2006

BB — Religion

Bibliographie der Pfarrerbücher (1890-2003) [Bibliography of Pastor Registers (1890-2003)]. Heinrich Löber. In: Pietismus und Neuzeit, 29 (2003), p. 179191 [06-1-029]

Biographical dictionaries for pastors of churches in German-speaking Europe are known as Pfarrerbücher or pastor registers and have a history going back to the end of the 19th century. IFB has reviewed many of the examples of this specialized genre of biographical reference published since about 1990. Thus it is appropriate to take note of this newest bibliography of pastor biographies, which contains all pertinent titles published between the years 1890 and 2003. It is organized by Landeskirche, i.e. the regional church provinces of Germany. At the end of the bibliography is a separate listing of pastor registers according to the following categories: Reformed Churches; the Evangelical-Lutheran Church of Prussia; the Baltic Region; Austria; Poland; Russia; Switzerland; and the Transylvania region of Romania. [sh/crc]

Pfarrerbuch der Kirchenprovinz Sachsen [Register of Pastors for the Church Province of Saxony]. Ed. Veronika Albrecht-Birkner for the Pastors’ Association of the Evangelical Church of the Province of Saxony, in collaboration with the Interdisciplinary Center for Pietism Research at the Martin Luther University in Halle-Wittenberg, and the Franconian Foundation in Halle (Saale). Leipzig: Evangelische Verlagsanstalt, 24 cm. ISBN 3-374-02191-3 (set) [06-1-030]

Vol. 1. Biogramme A-Bo. 2003. ISBN 3-374-02083-6: EUR 68; EUR 63 (subscr. price)

Vol. 2. Biogramme Br-Fa. 2004. ISBN 3-374-02134-4: EUR 68; EUR 63 (subscr. price)

Further volumes in the set , published after the IFB review:

Vol. 3. Biogramme F-Ha. 2005. ISBN 978-3-374-02135-2: EUR 88

Vol. 4. Biogramme He-Kl. 2006. ISBN 978-3-374-02136-9: EUR 88

Vol. 5. Biogramme Kn-Ma. 2007. ISBN 978-3-374-02137-6: EUR 88

Vol. 6. Biogramme Me-P. 2007. ISBN 978-3-374-02138-3: EUR 88

Vol. 7. Biogramme Q-Scho. 2008. ISBN 978-3-374-02139-0: EUR 88

Vol. 8. Biogramme Schr-To. 2008. ISBN 978-3-374-02140-6: EUR 88

This multi-volume work is planned to be complete in 10 volumes; its goal is to present brief biographical entries (“Biogramme”) for all the pastors of the Protestant Church Province of Saxony for the time period 1815 to 2001. (It should be noted that, due to the vagaries of German ecclesiastical history, the Church Province of Saxony is only partially co-extensive with either the modern Land of Saxony or the earlier Kingdom of Saxony; the bulk of the territory it covers formerly belonged to the Kingdom of Prussia.) Judging from the first two volumes, which contain some 3,100 entries apiece, it can be expected that the work as a whole will contain some 30,000 entries. All biographical entries conform to a consistent structure, but the level of detail for individual persons varies from comprehensive to quite brief, as one would expect given the nature of the source material. Entries include: years of birth and death; father’s name; education; churches served (in chronological order); wife’s name; children; additional biographical notes as available. Citations of the sources used appear at the end of the entries.

This promises to be an excellent source book for biography of the 19th and 20th centuries in the Eastern territories of Germany, as well as a source book for the church history of those territories. [sh/crc]

Pfarrergeschichte des Kirchenkreises Kassel-Land: von den Anfängen bis 1977 [History of the Churches and Pastors of the Church Province Kassel: From its Beginnings until 1977]. Ernst Werner Magdanz and Andreas Heiser. Marburg: Elwert, 2002. xxvii, 407 p. 24 cm. (Kurhessisch-waldeckisches Pfarrerbuch, 4; Veröffentlichungen der Historischen Kommission für Hessen, 33/4). ISBN 3-7708-1222-0: EUR 36 [06-1-031]

Pfarrergeschichte des Kirchenkreises Hofgeismar: von den Anfängen bis 1980 [History of the Churches and Pastors of the Church Province Hofgeismar: From its Beginnings until 1980]. Jochen Desel andAndreas Heiser. Marburg: Elwert, 2004. lxiii, 989 p. 24 cm + 1 CD-ROM. (Kurhessisch-waldeckisches Pfarrerbuch, 5; Veröffentlichungen der Historischen Kommission für Hessen, 33/5). ISBN 3-7708-1247-6: EUR 78 [06-1-032]

