Florida State University Libraries Electronic Theses, Treatises and Dissertations The Graduate School 2005 The Evolution of German-Jewish Intermarriage Laws and Practices in Germany to 1900 Christopher W. Griffin Follow this and additional works at the FSU Digital Library. For more information, please contact [email protected] The Florida State University College of Arts & Sciences The Evolution of German-Jewish Intermarriage Laws and Practices in Germany to 1900 By Christopher W. Griffin A Thesis submitted to the Department of History in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts Degree Awarded: Summer Semester, 2005 Copyright © 2005 Christopher W. Griffin All Rights Reserved The members of the Committee approve the Thesis of Christopher Griffin defended on April 27, 2005. _________________________ Nathan Stoltzfus Professor Directing Thesis _________________________ Michael Creswell Committee Member _________________________ Suzanne Sinke Committee Member The Office of Graduate Studies has verified and approved the above named committee members. ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Though there are undoubtedly far too many people who contributed to the completion of this thesis to be thanked properly within the confines of this page, I would like to take this opportunity to extend special statements of appreciation and acknowledgement to those most responsible. My acknowledgements begin, of course, with my major professor, Nathan Stoltzfus. Without his insights, critiques, and encouragement, this project would never have got off the ground. The other members of my thesis committee, Suzanne Sinke and Michael Creswell, provided excellent critiques and overwhelming patience throughout the project. During my graduate studies, I have had the great pleasure of working under Max Friedman as a researcher and grader. The lessons he has taught me, both as a scholar and a mentor, have proven to be some of the most valuable parts of my graduate education. I will bare a debt to all of them for any future successes. The department of History at the Florida State University has attracted an excellent group of graduate students in the last few years. Without their unwavering friendship, devotion to improvement, and willingness to put up with me, I would never have survived graduate school. Rachael Cherry has been the best friend I have ever known. Her desire to succeed has rivaled my own and she pushes me to be better than I am. Amy Carney has often served as the sounding board for my ideas. Bouncing ideas off of each other (sometimes literally) and poking holes through each other’s arguments have made the writing of this thesis much more fun then it should have been and certainly more rewarding. Finally, to my wife and my daughter, thank you for providing the motivation to make myself worthy of you. You are the treasures of my life. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF TABLES………….……………………….……………………….v ABSTRACT…….…………………………………………………………...vi INTRODUCTION …………………………………………………………...1 CHAPTER ONE: INTERMARRIAGE IN GERMANY TO 1848.………….9 I. Jews in the Roman Empire ..…………………………………………………………….10 II. Jews in Medieval Europe .……….……………………………………………………….16 III. Social Changes in the Early Modern Period ..…………………………………………...21 IV. Intermarriage As Part of the Religious Struggle Over Civil Marriage ..…………………..24 Conclusion .…………………………………………………………………………………31 CHAPTER TWO: THE FORMATION OF GERMAN INTERMARRIAGE LAWS…………………………………………………………....32 I. Jewish Equality and Citizenship ..…………………………………………………………33 II. Unification and the Kulturkampf……………………………………………………………….….38 III. Civil Marriage………………………………………………………………………………42 Conclusion……………………………………………………………………………………....48 CHAPTER THREE: THE IMPACT OF INTERMARRIAGE IN NINETEENTH CENTURY GERMANY……………………….50 I. Intermarriage Trends………………………………………………………………….……51 II. Intermarried Couples………………………………………………………………….……55 III. Opposition to Intermarriage………………………………………………………………...60 IV. The Struggle for a German Identity………………………………………………………..66 Conclusion………………………………………………………………………………………68 CONCLUSION ...………………………………………………………..…70 BIBLIOGRAPHY ……...