“This monumental work by the eminent social historian, Steven Lowenstein (1945–2020), appears posthumously; with his early loss, Jewish Studies has lost a prodigious and pathbreaking researcher. The book is based on the huge documentary collections and research of Usiel Oscar Schmelz, a pioneering demographer of Jewry, left unfinished at his death. These Lowenstein supplemented by massive further research and reorganization….The old adage, ‘anecdotes do not data make,’ well sums up Lowenstein’s book, which is about data: precise, specific, and substantiated.”

— Shulamit S. Magnus, Jewish History

“Steven Lowenstein’s landmark volume presents the history of German Jewry from the early 19th century into the Nazi era through the prism of shifting population patterns. Replete with an incomparable array of data, the book’s meticulous narrative also serves as a memorial to a diverse Jewish community whose history reflected the triumphs and tragedies of the modern Jewish experience.”

— Jack Wertheimer, Professor of American Jewish History, The Jewish Theological Seminary