The multi-volume work Kurhessisch-waldeckisches Pfarrerbuch [Register of Pastors for the Churches of the Church Province Kurhessen-Waldeck] was begun in 1975, within the series Veröffentlichungen der Historischen Kommission für Hessen. After a long hiatus, two new and impressive volumes of the work (vols. 4 and 5) have now been published. Pastor registers (“Pfarrerbücher”) represent a specialized genre of biographical reference work within German-speaking Europe. They normally consist of two parts: (1) a set of biographical entries for all the pastors who have served within a given church province over a stated period of time and (2) a section that lists each parish (“Gemeinde”) within the church province and gives a chronological list of all pastors who have served that parish, often reaching back to the Reformation. The Kurhessisch-waldeckisches Pfarrerbuch departs from the conventional model in that it integrates these two sections into a single one. An entry is given for each locality within the church province; the entry begins with a comprehensive description of the parishes within the locality (including information on the church buildings); this is following by the chronological list of pastors. A special feature of the Kurhessischwaldeckisches Pfarrerbuch as compared to other examples of the genre is that it encompasses Catholic priests as well as Protestant clergy; thus it attempts to trace the lists of each parish’s clergy as far back into the Middle Ages as possible. As might be expected, the information given for Catholic clergy in the Middle Ages is necessarily sparse, and often there are gaps in the chronological lists of priests’ names. Happily, from the Reformation onwards, the amount of detail given in the entries increases markedly. Entries for the post-Reformation period include: Clergyman’s name and years of tenure; place and date of birth; education; parishes served; place and date of death; wife’s name; names of children with some biographical details. Sources are carefully documented. Because of the integration of the biographical entries into the entries describing the parishes, it is necessary to use the index to find the entry in which the desired person is mentioned. In order to locate all names mentioned in the biographical entries, as opposed to the names that stand as entry headings, it is necessary to use the CD-ROM that accompanies volume 5. The CD-ROM contains the full text of the printed volumes as well as indexes, but learning how to use it requires some patience. [sh/crc]

Thüringer Pfarrerbuch [Register of the Pastors of Thuringia]. Ed. Gesellschaft für Thüringische Kirchengeschichte. Leipzig: Evangelische Verlagsanstalt. 24 cm. [06-1-033]

Vol. 4. Die reußischen Herrschaften [The Reuß Territories]. Ed. Paul Heller. 2004. 388 p. ISBN 3-374-02179-4: EUR 68

The fourth volume of the series Thüringer Pfarrerbuch continues the documentation of the lives and work of pastors in Thuringia, a “Land” or state of Germany that lies in the former DDR. Volumes 1-3 were published by Verlag Degener (Neustadt an der Aisch) and were respectively reviewed in IFB 99-B09-620 (1995), IFB 99-B09-602 (1997), and IFB 00-1/4-184 (2000). (Ed. note: This series is co-sponsored by the Society for Thuringian Church History and the Stiftung Stoye der Arbeitsgemeinschaft für Mitteldeutsche Familienforschung [Stoye Foundation of the Study Group for Family History of Central Germany]).

The aim of the series is to document the biographies, careers, and family history of the pastors who lived and worked in Thuringia from the beginning of the Reformation in the 16th century to approximately the end of World War I. The territorial history of this area is a complex one, and each volume deals with one part of the region, named according to its earlier political designation under the feudal system. Vol. 4 is devoted to the “reußischen Herrschaften,” or the territories under the dominion of the “Fürsten von Reuß,” the lords of Reuß, who ruled properties located in eastern and southeastern Thuringia near the towns of Gera, Greiz, Schleiz, and Lobenstein. Like the previous volumes, the work is divided into two parts. The first lists 97 pastoral positions in the region and the names of those who held those positions in chronological order from 1533 on. The second part is an alphabetical listing of 1,467 pastors with their biographies and—new in this volume—bibliographical references to them. [sh/akb]

Sepulcra judaica: Bibliographie zu jüdischen Friedhöfen und zu Sterben, Begräbnis und Trauer bei den Juden von der Zeit des Hellenismus bis zur Gegenwart […: Bibliography on Jewish Cemeteries and on Dying, Burial, and Mourning in the Jewish Tradition from Hellenism to the Present]. Ed. Falk Wiesemann. Essen: Klartext-Verlag, 2005. 797 p. 25 cm. ISBN 3-89861-422-0: EUR 98 [06-1-034]