…………………………………………………..73 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH………………………………………………..79 iv LIST OF TABLES Table I: Breakdown of religious confessions in Prussia 39 following the Austro-Prussia War. Table II: non-Jewish Intermarriage in Prussia, 1875-1900 53 Table III: Marriage in Prussia 1885, 1890, 1895 56 v ABSTRACT In 1875, citizens throughout the recently formed German nation were for the first time allowed to intermarry without conversion. Over the course of the next fifty years, German Jews marriages to German non-Jews increased to such a level that German-Jewish intermarriage became one of the central issues in German-Jewish relations. This thesis places intermarriage within the larger frameworks of German-Jewish relations and German-Jewish history. It develops a new interpretation of the evolution and legalization of intermarriage. The legalization of intermarriage took place within the framework of the kulturkampf and civil marriage debates of the early 1870s. Though intermarriage between German Jews and German non-Jews would become far more frequent after the turn of the century, intermarriage during the late nineteenth century had far more important political, religious, and social implications than mere numbers would suggest. vi INTRODUCTION In 1875, citizens throughout the recently formed German nation were for the first time allowed to intermarry without conversion.1 The German Reichstag and Bundesrat expanded a modified version of an existing law, the 1874 Prussian Law of Personal Status, to include the entire empire.2 This law made civil marriage mandatory for all marriages in Germany, removing a long standing obstacle to marriage between Jewish Germans and non-Jewish Germans. Over the course of the next fifty years, German Jews marriages to German non-Jews increased to such a level that German-Jewish intermarriage became one of the central issues in German-Jewish relations. German-Jewish intermarriages had far more important political, religious, and social implications than mere numbers would suggest. The dual nature of marriage as both a spiritual and a secular union made it a chronic source of tension between German churches and states. Given the added tension of incorporating a stigmatized foreign group into the German identity, it is small wonder that intermarriage commanded such importance. Following each step in the unification process, serious discussions about marital laws and practices occurred, keeping intermarriage debates at the forefront of national and religious discussions. Only in 1875 were the debates settled and intermarriage legalized. Though intermarriage was numerically insignificant until the last years of the nineteenth century, it remained a focal point for German- Jewish relations and relations between the state and religious groups. This study examines the social and political aspects of marriage between Jews and non- Jews in Germany in the latter half of the nineteenth century. It explores the formation of laws in the new German state that allowed intermarriage, the impact of those laws on German and 1 In this paper, “Germany” refers to the areas which make up the state after unification in 1871. Germany underwent several territorial changes from 1871 to 1945, and when appropriate, these changes are noted in the text. 2 The Reichstag and Bundesrat were the lower and upper houses, respectively, of the bicameral legislature in the German Imperial Government. 1 Jewish community self-identification, and comparisons to other forms of intermarriage in the German empire. Important political and social repercussions followed the laws allowing intermarriage, including increased Jewish assimilation, racial anti-Semitism, and questions of identity. Intermarriage as a sociological term refers to marriages that take place across group boundaries. Depending on where one sets those boundaries, whether it be religious, ethnic, class, or skin tone, what constitutes an intermarriage varies widely. Indeed, the marriage within a family (which is the smallest social group) is the only form of marriage that cannot be considered intermarriage.3 For the purposes of this study, I have classified intermarriages as marriage between German Jews and German non-Jews. Intermarriage is the ultimate crucible of social discussions of race and sex. Far more than non-marital sex, marriage constitutes legitimization of the act of sex by the church, society, and/or the state. Non-marital sex, though illicit, was generally tolerated because it was temporary and private and did not reflect consent by society or the government.4 During the nineteenth century, as race became a social concept and racial awareness increased concurrently with nationalism, the intermixing of races assumed new importance. Because there was such a stigma against Jews in Germany, legitimization of mixing with them constituted a watershed event in German–Jewish history. During the years of unification, the developing German nation was forced to continually redefine itself as it incorporated new areas and new social groups that changed the make-up of the national group identity. Every time society and the state changed, the social consent for sex and procreation would have to be redefined to incorporate or exclude groups in the new social unit. 3 Robert Merton analyzes the social structure of intermarriages. He asserts that all marriages are technically intermarriage, as these marriages necessarily occur across