The Production of Jewish Ceremonial Objects in Hanau Am Main1

STUDIA ROSENTHALIANATHE PRODUCTION 37 (2004) OF JEWISH CEREMONIAL OBJECTS IN HANAU AM MAIN 163

Tradition as Commodity: The Production of Jewish Ceremonial Objects in Hanau am Main1

MICHAL S. FRIEDLANDER

EWISH CEREMONIAL OBJECTS achieve their purpose through ritual Juse: they are vessels which serve a function. Yet these objects are viewed as material culture, as documents of Jewish life in different times and places. But is a Chanukah lamp or a kiddush cup, as an object, an expression of Jewish culture alone? A closer look at the history of Judaica manufacture and dissemination suggests that the object is often the nexus where Jewish and non-Jewish cultures merge in a compli- cated, symbiotic relationship. Who therefore were the makers, the vendors and the buyers and how does this deepen and change our understanding of the objects? In Germany, as in other European countries, a trend developed in the late nineteenth century towards commodification and the mass production of utilitarian objects, including Jewish ceremonial items. In the world of Judaica scholarship, these mass-produced objects have not received the same attention as handmade items. To date, no extensive survey has been published of serially-manufactured Judaica in Germany from the late nineteenth century. Little research in this field has been published in general, although some companies have received special attention if their items feature in published collections (e.g. Lazarus Posen

1. I would like to express my thanks to Ludwig Oswald for sharing his vast collection with me and to Monika Rademacher of the Stadtarchiv in Hanau and Richard Schaffer-Hartmann of the Magistrat der Stadt Hanau, for their kind assistance. Above all, I thank Rabbi Dr Albert H. Friedlander, z”l, who saw the last draft of this article. 164 MICHAL S. FRIEDLANDER

Wwe., which produced both unique and serial items, featured in the Jewish Museum Frankfurt, Congregation Emanu-El, New York and elsewhere). Passing references in publications indicate an awareness of serial Judaica production in Germany and in the city of Hanau in particular, but it is clear that only limited information has been available. For example in Rafi Grafman’s object catalogue notes in Crowning Glory: Silver Torah Ornaments of the Jewish Museum, New York, Hanau may be suggested as the city of manufacture, but the attribution is often followed by a question mark.2 In Bruno-Wilhelm Thiele’s critical overview of mass production of silverware in the city of Hanau, he es- sentially eliminates Judaica from his survey for lack of resource material.3 Using previously unaccessed company archives and reviewing historical circumstances, it is possible to give an indication of the domi- nance of non-Jewish Judaica manufacturers in Germany, to see the difficulties facing a non-Jewish manufacturer of Judaica and to make unex- pected discoveries concerning the dates when Judaica items were produced in Germany. This new information in conjunction with a photo- graphic documentation of paper materials from Hanau, being under- taken by the Jewish Museum in Berlin, will make it easier to identify and date Hanau Judaica products which may ultimately lead to a reas- sessment of their value in today’s Judaica market. As is demonstrated below, Judaica was an important market for silver manufacturers in Germany. The abundance of Judaica items manufactured reflects a demand for affordable Jewish ceremonial objects both in Germany and abroad. In taking a closer look at the commercial Judaica market in Germany, including the makers, vendors and buyers,

2. See R. Grafman, Crowning Glory: Silver Torah Ornaments of the Jewish Museum, New York (New York 1996), catalogue entries 26, 27, 319, 619 and 620. 3. ‘Einen durchaus wichtigen Bereich bildeten jüdische Kultgegenstände. In den vorhandenen Archiven konnte dazu aber nur weinig Material gefunden werden, so dass hieraus nicht weiter eingegangen wird.’ B.-W. Thiele, Tafel- und Schausilber des Historismus aus Hanau (Tübingen 1992), p. 3 (‘An important area is that of Jewish ceremonial objects. Little material was found in the available archives and so the subject is not pursued further here'). THE PRODUCTION OF JEWISH CEREMONIAL OBJECTS IN HANAU AM MAIN 165 interesting moments of cultural interchange are revealed and our understanding of the objects is deepened and changed. With the emergence of a bourgeois Jewish middle class, demand rose for fine Jewish ritual objects which were affordable. It might be imagined that astute German-Jewish manufacturers recognised this domestic market niche and took the opportunity to develop and serially produce Jewish ceremonial objects as commercial commodities. The major impetus for Jewish craft came from abroad. Boris Schatz, founder of the Bezalel School of Art and Crafts in Palestine in 1906, saw the possibility to promote a broad range of Jewish crafts in Europe. A. Wertheim department store on the Leipzigerstrasse in Berlin included Judaica in its Volkskunst (folk art) department. Wertheim sold a range of items produced by the Bezalel craft workshops in Palestine, and they maintained exclusive rights for Bezalel products in Germany. A 1912 advertising brochure issued by the Bezalel Verein (society) in Ber- lin4 promotes Wertheim and urges support for the continuation of production by Jews in Bezalel’s workshops: Work not charity! […] Increased sales enable production expansion and the employment of more Jewish workers. Help us to develop handicraft and home industry within the Jewish population and to settle the homeless!5 Supporting the Bezalel school by purchasing its products was thus pro- moted as an act of practical Zionism: providing jobs and, consequently, self-sufficiency for new Jewish immigrants and helping to establish an arts enterprise in Eretz Israel. However, constant tensions existed between Boris Schatz and the Bezalel Berlin Board, and in 1915 they dis-