There are several resources that will be a useful addition for research on this topic in Germany: the official Landesbibliographie [state bibliography] for each German state; the website of the International Jewish Cemetery Project of the International Association of Jewish Genealogical Societies (IAJGS); the website of the Zentralarchiv zur Erforschung der Geschichte der Juden in Deutschland [Central Archive for Research on the History of Jews in Germany]; and the website (http://www.alemannia-judaica.de/juedische_friedhoefe.htm—visited 4 June 2009) of the Arbeitsgemeinschaft für die Erforschung der Juden im Süddeutschen und Angrenzenden Raum [Working Group for Research on Jews in Southern Germany and its Border Region].

Wieseman previously published a well-received Bibliographie zur Geschichte der Juden in Bayern (München, 1989—see RREO 95-3-370). [sh/hm]

Reisen durch das jüdische Deutschland [Travels in Jewish Germany]. Ed. Micha Brumlik. Köln: DuMont-Literatur-und-Kunst-Verlag, 2006. 480 p. ill. 29 cm. ISBN 978-3-8321-7932-8; ISBN 3-8321-9732-1: EUR 49.90 [06-1-035]

Although described in the preface as a “travel guide,” this three-part work succeeds only as a collection of essays on Jewish life in contemporary Germany. The first part consists of fifteen “portraits of cities and regions” that vary widely in length and conception, depending, it seems, on the inclinations of the individual contributors. The second part, including twelve essays on subjects ranging from “What is Judaism” to “Jews in the Theater after 1945,” suffers from a similar problem. It should be noted that, in contrast to many other publications about German Jewry, this book stresses the period after the Holocaust and the present—including a biting section on “Jewish Disneyland” in a piece about Jewish life in contemporary Berlin. The third part, which is short, covers directory information on Jewish communities, concentration camp memorials, other memorials, selected sights in eastern Germany, and a small (eight-item) bibliography on Jews and Jewish communities in the former German Democratic Republic. A general bibliography is lacking, as is an index. [sh/sl]

Bet Hachajim—Haus des Lebens: jüdische Friedhöfe in Württembergisch Franken [Bet Hachajim—House of Life: Jewish Cemeteries in Swabian Franconia]. Ed. Eva Maria Kraiss and Marion Reuter for the Förderkreises Hällisch Fränkisches Museum e.V. Künzelsau: Swiridoff, 2003. 144 p. ill. maps. 29 cm. ISBN 3-89929-009-7: EUR 28 [06-1-036]

This work was published on the occasion of an exhibit devoted to Jewish cemeteries in the west German region of Württemberg-Franconia that was held in the Hällisch-Fränkisches Museum, Schwäbisch-Hall, from May 31-October 26, 2003. Following an introduction on the Jews of rural Franconia and information relating to mourning and burial in Judaism are descriptions of fourteen cemeteries, covering the history of the Jewish communities to which they belong, as well as their buildings and notable graves. But the book is dominated by its numerous (often “atmospheric”) color photos. The volume includes a map showing the location of the cemeteries, although it does not give sufficient detail to enable one to actually find them—a problem for the wouldbe visitor, since, in order to discourage vandalism, signage is usually absent. A short bibliography on general titles and the individual cemeteries concludes this work, which can be considered as a volume of illustrations accompanying the inventory-like Die jüdischen Friedhöfe im Hohenlohenkreis: Memor-Buch (see RREA 8:84). [sh/sl]

Jüdischer Friedhof Georgensgmünd [The Jewish Cemetery in Georgensgmünd]. Peter Kuhn and Dagmar Dietrich. München; Berlin: Deutscher Kunstverlag, 2006. 728 p. ill. maps. 31 cm. (Die Kunstdenkmäler von Bayern; n.F., 6). ISBN 3-422-06559-8: EUR 78 [06-1-037]

Published in the series on Bavaria’s historic cultural monuments (see, for example, the special report on Jewish history and culture in the German-speaking countries in RREO 95-3-411, and other volumes on Jewish cemeteries in Bavaria in RREA 6:151 & 152), this is first inventory of a Jewish cemetery to come out of an official Germany agency. Most of the contributions comprising the introduction were written by the Judaica scholar Peter Kuhn, while those devoted to art historical aspects were written primarily by Dagmar Dietrich. A notable feature of the introductory section by Wolf-Dieter Grimm is a precise identification of the type of stone used for the graves. Following the introductory section (almost 400 pages) is the 300-page inventory with very detailed information on the graves themselves. Only the most important (using historical, aesthetic or geological criteria) are represented by photographs.

