Jewish History in the Classroom

Sources and materials on the regional history of Baden, 19th century

These school materials are designed for teachers and students of history in Baden. The handouts enable teachers to combine topics from Baden's regional history with Jewish history.

The 19th century and the legal, social and cultural development of Jewish emancipation form the framework for a wide range of topics. All work packages are based on source texts, which have been didactically prepared here for the first time in accordance with the educational plan of the state of Baden-Württemberg.

For each topic, materials are provided for a teaching unit lasting several hours at upper secondary level. Each thematic block contains a thematic introduction, didactic notes and worksheets.

Motivation

Most of the standard teaching material on Jewish history for Baden-Württemberg focuses on the Holocaust and anti-Semitism. An expansion of the perspective to include Jews as subjects of historical processes and to show phases of coexistence is desirable.

After the Baden constitutional edicts on the individual and cooperative rights of Jewish residents from 1807 to 1809, it took another fifty years until 1882, when the "Law on the Civil Equality of Jews" guaranteed local citizenship rights to all Baden residents. As multifaceted as the negotiation process with strong Jewish participation was up to that point, the sources for general history lessons have not yet been processed.