4. Jewish Museum Berlin, inv. no. 2004/50. The advertisement is addressed on the reverse to Boris Schatz, Kunstgewerbeschule, Jerusalem and the dating is based on the 1912 Berlin postmark. Another copy of the brochure is in the Central Zionist Archives, Jerusalem, CZA DD-819. The Bezalel Society was a non-profit organisation founded and officially registered in Germany in 1906 with a stated humanitarian aim of improving economic and social conditions for Jews in Eretz Yisrael and neighbouring countries through the promotion of handicrafts and home industry. See N. Shilo-Cohen (ed.), Bezalel 1906-1929, exh. cat., The Israel Museum (Jerusalem 1983), p. 35. 5. Ibid. ‘Nicht Almosen, sondern Arbeit! […] Ein reger Verkauf ermöglicht die Produktion zu vergrößern und eine weitere Anzahl jüdischer Arbeiter zu beschäftigen. Helfen Sie uns das Kunstgewerbe und die Hausindustrie unter der jüdischen Bevölkerung zu verbreiten und Heimatlose anzusiedeln!’ 166 MICHAL S. FRIEDLANDER continued their financial support for the Bezalel enterprise. The school declined and closed in 1929. Bezalel failed to dominate the German Judaica market in the early twentieth century with imported products made by Jewish artisans in Palestine. Meanwhile, southern Germany became the focus of prolific and successful serial Judaica production – moreover, the majority of the makers were not Jewish. One centre of Judaica production was the town of Hanau am Main and its neighbouring villages in the region of Hesse. Hanau has a long tradition in the gold- and silversmith trade, dating back to the sixteenth century. Count Philipp Ludwig II was the first to give Jewish families an official privilege to live in Hanau in December 1603, granting religious autonomy and with it the freedom to establish a community. Under his protection, Jews were also officially allowed to trade in gold, silver and precious stones as well as in other trades such as clothing, animal hus- bandry, wine, money lending etc,6 although later ordinances again re- stricted trade possibilities. The general Hanau gold and silver trade flourished from the sixteenth to the eighteenth century and sporadic evidence indicates Jewish involvement in the trade. Dr Eckhard Meise has traced the Saul family from 1537 to the beginning of the seventeenth century. The family lived in Hanau, where three generations of goldsmiths can be documented, probably serving the court of the local nobility.7 Although Jewish goldsmiths existed, Jews were generally excluded from Christian trade guilds and it was common practice in the region for Jews to commission ritual Jewish objects from Christian silversmiths. Some of the most exquisite and finely-crafted silver Judaica objects known are the result of these commissions.8 In spite of the social, professional and economic limita-

6. See E. Meise, ‘Die Hanauer Judenstättigkeit vom 28. Dezember 1603’, in: R. Schaffer- Hartmann (ed.), Stadtzeit 6 (Hanau 2003), p. 236-242. 7. See E. Meise, Die Hanauer Juden und ihr Friedhof, unpublished manuscript. This is not an isolated case. Meise also notes evidence of other Jewish goldsmiths in sixteenth century Hanau: Jeckel (1539-1549), Salamon (1539) and Kifa (1562). My thanks to Dr Meise for generously making this information available. 8. For further information on Jewish patronage of Christian silversmiths in Hesse, see V.B. Mann, ‘The Golden Age of Jewish Ceremonial Art in Frankfurt: Metalwork of the Eighteenth Century', in Leo Baeck Institute Year Book 31 (1986), p. 389-403. THE PRODUCTION OF JEWISH CEREMONIAL OBJECTS IN HANAU AM MAIN 167 tions imposed on the Jewish community, the gold and silver trade became a commercial forum for interaction between Jews and non-Jews. Following the Napoleonic occupation of Hesse in 1806, discrimina- tory laws against Hanau Jewry were gradually lifted, and with greater tolerance came the freedom to participate in trades of choice: the precious metals industry opened up to them. Inscriptions from gravestones in the Hanau Jewish cemetery attest to the growing number of local Jewish goldsmiths (e.g., Naftali Hirsch, 1797-1842) or Jews otherwise connected to the trade (e.g., Edmund Una, 1818-1892, Bijouterie fabri- kant, jewellery maker).9 Major changes took place in the gold and silver object production process, which moved from a pure handicraft towards industrialised manufacture. A particular combination of techniques was developed in the Antiksilberwarenindustrie (antique silverware industry) in Hanau, so called because of the historicised style of the objects produced. As the market for objects grew, the introduction of sand casting from models allowed for the creation of multiples of the same design. A single object usually passed through many hands: a workshop would need to employ draughtsmen/model-makers, silversmiths, engravers and polishers; casting was often done elsewhere at a foundry. Machines were only used for secondary tasks such as sanding and drilling; handcraft techniques, such as hammering and engraving, remained predominant. From the late nineteenth century, goldsmiths and silversmiths received a broad training in Hanau’s Drawing Academy, including classes in drawing and sculpting. Silversmiths could therefore design and make their own models. Once hired by a firm, employees were often exceedingly loyal, remaining with the same company for decades and reaching a high level of expertise.10 At the turn of the twentieth century, there were around twenty such metal workshops in Hanau.11 The companies did not specialise in a sin-