This volume is supposed to give an impetus to more such studies on the Jewish cemeteries of Bavaria (of which there are 124), but given the “downsizing” of the responsible agency, one can only hope that other funding sources will be forthcoming. [sh/sl]

Jüdische Friedhöfe in Berlin [Jewish Cemeteries in Berlin]. Johanna von Koppenfels. Berlin: Berlin-Edition, 2005. 79 p. ill. 24 cm. ISBN 3-8148-0130-X: EUR 9.90. [06-1-038]

A short history of the Jews of Berlin and an equally short account of Jewish mourning rituals preface the main part of this slim volume, which consists of generously illustrated descriptions of Berlin’s eight Jewish cemeteries (including those that no longer exist), presenting the cemetery’s history and important graves. The work concludes with a chronology of Berlin Jews from 1223 to “after 1990” and a brief bibliography. Unfortunately, it lacks both a map of Berlin showing the location of the cemeteries as well as a name index. This work was also published in English translation (ISBN 3-8148-0135-0). [sh/sl]

Das jüdische Hamburg: ein historisches Nachschlagewerk [Jewish Hamburg: A Historical Lexicon]. Ed. Kirsten Heimsohn for the Institut für die Geschichte der Deutschen Juden. Göttingen: Wallstein-Verlag, 2006. 333 p. ill. map. 25 cm. ISBN 978-3-8353-0004-0; ISBN 3-8353-0004-0: EUR 19 [06-1-039]

The extensive research devoted to the history of Hamburg’s Jews, which goes back to the 15th century, is in good part due to that city’s Institut für Geschichte der Deutschen Juden (Institute for the History of German Jews), which, in turn, is funded in good part by the city of Hamburg. This volume, published on the occasion of the Institute’s 40th anniversary in 2006, contains 143 generally brief articles on institutions (28), subjects (36), and people (79), as well as 17 overviews (three to eight pages in length) on topics such as anti-Semitism, emancipation, cemeteries, and synagogues. In essence, this is a reference work devoted primarily to biographical information. It includes both wellknown figures as well as many who are more obscure. For those individuals who were Hamburg natives, information is restricted to what they did while actually residing in that city—making the absence of bibliographic references all the more glaring.(The appendix includes only a seven-page selective bibliography.) Accompanying the book are an index (names and subjects) as well as a folded map in a pocket, keyed to the relevant articles in the body of the text. For most purposes, this lexicon serves to supplement the biographical articles in the new Hamburgische Biografie (see RREA 8:253 and 11:200) and the subject articles in the Hamburg-Lexikon (see RREA 6:297 and 12:225)—the latter, it must be said, including articles that one might have expected in the work under review. [sh/sl]

Der jüdische Friedhof in Hanau [The Jewish Cemetery in Hanau]. Hanau: Hanauer Geschichtsverein; Wiesbaden: Kommission für die Geschichte der Juden in Hessen, 2005. 592 p. ill. maps. 25 cm. (Hanauer Geschichtsblätter, 42; Schriften der Kommission für die Geschichte der Juden in Hessen, 21). ISBN 3-935395-05-1 (Hanau); ISBN 3-921434-25-4 (Wiesbaden): EUR 39 [06-1-040]

The main part of this work on Hanau’s second Jewish cemetery (begun in 1603) consists of reproductions of selected gravestones and their inscriptions in the original Hebrew and in German translation (pp. 295-494). Preceding it is a collection of pieces relating to the cemetery, including a long, introductory history by Eckhard Meise and numerous shorter contributions (e.g., a history of Hesse’s Jewish cemeteries, the house names of Hanau’s ghetto, an account of Jewish burial practices). [sh/sl]

Historisches Handbuch der jüdischen Gemeinden in Niedersachsen und Bremen. [Handbook for the History of the Jewish Communities of Lower Saxony and Bremen]. Ed. Herbert Obenaus. 2 vols. Göttingen: Wallstein-Verlag, 2005. 1,668 p. map. 23 cm. ISBN 3-89244-753-5: EUR 59 [06-1-041]

Emanating from a project at the University of Hannover, this lexicon covers the histories of 178 Jewish communities in the German federal states of Lower Saxony and Bremen, from the small (Achim, 6 pages) to the large (Göttingen, 48 pages). Their varying length notwithstanding, the articles are identically organized into five sections devoted to the communities’ administration and history, including also their synagogues (many of which were torn down only after 1945) and cemeteries—often all that remains of ancient and once vital communities. Some of the articles are illustrated with rare photos of buildings and cemeteries, and all are accompanied by bibliographies. This exemplary work concludes with a glossary, a general bibliography, a listing of place names, a map and an index. [sh/sl]

