Markus Horovitz (, 5 March 1844 27 March 1910)Horovitz, Marcus Mordechai
. In: Michael Brocke and Julius Carlebach (Eds.), ''Die Rabbiner im Deutschen Reich, 1871-1945''. Walter de Gruyter, 2009. Vol. 1 (A-K), entry 2251, p. 294-296; here, p. 294. was a Hungarian

rabbi A rabbi (; ) is a spiritual leader or religious teacher in Judaism. One becomes a rabbi by being ordained by another rabbi—known as ''semikha''—following a course of study of Jewish history and texts such as the Talmud. The basic form of t ...

and historian.

Biography

He was born at Ladány (

Tiszaladány Tiszaladány is a village in Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén County in northeastern Hungary.Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén County, Kaisertum Österreich. The descendant of a family of scholars, he pursued his rabbinical studies at the yeshivot of Ujhely, Verbé, and

Eisenstadt Eisenstadt (; ; ; or ; ) is the capital city of the Provinces of Austria, Austrian state of Burgenland. With a population of 15,074 (as of 2023), it is the smallest state capital and the 38th-largest city in Austria overall. It lies at the foot o ...

(the latter under the direction of Israel Hildesheimer). He studied (1868–71) philosophy and Orientalia at the universities of

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

Budapest Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...

, and

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

, taking his PhD degree at

Tübingen Tübingen (; ) is a traditional college town, university city in central Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is situated south of the state capital, Stuttgart, and developed on both sides of the Neckar and Ammer (Neckar), Ammer rivers. about one in ...

. In December 1871, he was called as rabbi to

Lauenburg Lauenburg (), or Lauenburg an der Elbe (; ), is a town in the state of Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. It is situated on the northern bank of the river Elbe, east of Hamburg. It is overall the southernmost town of Schleswig-Holstein and belongs to ...

Pomerania Pomerania ( ; ; ; ) is a historical region on the southern shore of the Baltic Sea in Central Europe, split between Poland and Germany. The central and eastern part belongs to the West Pomeranian Voivodeship, West Pomeranian, Pomeranian Voivod ...

; in 1874, to Gnesen, Prussian Posen; and in September 1878, to

Frankfurt am Main Frankfurt am Main () is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Hesse. Its 773,068 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the List of cities in Germany by population, fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located in the forela ...

. At Frankfurt he organized two model religious schools. Horovitz was a director of the Deutsche Rabbinerverband and president of the German Jewish

orphanage An orphanage is a residential institution, total institution or group home, devoted to the care of orphans and children who, for various reasons, cannot be cared by their biological families. The parents may be deceased, absent, or abusi ...

Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...

. He was the father of Josef Horovitz and the ancestor of the journalist David Horovitz.

Conflict and career

Horovitz was rabbi in Frankfurt at a time when the disagreements between the Orthodox and

Reform Reform refers to the improvement or amendment of what is wrong, corrupt, unsatisfactory, etc. The modern usage of the word emerged in the late 18th century and is believed to have originated from Christopher Wyvill's Association movement, which ...

factions were reaching their peak. Horovitz was appointed to chair a committee on ritual to placate the Orthodox followers of

Samson Raphael Hirsch Samson Raphael Hirsch (; June 20, 1808 – December 31, 1888) was a German Orthodox rabbi best known as the intellectual founder of the '' Torah im Derech Eretz'' school of contemporary Orthodox Judaism. Occasionally termed ''neo-Orthodoxy'', hi ...

, who were threatening to found a separate community, the Israelitische Religionsgesellschaft ("Religious Society of Israelites"). He was given authority over the entire community's religious institution, and promoted the construction of a new Orthodox synagogue on the Börneplatz, which was dedicated on 10 September 1882. Horovitz promoted coexistence between the different factions, maintaining that it was possible for a unified community to exist while both sides exercised autonomy over their own institutions. Horovitz died in Frankfurt in 1910. He was buried in the Old Jewish Cemetery, Frankfurt.

Writings

Besides numerous sermons, and essays on the origin of the

Hungarian Jews The history of the Jews in Hungary dates back to at least the Kingdom of Hungary, with some records even predating the Hungarian conquest of the Carpathian Basin in 895 CE by over 600 years. Written sources prove that Jewish communities lived ...

(in ''Izraelita Közlöny,'' 1869), Horovitz published the following works: * ''Zur Geschichte der jüdischen Gemeinde in Eisenstadt'' n the history of the Jewish community in Eisenstadt 1869 * "Jose ben Jose," in '' Jüdische Presse'', 1873 * ''Frankfurter Rabbinen'' rankfurt rabbis 4 parts, Frankfurt am Main, 1882–1885 * ''Jüdische Ärzte in Frankfurt a. M.'' ewish doctors in Frankfurt am Main 1886 * ''Matteh Lewi'' evi's Guide a work in

Hebrew Hebrew (; ''ʿÎbrit'') is a Northwest Semitic languages, Northwest Semitic language within the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family. A regional dialect of the Canaanite languages, it was natively spoken by the Israelites and ...

on letters of divorce, Frankfurt am Main, 1891 * ''Matteh Lewi'' evi's Guide a work in

containing rabbinic responsa, Frankfurt am Main, 1933 * ''Matteh Lewi'' evi's Guide a reprint of work in

containing rabbinic responsa, Jerusalem, 1972 * ''Die Wohlthätigkeitspflege bei den Juden im alten Frankfurt'' n charity work among the Jews in old Frankfurt 1896 * ''Zur Statistik der jüdischen Bevölkerung im alten Frankfurt'' n statistics of the Jewish population in old Frankfurt 1896 * ''Die Frankfurter Rabbinerversammlung vom Jahre 1603,'' 1897 * ''Die Inschriften des alten Friedhofes der israelitischen Gemeinde zu Frankfurt a. M.'' nscriptions at the Old Cemetery of the Jewish community in Frankfurt am Main 1901
The last work depicts gravestones and inscriptions at the old Battonstraße cemetery, and has, since the destruction of the cemetery by the

Nazi Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...

s, become a vital historical document.

References

Resources

*
Horovitz, Markus
, by Aron Freimann and

Isidore Singer Isidore Singer (10 November 1859 – 20 February 1939) was an Austrian-born American encyclopedist and editor of '' The Jewish Encyclopedia'' and founder of the American League for the Rights of Man. Biography Singer was born in 1859 in ...

, ''

Jewish Encyclopedia ''The Jewish Encyclopedia: A Descriptive Record of the History, Religion, Literature, and Customs of the Jewish People from the Earliest Times to the Present Day'' is an English-language encyclopedia containing over 15,000 articles on the ...

'' (Funk and Wagnalls, 1901–1906) *
Horovitz, Markus
", ''Infobank Judengasse'', website of the Museum Judengasse, branch of the Jewish Museum Frankfurt
Digitized works by Markus Horovitz
at the

Leo Baeck Institute, New York The Leo Baeck Institute New York (LBI) is a research institute in New York City dedicated to the study of German-Jewish history and culture, founded in 1955. It is one of three independent research centers founded by a group of German-speaking J ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Horovitz, Markus 1844 births 1910 deaths 19th-century Hungarian historians Hungarian rabbis 19th-century German rabbis Jewish historians Historians of Jews and Judaism University of Tübingen alumni People from Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén County Rabbis from Frankfurt Burials at the Old Jewish Cemetery, Frankfurt