9. Stadtarchiv Hanau, from an unpublished and ongoing survey of Jewish graves in Hanau. 10. For a thorough survey of the structure and manufacturing processes of the antique silverware industry in Hanau, see Thiele, op. cit., chapters 1-3. 11. See I. Schneider and E. Schmidberger, Hanauer und Kasseler Silber, Hessische Brandversi- cherungsanstalt (Kassel 1981), p. 12 and 54. 168 MICHAL S. FRIEDLANDER gle object type such as silver spoons; rather, silver sugar casters, coffee- pots, jardinières and table centrepieces were produced alongside one another in the same workshop. Pattern books show designs for Chanukah lamps adjacent to mirror backs and teapots rubbing shoulders with To- rah finials, and company catalogues show Judaica items interspersed with cake servers and sugar tongs rather than presented as an isolated and distinct group (figs. 1 and 2).12 The early twentieth century was viewed as an exciting time of progress and innovation for the precious metals industry: It is obvious that manufacturing the same things and forms repeat- edly dulls the craftsman rather than stimulating him anew. Moreover, we are in a time that quickly tires of a single style, that demands ever new forms and new ideas.13 With a powerful manufacturing infrastructure, a flair for the commercial and a local Jewish population involved in the industry, it is perhaps no surprise that Jewish ritual items were included in the range of products designed and produced in Hanau. Both Jewish and Christian ritual objects were manufactured by the same companies at the same time (fig. 3). The basic object types produced for Christian ritual were rather limited in scope and included communion wine goblets and jugs, some candlesticks and crucifixes. Small devotional gift items such as figures of the Madonna and a surprisingly large range of decorative Weihwasser- becken (holy water holders) were also part of the production line.14 Judaica seems to have been an equally important area of manufacture, if not more so. At least 23 different Judaica object types can be documented as having been manufactured in Hanau. The largest proportion

12. This phenomenon is clearly illustrated in the Wilhelm Weinranck pattern books found in the Ludwig Oswald collection, Freigericht-Neuses (see below). 13. ‘Es ist doch ersichtlich, daß eine Herstellung stets gleicher Dinge und Formen den Handwerker abstumpft, anstatt ihn neu anzuregen. Noch dazu stehen wir in einer Zeit, die sich schnell tot-sieht an einem Stil, die immer neue Formen verlangt und neue Ideen’, in W. Log: ‘Die Eigenart des Hanauer Edelmetall und Schmuckgewerbes’, in Deutsche Goldschmiede Zeitung 21 (27 May 1922), p. 313-315. 14. For example in Wilhelm Geist Silberwaren catalogue photographs, found in the Ludwig Oswald collection, Freigericht-Neuses. THE PRODUCTION OF JEWISH CEREMONIAL OBJECTS IN HANAU AM MAIN 169

Figure 1. A Friedrich Röll Nachfolger catalogue shows a havdalah spice tower beside a teacup (Silberschmiede Oswald, Freigericht-Neuses, photo Jens Ziehe)

Figure 2. Jewish and secular objects together: Chanukah lamp, havdalah spice tower and cake server from a Lorenz Streb catalogue (Silberschmiede Oswald, Freigericht-Neuses, photo Jens Ziehe) 170 MICHAL S. FRIEDLANDER

Figure 3. Jewish and Christian objects together: drawings produced by Wilhelm Weinranck show a Communion cup and Chanukah lamp (Silberschmiede Oswald, Freigericht-Neuses, photo Jens Ziehe) THE PRODUCTION OF JEWISH CEREMONIAL OBJECTS IN HANAU AM MAIN 171 of objects were produced for domestic use, such as havdalah spice boxes, challah knives and Chanukah lamps. However, Torah silver (shields, pointers, finials and crowns) and the occasional large synagogue commission can also be traced to local makers. A sense of civic pride in both liturgical lines of production is evi- dent in the 27 May 1922 issue of the Deutsche Goldschmiede Zeitung, a national magazine for the gold and silversmithing trade, at that time published weekly in Leipzig. The issue had a special feature on Hanau precious metal and jewellery products, prior to the imminent 150th an- niversary of the Hanau Drawing Academy. Five items were chosen to represent the Hanau silver industry and on one page, a jardinière, an altar cross and a Chanukah lamp are given equal emphasis, reproduced alongside one another to the same size (fig. 4).15 An almost identical example of this Chanukah lamp is in the collection of the Jewish Museum in Berlin and stands 61 cm high.16 This lamp rests on feet modelled in the shape of lions rather than on ball feet and topping the central shaft is a flame motif rather than a Star of David (such decorative elements were commonly interchanged, with the core model remaining the same). Based on the maker’s mark on this lamp, it seems likely that the lamp illustrated in the Goldschmiede Zeitung was manufactured by Emil Freund. Thus, a substantial and physically impressive item was chosen to represent Judaica in the journal, produced by a leading local firm. Although many Jews worked in the gold and silver industry in Hanau in different roles, from humble chain makers to partnerships in successful silversmithing companies (such as in the firm Storck & Sins- heimer, founded in 1874), it seems that most manufacturing companies producing Jewish ritual objects did not have Jewish owners. There is some speculation that the owner of Emil Freund, the only company which is known to have produced Judaica exclusively, may have been Jewish, but this has yet to be proven. Emil Freund was a manufacturing company active in Hanau from about 1922 to 1935 and was one of the few companies promoting itself as specialists in Jewish ritual objects.