“Bet Hachajim”: Haus des Lebens: die jüdischen Friedhöfe Bornheim, Hersel und Walberberg [... House of Life. The Jewish Cemeteries of Bornheim, Hersel and Walberberg]. Dan Bondy and Hildegard Heimig. Siegburg: Rheinlandia-Verlag, 2004. 256 p. ill. 30 cm. (Zeugnisse jüdischer Kultur im Rhein-Sieg-Kreis, 2). ISBN 3-935005-80-6: EUR 25 [06-1-042]

This, the second publication in a series devoted to the Jewish cultural legacy in the Rhine-Sieg district in western Germany, focuses on three small cemeteries in Bornheim, Hersel and Walberberg, consisting of 11, 34 and 8 graves respectively, the oldest going back to 1771. Following introductory sections on the three cemeteries, local Jewish history, Jewish rituals of mourning, etc., is a detailed description of each of the gravestones, with commentary and bibliographic references. The volume concludes with indexes (by name and by grave number) and a general bibliography. [sh/sl]

Synagogen Rheinland-Pfalz, Saarland: “... und dies ist die Pforte des Himmels” [The Synagogues of Rhineland-Palatinate and the Saarland: “… And This is the Gate of Paradise”]. Ed. Stefan Fischbach and Ingrid Westerhoff for the Landesamt für Denkmalpflege Rheinland-Pfalz, the Staatlichen Konservatoramt des Saarlandes, and the Synagogue Memorial Jerusalem. Mainz: von Zabern, 2005. 490 p. ill. maps. 30 cm. (Gedenkbuch der Synagogen in Deutschland, 2). ISBN 3-8053-3313-7: EUR 51 [06-1-043]

After an initial volume published in 1999 on the synagogues of the federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia (see RREA 6:154), the series resumes with one devoted to the synagogues of the states of Rhineland-Palatine and the Saarland—an area of particular interest in this context, given its historic role in the Jewish history of western Europe. Introductory pieces on synagogue architecture and Jewish history of the region are followed by descriptions of the synagogues and a brief history of the local Jewish community organized by locality in two alphabetical listings (one for each of the federal states). Included are photos, plans, and bibliographic references, as well as a glossary, a place index and maps. [sh/sl]

Jüdische Friedhöfe im Saarland: gelöst ist die Schnur, gebrochen das Band [Jewish Cemeteries in the Saarland: The Thread is Untied, the Cord is Broken]. Ed. Wolfgang Meyn for the Freundeskreis zur Rettung Jüdischen Kulturgutes im Saarland e.V. Saarbrücken: Staatliches Konservatoramt des Saarlandes, 2004. 71 p. ill. EUR 3 (Staatliches Konservatoramt, Am Schloßplatz 16, D-66119 Saarbrücken, e-mail: poststelle@denkmal.saarland.de) [06-1-044]

This short book devotes one two-page spread to each of seventeen Jewish cemeteries in the Saarland, providing dates, local Jewish history, and a description and photo of the cemetery for each. Background information concerning Jewish mourning rituals, the Jewish cemetery and gravestone, inscriptions, ornaments and symbols is given in an introduction, and the volume concludes with a four-page bibliography, separated into general works and those about the individual cemeteries. [sh/sl]

Wörterbuch der Religionen [Dictionary of Religions]. Ed. Christoph Auffarth, Hans G. Kippenberg, and Axel Michaels. 5th, fully rev. ed. Stuttgart: Kröner, 2006. xviii, 589 p. 22 cm. ISBN 978-3-520-14001-2; ISBN 3-520-14001-2: EUR 49.80 [06-2-212]

The Wörterbuch der Religionen was first published in 1952 under the editorship of Alfred Bertholet and has belonged ever since to the standard works of reference in the field of religious studies. The fourth edition, which still owed much to Bertholet, was published in 1985 and has now been much enlarged and substantially rewritten under a new team of editors. Its scope covers all types and manifestations of religion, on all five continents, from their beginnings up to the present day. All the fundamental concepts of religious studies are explained in its 2,600 entries, which include short biographical profiles of significant persons. Some 70 different scholars contributed to the dictionary, among them many leading names in the field, but the major part of the work was performed by five scholars: Christoph Auffarth, Hans Kippenberg, Axel Michaels, Reinhard Schulze (Islamic studies), and Kocku von Stuckrad. Presumably because of the large number of contributors, the preparation of this volume required a full ten years. Fortunately, the nature of the field is such that this span of time does not detract that much from the currency of the information presented here. The Wörterbuch claims to be aimed at the general audience, but laypersons outside the field of religious studies will find it difficult to penetrate the densely structured text. The text is rich in cross-references that lead the reader from article to article.