15. DGZ, op. cit., p. 42. 16. Jewish Museum Berlin, KGM 81/65. 172 MICHAL S. FRIEDLANDER

Figure 4. Illustration in the Deutsche Goldschmiede-Zeitung of 27 May 1922 showing products manufactured by the Hanau silver industry (Deutsche Bibliothek, Leipzig and Deutsche Goldschmiede Zeitung)

The firm advertised regularly to the trade in the Deutsche Goldschmiede Zeitung, and the issue of 27 May 1922 includes one such advertisement (fig. 5). Another Hanau firm which advertised with less frequency placed an advertisement in this issue as well. Gebrüder Gutgesell (founded 1888) includes a photograph of a seder plate in their advertisement and also declare themselves to be secondarily specialists in Jewish THE PRODUCTION OF JEWISH CEREMONIAL OBJECTS IN HANAU AM MAIN 173

Figure 5. Advertisement for Emil Freund in the Deutsche Goldschmiede-Zeitung, 1922 (Deutsche Bibliothek, Leipzig and Deutsche Goldschmiede Zeitung) ritual objects.17 Clearly this period was a high point for Judaica manufacture in Hanau. Original Hanau Judaica models and designs can still be found in local private collections; examination of this material illuminates the production process of certain types of Jewish ritual object. It also illus- trates the interactive process between the producer and consumer and raises issues and questions connected to Jewish and non-Jewish partici- pation in the Hanau Judaica trade. The company Silberschmiede Oswald, based in Freigericht-Neuses, 26 kilometres from Hanau, is a family-run company now in its third generation. Trained at the firm of Lorenz Streb in Groß-Auheim, Josef Oswald founded the company in 1938, which was taken over by his son Ludwig in 1971. A passionate collector, Ludwig bought up models and related materials when other silversmithing firms dissolved. With the purchase of these models, Oswald also acquired the company copyrights which he continues to exercise today. The number of models in the Oswald collection runs to the thousands and is one of the largest collections of its kind, containing over 130 different Judaica models dating from approximately 1880 to 1930. The companies who produced Judaica represented in the collection include non-Jewish firms such as Wilhelm Weinranck (established 1899, taken over in 1970 by Wilhelm Geist & Sohn), Rauch & Co (established c. 1919, acquired by Oswald in 1988), Lorenz Streb (established c. 1924) and Karl Junker (established 1927).18

17. DGZ, op. cit., p. 60. 18. Thiele, op. cit., p. 191-202. The dates of activity are taken from Thiele’s list of workshops and independent silversmiths. 174 MICHAL S. FRIEDLANDER

A non-Jewish silversmith working in a Hanau workshop would not have faced any particular technical difficulties specific to Judaica pieces; the most difficult challenge would have been the correct use of Hebrew in object inscriptions. Accurate Hebrew texts would have been needed as references both for the design of an original Judaica model and for the fine engraving of the inscription after the piece had been cast. The Oswald collection contains both original drawings and scraps of paper from various defunct manufacturers which provide an insight into this process. A page from a New York educational Hebrew chart for chil- dren, dated 1918, is still used today by Ludwig Oswald as a reference for the shape of the Hebrew alphabet letters. Each letter has been assigned a consecutive number, from aleph (1) to final tzaddi (32), and tracings of the letters are made to form a stencil. Someone with a knowledge of Hebrew would then help the silversmith by giving him a number sequence as a reference for the sequence of the letters. An envelope from the firm Geisel & Geist addressed to a Herr Oppenheimer contains a numbered list of Hebrew words to be used on Aufruftafeln, Torah shield plaques. Each phrase is accompanied by a German translation. It is likely that Herr Oppenheimer was Jewish, although this has not yet been proven, but the list demonstrates interaction around the problems raised by Hebrew text. Not only the sequence of the letters, but the sequence of words are a challenge to someone not familiar with Hebrew. Several reference notes have arrows to indicate the starting point of a text and/or the di- rection of the script (from right to left) (fig. 6). The word sequence of a Hebrew phrase is also often numbered from right to left. Evidence of a silversmith’s frustration is tangible on one drawing for a seder plate with a lengthy Hebrew inscription. It is crossed out in blue pencil four times with an adjacent remark ‘Schrift nicht richtig’ (text wrong). Errors in spelling and in the word sequence were inevitable and were not always caught before a model was completed. One model for a plaque to be hung on a bottle of kiddush wine has a Hebrew text which reads from from the Hebrew – בורא פרי הגפן rather than הגפן פרי בורא :right to left blessing over wine. A pair of havdalah plate models, in the collection of THE PRODUCTION OF JEWISH CEREMONIAL OBJECTS IN HANAU AM MAIN 175

Figure 6. Hebrew inscriptions for Sabbath challah plate and knife (Silberschmiede Oswald, Freigericht-Neuses, photo Jens Ziehe) the firm of C. Merget, show how a textual error may be corrected. In the first version of the model, the abbreviation for the divine name (double yud) was unfortunately omitted. In the second version, one sees that a grape and vine decorative element has been erased and replaced by the missing word to complete the text (from Psalm 19:9) (fig. 7). It seems that no-one pointed out that the Hebrew letter bet is mistakenly written as a kaf on both models. Another interesting phenomenon indicating cultural interchange through the Judaica trade is the terminology used by non-Jewish companies to describe the Judaica items in their production lines. A typed Judaica price list from the Wilhelm Geist & Sohn company mentions Mesusses and Esrogdosen which must reflect the terminology and pronunciation used by their Jewish clients. The word Barchesmesser for a challah bread knife incorporates the term Barches, the regional word for challah. Other terms used, such as Afdollateller for havdalah plate and Dalles- schliessen for tallit clips, indicate received pronunciation, slightly mis- heard, resulting in corrupted nomenclature. 176 MICHAL S. FRIEDLANDER

Figure 7. Havdalah plate models showing a correction to the Hebrew inscription (C. Merget & Co, photo Michal Friedlander)