This complete revision of the Wörterbuch was guided by two main goals. The first was a new orientation of religious studies as a part of cultural studies and in consequence an attempt to be free from or critically re-examine any overtly Christianity-centric terminology and conceptualizations. The second idea was the attempt to place all the religions considered here on a level playing field, which means soliciting more input from the local adherents of a particular religion and accepting the terms and language forms that they use to describe themselves.

This new edition is fully worthy of assuming the place held by its predecessor, and should be considered an indispensable addition to any collection dealing with religious studies. [ro/crc]

Klassiker der Theologie [Great Theologians]. Ed. Friedrich Wilhelm Graf. München: Beck, 2005. 19 cm. (Beck’sche Reihe; 1630-1631) [06-2-214]

Vol. 1. Von Tertullian bis Calvin [From Tertullian to Calvin]. 287 p. ISBN 3-406-52800-7: EUR 14.90

Vol. 2. Von Richard Simon bis Karl Rahner [From Richard Simon to Karl Rahner]. 319 p. ISBN 3-406-52801-5: EUR 14.90

This work is intended to be a new edition of the earlier same title, Klassiker der Theologie, edited by Heinrich Fries and Georg Kretschmar and published by Beck in 1981-1983, now long out of print. This edition is being issued as a trade paperback rather than in hardback, and the change in format has led to some “forced changes” (cf. the preface): Fries’ and Kretschmar’s edition contained the biographies of 45 major theologians from Tertullian up to the present, in 900 pages; this edition, by comparison, although it covers the same time span, has shrunk to 33 biographies and circa 600 pages. The new edition does contain a substantial amount of new content: 13 of the theologians profiled here were not present in the previous work, and for the 20 theologians common to both works, all but one of their profiles have been newly written by new authors. However, the individual profiles have been shortened compared to the earlier work. Each profile, with a few exceptions, follows a tripartite structure, with sections for Life, Works, and Influence. The rubric Significance (Bedeutung), often found in the profiles of the earlier work, is missing here.

Living theologians have been excluded from this work. At this point in time, when it is presumably appropriate to re-examine the concept of “great theologians,” one must surely also ask why no women theologians have been included among the profiles. It would have been productive, for example, to pair the portrait of Meister Eckhart with one of Hildegard of Bingen.

This work cannot be seen as a replacement for Fries’ and Kretschmar’s edition; however, it can be seen as a worthy supplement to that work, in that it expands the line-up of “great theologians” with a number of new faces, and also provides up-to-date bibliographical references. [kbo,sh/crc]

Bibliotheca dissidentium: répertoire des non-conformistes religieux des seizième et dixseptième siècles [Library of Dissidents: Repertoire of Religious Non-Conformists of the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries]. Ed. André Séguenny. Baden-Baden; Bouxwiller: Koerner. 24 cm. (Bibliotheca bibliographica Aureliana, ...) [06-2-216]

Vol. 25. John Bidle, Francesco Negri, Stanisław Paklepka, Katarzyna Weigel. Gordon A. Kinde, Luca Ragazzini, Zdzisław Pietrzyk, and Wacław Urban. 2006. 198 p. ill. (…, 211). ISBN 3-87320-711-7; ISBN 978-3-87320-711-0: EUR 98

The volumes of Bibliotheca dissidentium, which have been appearing since 1980, contain bio-bibliographies of representatives of Christian heterodoxy or heresy, many of whom are not well known. Volumes treating a single author alternate with those treating several authors. Seventy-seven individuals have been covered in the twenty-five volumes published thus far.

The volume under review covers the Englishman John Bidle (1615-1662), Francesco Negri (ca. 1500-1563) from northern Italy, and, at shorter length, the Poles Stanisław Paklepka (died 1565 or 1567) and Katarzyna Weigel (ca. 1640-1539).

Bidle, regarded as the founder of Unitarianism in England, Negri, an Italian monk who became a pastor in the Reformed movement, and Paklepka are noteworthy for their anti-trinitarian thought. Weigel, born into a wealthy family in Cracow, turned to Protestantism in the last ten years of her life and is noteworthy for her interest in Judaism and relationships with several learned Jews in Cracow.

The section on each individual follows the same format, including all or most of the following: a brief biography, a bibliography of primary (archival) sources from the author’s lifetime, lists of secondary sources from the time following the author’s death down to the present, a list of names of correspondents, and a list of the author’s written works (both printed and, if extant, manuscript material including letters). Reproductions of the title pages of printed works are also included. [tw,sh/rc]

Die Bistümer der deutschsprachigen Länder von der Säkularisation bis zur Gegenwart [Dioceses in German-speaking Countries from Secularization to the Present]. Ed. Erwin Gatz, Clemens Brodkorb, and Rudolf Zinnhobler. Freiburg im Breisgau: Herder, 2005. 791 p. maps. 26 cm. ISBN 3-451-28620-3: EUR 108 [06-2-217]

The publication of this second volume on the history of German speaking dioceses follows rapidly that of the first volume Die Bistümer des Heiligen Römischen Reiches von ihren Anfängen bis zur Säkularisation [Dioceses of the Holy Roman Empire from their Origins to Secularization] (see RREA 10:70). The new volume traces the historical development of 52 dioceses in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, South Tyrol and Luxemburg from the beginning of the 19th century to the present day. The diocese of Leitmeritz in Bohemia and no longer existing dioceses in modern Poland receive coverage up to 1945, when the German population was expelled from those areas.

The overall structure follows that of the first volume. First, an informative introduction highlights turning points and key issues in German church history of the last 200 years. Following secularization in 1803, dioceses began moving away from their character in the Holy Roman Empire—being an arm of the state governed by a bishop—to the kind of pastorally oriented, spiritual organizations known today. The introduction describes the main stages of this complicated and problematic history of the church-state relationship. Other important features—developments in Catholic-Protestant relations, population movements in response to industrialization, the departure of many from the church, the arrival of new, non-religious groups, and Muslim immigration—are also covered. Somewhat surprisingly, the flight or forced migration of around 12 million Germans at the end of World War II, which has left a perceptible change in the confessional landscape of modern western Germany, is not mentioned.

The second, main part of the lexicon presents histories of the individual dioceses written by a total of 42 authors. Each history follows a unified scheme and begins with a description of the initial state of affairs in the diocese in the early 19th century. This is followed by a description of the geography of the diocese, demographic and economic characteristics, Catholic-Protestant relations and conditions of ecclesiastical politics, bishops and episcopal leadership, diocesan clergy, religious orders, parishes, charitable and social services, education, and lay activity. Each article concludes with a chronological list of bishops and statistics on personnel, clergy, church taxes and offerings, and attendance followed by a list of diocesan publications and bibliography. The consistency (especially with respect to the listing of primary sources and notices of diocesan archives), quality and comprehensiveness of the bibliographies vary from article to article; some lack important publications. Only a few diocesan Internet addresses are included.

The other main parts of the lexicon are: 1) a list of the thirteen archdioceses together with their suffragan dioceses and 2) a set of color maps each of which receives its own commentary at the end of the lexicon.

The failure to include some dioceses with significant German speaking populations (e.g., Metz and Straßburg in France, Lüttich in Belgium) is perhaps pardonable in the light of the vicissitudes of the last 200 years as they have affected German-speaking populations. But a discussion of criteria by which some dioceses were chosen and others omitted would have been helpful.

This criticism diminishes only slightly the positive impression left by this volume. Because the historical coverage extends to the present, the lexicon can provide a helpful orientation to contemporary questions in ecclesiastical life. It will remain an indispensable reference work for a long time. [mbe/rc]

Thomistenlexikon [Biographical Dictionary of Thomists]. Ed. David Berger and Jörgen Vijgen for the German Thomas Aquinas Society and the Dutch Thomas Aquinas Society. Bonn: Nova & Vetera, 2006. vii p. 738 columns. 25 cm. ISBN 3-936741-37-9: EUR 98 [06-2-218]

This bio-bibliography covers 245 Thomists, 232 of them in separate entries and 13 others in four topical articles. Most of the individuals profiled either see themselves or are seen by others as belonging to an identifiable and living tradition of inquiry inspired by the work of St. Thomas Aquinas; others have exercised notable influence on Thomistic thought. The selection reveals a mild emphasis on thinkers of the last 100 years and of Benelux and German-speaking countries, but in general, coverage is broad, ranging chronologically from Hannibaldus de Hannibal (student of St. Thomas, d. 1272) to Pope John Paul II, and encompassing such other notables as Savonarola, Catherine of Siena, and Edith Stein. Each thinker profiled has a bibliography and a list of secondary literature. More primary sources and secondary literature are found in the bio-bibliographical dictionary Die deutschen katholischen Theologen der Neuzeit (see RREA 12:76). [sh/gw]