From where did the Hanau firms draw inspiration for their Judaica designs? Bruno-Wilhelm Thiele defines the peak period of the Hanau antique silver industry as being from 1861 to 1933. The defining style of this period was the antique genre used by silversmiths in developing new models and designs. Style elements from different periods were used and sometimes exact copies of earlier designs were made.19 This historical design approach can also be seen in Hanau Judaica. Stylistic references to pre-existing object forms makes it easier to understand how non-Jewish makers could design Judaica. For example, a particular cup form was popular in Augsburg and Nuremberg as a kiddush cup in the eighteenth century. The bowl of the cup had either six or eight faceted sides and the six-faceted bowl form seems to have been favoured as a kiddush cup type in Hanau. Similarly, a Chanukah lamp form known as the ‘Frankfurt type’, a form popular in the eighteenth

19. Thiele, op. cit., p. 1-5. THE PRODUCTION OF JEWISH CEREMONIAL OBJECTS IN HANAU AM MAIN 177 century,20 was also copied and adapted. At least two sketches exist showing slight variants in design. The facility for design is connected to the broad training received by silversmiths in Hanau. It is also quite clear that firms copied each other’s designs and the same basic model type can be found produced by different firms. Another element factoring into the design of Judaica in Hanau was the adaptation of existing secular forms familiar to the silversmiths. Some object types fitted into a traditional genre or form which was al- ready in production. For example, challah plates were similar in shape and had the same technical production demands as other popular decorative plates made in Hanau. While the challah plate was usually deco- rated with a pair of Sabbath loaves in relief, at the centre (fig. 8), the secular plates were thematically illustrated with a wide range of imagery. The central panel might contain a hunting scene, a city view (such as

Figure 8. Challah plate made by Oswald silversmiths in 2003, now in the collection of the Jüdisches Museum Berlin; beside it, an old Geist photo catalogue (Silberschmiede Oswald, Freigericht-Neuses, photo Jens Ziehe)

20. For the debate on the originator of this Chanukah lamp type, see Grafman, op. cit., p. 87, cat. no. 17. 178 MICHAL S. FRIEDLANDER

Frankfurt or Zurich) or even a mythological scene of Neptune holding a trident (fig. 9).

Figure 9. Sketch for a decorative plate by Schlingloff showing Neptune and his horses (Silberschmiede Oswald, Freigericht-Neuses, photo Jens Ziehe)

In general, clear design distinctions were made between Jewish and Christian ritual objects where overlap of ceremonial object type was possible. The two potential areas of crossover were ceremonial cups and candlesticks. The form of the German communion goblet is very dis- tinctive and the form was not adapted in Hanau for kiddush cup designs. Guidelines for gold and silversmiths making church silver were included in trade papers and craftsmen were encouraged to use narrowly prescribed traditional forms.21 Although any pair of candlesticks could be used in a Jewish house- hold to serve as Sabbath candlesticks, those with specifically Jewish or- namentation may have had more appeal. A drawing of a single,

21. M. Dankler, ‘Die wichtigsten Vorschriften über kirchliche Goldschmiedearbeite’, in Deutsche Goldschmiede Zeitung 7, 52 (Leipzig, 23 December 1904), p. 90-95. THE PRODUCTION OF JEWISH CEREMONIAL OBJECTS IN HANAU AM MAIN 179 unornamented candlestick shows how the secular form could easily be adapted for the Jewish market: a Star of David, clearly a later addition to the design, has been drawn on the shaft of the candlestick. The popular branching double candlestick form could also be adapted. Geist drawings show a Star of David motif crowning the central shaft of several double candlestick designs; here the motif is not an afterthought and is incorporated into the original design. Candlesticks intended for Christian ritual use, such as altar candlesticks, were clearly distin- guished. Sketches from the Karl Junker company show a variety of candlesticks with a cross motif embedded in the shaft. Requests made by Jewish clients also influenced Judaica designs. It is rare to find a paper trail for a Judaica commission, but a letter dated 1935 to the Geist company from Adolf Mayer Sr, a dealer in silver and jewellery based in Frankfurt am Main, sheds some light on the commissioning process. In this note, Mayer requests a yahrzeit (memorial) lamp design for one of his own clients. From a review of the known Judaica models and drawings, it appears that yahrzeit lamps were not part of the regular production line of the Hanau firms. Mayer submitted a sketch from his client and carefully explained that the lamp should be able to hold oil in an amount sufficient for it to remain alight for 24 hours, the design therefore driven by the ceremonial function. There exists both a rough drawing and a final sketch for the Mayer commission. The lamp was to be produced in lead rather than silver, the basic material of choice, probably for reasons of practical us- age. It seems that the design was adapted from a kiddush cup and perhaps the form of the base was even taken from an existing cup design (fig. 10).22 Notes on the first sketch include the blessing for wine, although a new inscription has been added to the base, more suited to a memorial lamp: ‘The life-breath of man is the lamp of the Lord’ (Proverbs 20:27).

22. It was common practice to interchange model parts, as convenient; a kiddush cup base might also be used as a base for a small Chanukah lamp; the back wall of a Chanukah lamp ad- justed to make a Torah shield, as related by Ludwig Oswald in conversation, 2003. 180 MICHAL S. FRIEDLANDER

Figure 10. Sketch for a yahrzeit lamp commissioned by Adolf Meyer Sr, Frankfurt, from Geist; two kiddush cup designs show the evolution of the form (Silberschmiede Oswald, Freigericht-Neuses, photo Jens Ziehe) THE PRODUCTION OF JEWISH CEREMONIAL OBJECTS IN HANAU AM MAIN 181

One might assume that strict guidelines would limit a non-Jewish artisan in designing Jewish ceremonial objects. However, there are few rules determining the design of a Jewish ritual object: local customs and design traditions have historically prevailed. The requirements for a kiddush cup are simply that it needs to be intact (without holes or cracks) and clean.23 If a customer wanted a cup with a certain fluid ca- pacity, one could choose and order a cup of the appropriate size from a Hanau manufacturer’s catalogue. There is, however, a very explicit re- quirement in the Shulchan Aruch for the design of a Chanukah lamp: The lights should be placed in an even row; one should not be higher than the other.24 One drawing from the Geist company shows an eight-branched cande- labrum with the arms of the lamp set at different levels. A final drawing for the same model number has been corrected so that all the lights are placed in an even row, suggesting the intervention of a Jewish acquaint- ance (fig. 11). Design errors can also result from not understanding the function of an object connected to Jewish ritual. Ludwig Oswald used an old Geist model to make a pair of tallit clips in May 2004. These are generally formed by a pair of clasps, connected by a chain, designed to fasten a prayershawl across the wearer’s chest and to prevent it from slip- ping off the shoulders. Not knowing their function and having no-one to ask, no clips were attached to the underside of the ornaments and the chains were far too long to be functional. The demands and market force of the Jewish community also clearly influenced the output of the silver factories. The manufacturers served and supplied community needs and desires. From the quantity of designs it is possible to see which object types were favoured. The Chanukah lamp is the object which appears with the most frequency and variety in the Hanau Judaica catalogue. In the Oswald collection alone there are 40 different metal models for casting Chanukah lamps. This gives an indication of the widespread popularity of this ritual ob-

23. Kitzur Shulchan Aruch 77:7. 24. Idem 139:9. 182 MICHAL S. FRIEDLANDER

Figure 11. A drawing showing a version of a Chanukah lamp with branches at different levels. The second image shows a corrected version of the lamp manufactured by Geist (Silberschmiede Oswald, Freigericht-Neuses, photo Jens Ziehe) THE PRODUCTION OF JEWISH CEREMONIAL OBJECTS IN HANAU AM MAIN 183 ject in the German-Jewish home in the early twentieth century, which is followed in popularity by the havdalah spice tower and kiddush cup. It is also interesting to note which objects were in little or no demand. There is only one mould for a mizrach plaque and no evidence for the production of tzedakah receptacles. It has been generally assumed that Judaica production ceased in Hanau following the National Socialist rise to power in 1933. The perse- cution and ultimate destruction of the Jewish community in Hanau is well-documented.25 It is surprising then that there is some evidence of Judaica still being produced in Hanau during the mid-1930s. As men- tioned above, a letter exists from Adolf Mayer to the firm of Wilhelm Geist, commissioning a yahrzeit lamp in 1935. A second letter from Mayer to Geist, dated 3 April 1936, and also signed patriotically ‘Mit Deutschem Gruss!’ requests a design for a pair of Torah finials (referred to as ‘Klein-Kodesch’) for a client (fig. 12). A postcard printed for the local folk festival ‘300 Jahre Hanauer Lamboy-Fest, 12.13 u. 14 Juni 1936’

Figure 12. A letter sent by Adolf Mayer Sr in 1936 commissioning a pair of Torah finials from the firm of Wilhelm Geist (Silberschmiede Oswald, Freigericht-Neuses, photo Jens Ziehe)

25. G. Flämig, Hanau im Dritten Reich, Hrsg. vom Magistrat d. Stadt Hanau in Verb. mit d. Hanauer Geschichtsverein Hanau 2: Verfolgung und Widerstand (Hanau 1987), p. 273- 373. 184 MICHAL S. FRIEDLANDER has hand-written text on the reverse: ‘Schrift für Besamimbüchse’ and -flanked by two Stars of David. Reflected in this strange juxtapo ,בשמים sition is an indication of some Judaica activity in the mid-1930s. Given the political climate of the time and the local boycott of Jew- ish businesses from 1933, it seems likely that in most cases the Hanau precious metals trade reduced or ended their dealings with Jewish clients and that little Judaica was produced from 1933 to 1945. The synagogue in Hanau was burned and destroyed on 9 November 1938 and the Jews of Hanau were deported in 1942. Yet it seems that the non-Jewish firms who produced Judaica did not feel threatened by having Judaica items in their production line. A bill from the firm Gebrüder Gutgessell, dated 29 April 1943, states on its company letterhead: ‘Spezialität: Israelitische Kultusgegenstände’. The printed letterhead indicates that it was printed for use in the 1930s and the paper was still used by the firm in the 1940s. The fact that the company did not feel that this information needed to be obscured or removed seems to imply that the information posed no threat to the company. This leads to a greater understanding of how the Judaica moulds and drawings managed to survive the war years. Had the material been the property of a Jewish firm, it would most likely have been appropri- ated, dispersed or destroyed. For example, the factory of the Jewish- owned firm Storck & Sinsheimer was sold in 1938 for far below its value and even the reduced price was not paid in full.26 The material which survived the war in non-Jewish hands survived in different ways. The majority of Hanau silver manufacturing companies did not survive the Second World War due to the difficult economic situation. Hanau was also heavily bombed during the war and many workshops, along with their entire inventories, were completely destroyed. However, the Weinranck company, for example, stored their models in a warehouse in a small town outside of Hanau and their material was not harmed.27 Ludwig Oswald remembers his father’s tale that he himself had buried

26. Letter from Ludwig Sinsheimer to the municipal authorities of the city of Hanau, New York, 1 January 1962, Sinsheimer documents, Stadtarchiv Hanau. 27. Observation made by Rudolf Schäffer on 16 April 2004. Schäffer is director of the Deutsches Goldschmiedehaus Hanau and son-in-law of the one-time managing director (Geschäftsführer) of the firm of Weinranck & Schmidt. THE PRODUCTION OF JEWISH CEREMONIAL OBJECTS IN HANAU AM MAIN 185 some models which were never found again.28 Perhaps most telling of all is the survival of the Judaica models from the firm of C. Merget. The firm is situated in Klein-Auheim am Main and was not bombed. The firm continued to work during the war years, manufacturing and exporting silver goods to Finland and Sweden, although Judaica was ‘probably not produced’. The models simply remained untouched in the workshop.29 Following the destruction of the Jewish community in Germany, there was little domestic demand for fine silver Judaica items after 1945. Yet, Jewish ritual objects continued to be manufactured in Hanau after the war through to the present day. The post-war future of Hanau Judaica lay in export, in particular to the United States. Photographs sent to K. Merget (one of the founders of C. Merget & Co) show an exhibition of jewellery and silverware from Hanau at Rockefeller Center in New York, in April 1949. Two Cha- nukah lamps can clearly be seen in the photographs (fig. 13).30 As early

Figure 13. Hanau trade show, Rockefeller Center, New York, 1949, by Hermann Wenzel, sent to K. Merget of the silversmithing firm C. Merget & Co (C. Merget & Co, photo Jens Ziehe)

28. From a filmed interview with Ludwig Oswald, May 2003, in the holdings of the Jewish Museum Berlin. 29. From a conversation with M. Merget, widow of K. Merget of C. Merget & Co, 16 April 2004. Schwäbisch Gmünd in Swabia was another centre for the mass production of Judaica items. Unpublished research by Dr Gabriele Holthuis includes eye-witness testimonies revealing that Judaica was produced in Schwäbisch Gmünd in the 1940s under the supervision of the National Socialist authorities. The products were marked ‘Sonderwaren’ and were exported. 30. From the archives of C. Merget & Co. The photographs are identified and annotated on the reverse by the photographer, Hermann Wenzel, who included a portrait of himself in the envelope. 186 MICHAL S. FRIEDLANDER as 1950, the firm of C. Merget & Co placed an advertisement in a Ger- man trade publication stating their specialisation in ‘Jüdische Kultus- geräte’, presumably in an attempt to appeal to German export dealers.31 A catalogue of drawings from the company of Weinranck of the late 1950s-early 1960s contains many Judaica drawings annotated with catalogue numbers, confirming that Jewish ritual objects were still part of their production line. While some of the new designs for sugar bowls and creamers have modern, sleek contours, the designs for Torah crowns, for example, remain traditional and could have easily been designed in the late nineteenth century.32 Although there were no longer any Judaica retail customers in Ger- many, it seems from speaking to representatives of different firms today that from as early as the mid-1950s, non-Jewish silver manufacturers sold their Judaica predominantly to Jewish wholesale dealers, with whom they often built strong, professional relationships. The firm of C. Mer- get & Co sold their Judaica wares to a Mr Stern of Frankfurt and Co- logne. He bought in Germany and sold the Judaica abroad, well into the 1990s. At the high point of Ludwig Oswald’s Judaica production in the 1970s he sold to dealers in Munich and to a Mr Steinberg, with whom he had a particularly good relationship. Steinberg then sold the material in the United States. Ludwig Oswald tells the story of Juden Montag (Jew Monday) when Jewish dealers from Munich would wait outside his workshop to meet with him and hide to avoid bumping into one another. Today, his Judaica is bought mostly by a Jewish dealer in London. It is difficult to trace the volume of Judaica produced in the post- war period, as bills of sale and company financial record books are rarely explicit. They often ambiguously refer to Leuchter (lamps) or use the even more vague term Silberwaren (silverware). A price list from the firm of Wilhelm Geist & Sohn lists Judaica prices for the period from

31. Schmuck und Edles Gerät, Heft 1, Rudolf Grimm Verlag (Frankfurt am Main, January 1950), p. 38. 32. Design catalogue of sketches from the Weinranck company, Oswald silversmiths collection. THE PRODUCTION OF JEWISH CEREMONIAL OBJECTS IN HANAU AM MAIN 187

1971 to 1987, attesting to ongoing Judaica production by this company: a wine bottle plaque with a chain for hanging, priced at 14 Deutsche Mark in 1973 and 51.50 DM in 1987; a spice box costing 64 DM in 1973 and 242 DM in 1987. The Judaica market seems to have blossomed in the 1970s and again for Ludwig Oswald in the late 1980s. He speaks of the tremendous success of his firm in the late 1980s with a turnover of 1,000,000 DM per year and 1,000 kilos of silver poured. During the highpoint of the market, he made six Chanukah lamps every four to six weeks and at that time 80 per cent of his production was Judaica, as opposed to 5 per cent today. The price of silver was exorbitantly high in 1980, creating a crisis for all silversmithing companies in Hanau. Wholesalers stopped buying and attempts were made to cast in bronze rather than silver. Many companies did not survive the crisis and closed down. The general Hanau silver market faded out in the 1980s. Jewish religious life has not flourished in post-war Germany to the extent that demand for Jewish ritual objects could support a domestic Judaica industry. Most new Judaica used in Germany today is usually purchased in Israel or in the United States. Ludwig Oswald has an am- bivalent attitude towards the future of the Judaica market. On the one hand he believes that the young Jewish generation is not very interested in Jewish ritual objects and “Sie wollen wegkommen… vom Stern.” (They want to get away from ‘the Star’).33 On the other hand, he is hopeful that there may be renewed interest in the German market for the type of Judaica which he manufactures. Consequently, he produced a large number of sample Judaica items for an antique fair in Berlin in May 2004 (fig. 14). To give an idea of the depth and variety of his Judaica model resources, he produced examples of 22 different havdalah spice tower types and eighteen different examples of kiddush cups. How- ever, his current best-selling item, selected from the abundance of Jew- ish and non-Jewish models which are no longer in use, is a secular object: a decorative silver box with a pop-up, chirping, mechanical bird. Jewish ritual objects produced in Hanau after 1945 have the appear- ance of being made during an earlier period: most of the moulds are

33. See note 28 above. 188 MICHAL S. FRIEDLANDER

Figure 14. Ludwig Oswald and Judaica products manufactured by his company at a trade fair in Berlin, May 2004 (Jewish Museum Berlin, photo Michal Friedlander) pre-war, the quality of workmanship is assumed to be from another time, and it is not generally known that the stamps of certain defunct manufacturers are still in use. When assumed to be pre-war products, these objects take on a different value today, as apart from their commercial worth they become powerful symbols, appearing to consumers to be surviving cultural remnants of the destroyed German-Jewish community. The objects affirm and legitimate memory for the collector, although the memory is based on a misreading of the object. A recent advertisement on the Internet shows a Hanau silver Chanukah lamp made from a Geist model (number 1412). The piece was probably made in the 1970s-1980s and is advertised as ‘unidentified maker, c. 1900’: Resilient German 800 standard solid silver menorah. Many collectors and experts consider the existence of Judaica quite amazing. Examples like this menorah endure in spite of World War I and the holocaust of World War II. THE PRODUCTION OF JEWISH CEREMONIAL OBJECTS IN HANAU AM MAIN 189

During the process of ethnic cleansing, the Nazis and their sympa- thizers plundered and burned Jewish homes and synagogues, destroy- ing and melting down thousands of ounces of silver. In doing so, they hoped not only to wipe out the Jewish communities, but also to eliminate any trace of Jewish culture.34 Manufacturers, vendors and consumers in the postwar German Judaica trade arrive at relationships that sometimes seem culturally extreme. This can be exemplified by sales in the street market held most week- ends on Berlin’s ‘Straße des 17. Juni’ (17th June Street). Here, Arab dealers sell seven-branched, mass-produced copper alloy menorot, made in India and China (fig. 15). We know from the Hanau material that the seven-branched menorah was not a popular item for German-Jewish domestic use.35 The seven-branched menorah has a symbolic rather than

QUADRI

Figure 15. Vendors at the June 17th Street market, Berlin, March 2004 (Jewish Museum Berlin, photo Michal Friedlander)

34. See http://www.silvervaultcharleston.com/continental.htm. 35. By contrast to the Chanukah lamp, no Hanau models are known for a seven-branched menorah and so far only one drawing has been found originating from the firm of Karl Junker 190 MICHAL S. FRIEDLANDER ceremonial function in Jewish life. For whom then are they produced? For non-Jewish Germans who wish to have a Jewish symbol in their homes? For anxious Jewish tourists looking for German-Jewish relics? Writing on the marketing and commoditisation of tradition and ethnic art, Enid Schildkrout notes: Meaning is created as producers and consumers communicate and adjust their behaviour and the art they produce and acquire in ac- cordance with their perceptions of each other’s needs, desires, and in- tentions.36 As in any trade, the Judaica market involves a maker, a vendor and a buyer. The Judaica object serves as an agent for interaction between ever-changing pairs of hands and cultural groups. As is so clearly exemplified by the case of Hanau, Jews do not necessarily produce ceremonial objects for their own use, or even to be bought by others as ‘ethnic art’. This is not the Bezalel Xmas exhibition at the Wertheim department store, in 1909, where non-Jews bought curiosities made by Jews in the Holy Land.37 In Hanau, despite the interaction between non-Jewish makers and Jewish clients, and romantic notions of cultural exchange, Judaica is just another product, a commodity, and the manufacturer responds to the demands of the market. The object reflects the maker and circumstances of production as well as its intended ceremonial function. Ludwig Oswald, for example, has no knowledge or particular interest in the function of the Judaica objects represented in his depot. The cultural and historical context of the pieces are not understood and this can lead to startling and ironic repercussions. The silverware produced by

(corrected to transform it into a Chanukah lamp). It can therefore be deduced that this object type was manufactured in Hanau in limited numbers, if at all, in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. 36. E. Schildkrout, ‘Gender and Sexuality in Mangbutu Art’, in: R.B. Phillips and C. Steiner (eds), Unpacking Culture. Art and Commodity in Colonial and Postcolonial Worlds, University of California Press (Berkeley and Los Angeles 1999), p. 203-204. 37. ‘[…] And all the visitors stand amazed at the beauty of Bezalel craftsmanship and purchase items for Christmas and the New Year as souvenirs and for expensive gifts.’ From a press re- port of 29 December 1909, in the collection of the Jerusalem City Archives, cited in: Shilo-Cohen (ed.), op. cit., p. 320. THE PRODUCTION OF JEWISH CEREMONIAL OBJECTS IN HANAU AM MAIN 191

Ludwig Oswald’s firm adhere to the usual German silver standard of 800/1000 fine unless a request for sterling silver is made (925/1000 with 75/000 of added metal, usually copper, to give it strength). Rather than use raw silver, Oswald finds it is often cheaper and simpler to buy old coins with the appropriate level of silver and have them melted down for production. The Jewish ceremonial objects produced by Oswald are all made from Nazi 5 Reichsmark coins, each marked with a Reichsadler (eagle) and swastika symbol, which are 90 per cent silver and so have the right composition to meet the German standard.