Die deutschen katholischen Theologen der Neuzeit: ein Repertorium [The German Catholic Theologians of the Modern Period: An Index]. Manfred Brandl. Graz: Neugebauer. 28 cm. ISBN 978-3-85376-048-2 [06-2-219]

Vol. 2. Aufklärung [Enlightenment]. 1978. xxxiv, 321 p. 25 cm. ISBN 3-85376-011-2: EUR 103

Vol. 3. Das neunzehnte Jahrhundert [The 19th Century]. ISBN 978-3-85376-268-4: EUR 350, EUR 298 (subscr. price)

Part 1. Autoren [Authors]. 2006. viii, 882 p.

Part 2. Stichwörter [Keywords]. 2006. xvii, 1,350 p.

The selection criteria for this highly reliable lexicon have resulted in a very useful repertoire of canonized individuals. Additionally desirable would have been the inclusion of more peripheral figures, such as those in Die Evangelische Landeskirche in Baden im Dritten Reich: Quellen zu ihrer Geschichte [The Evangelical State Church in Baden in the Third Reich: Historical Sources] (Karlsruhe, 2005—see RREA 11:87). Overall, this is a highly useful, very readable work. [frh/rlk]

L’idea di filosofia in Agostino: guida bibliografica [The Concept of Philosophy in Augustine: Bibliographic Guide]. Giovanni Catapano. Padova: Il Poligrafo, 2000. 348 p. 24 cm. (Subsidia mediaevalia patavina, 1). ISBN 88-7115-126-7: EUR 30.98 [06-2-221]

A companion publication to the author’s Il concetto di filosofia nei primi scritti di Agostino [The Concept of Philosophy in the Early Writings of Augustine] (Roma: Institutum Patristicum Augustinianum, 2001), this research guide is arranged in four parts: from the standard-setting 17th-century Maurine edition of Augustine to the year 1930; 1930-1954; 1954-1986; and 1986-1998. The approximately 500 titles were drawn from relevant Augustine bibliographies, although amazingly, the CD-ROM Corpus Augustinianum Gissense (see RREA 2:89) was not one of them. Includes an alphabetic title index as well as indexes for persons and topics. [sh/rlk]

The Erasmus Collection in the Herzog-August-Bibliothek. Erika Rummel and Dale Schrag. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz in Kommission, 2004. 264 p. 28 cm. (Wolfenbütteler Schriften zur Geschichte des Buchwesens, 38). ISBN 3-447-05088-8: EUR 79 [06-2-223]

Following in the footsteps of Irmgard Bezzel’s Erasmusdrucke des 16. Jahrhunderts in bayerischen Bibliotheken [Sixteenth-Century Erasmus Imprints in Bavarian Libraries] (1979), this catalog describes the Erasmus collection in the Herzog-August-Bibliothek [Duke August Library] in Wolfenbüttel, the most significant in Germany after that of the Bayerische Staatsbibliothek [Bavarian State Library]. Including 17th-century imprints and editions published outside German-speaking areas, the catalog lists a total of 1,750 items divided into two unequal parts: collected works (numbers 1-20); individual works with Erasmus either as author (21-1259—listed by title), or as editor, translator or commentator (1260-1750—listed by author). The largest block of material in the last category is comprised of Bible editions (nos. 1325-1492).

The typography used throughout the catalog is inadequate to help the user distinguish its various parts making constant reference to the detailed table of contents necessary. The entry number (which includes the shelf mark) is followed by a diplomatic transcription of the title (capital letters are transcribed as found in the source, but line breaks are not indicated), the imprint as found in the source, the colophon (set inside parentheses), the statement of physical extent (i.e. number of pages), book decoration and an indication of the format (i.e. octavo, quarto, folio). The annotations include information on citations in bibliographies and other catalogs (notably VD 16), as well as manifestation-specific information (provenance, special bindings etc.). An index of former owners and donors is provided. The volume concludes with a list of abbreviations, an index of previous owners and donors, and a concordance of shelf marks and list numbers.

Unfortunately, there is no concordance with the numbers of the Verziechnis der im deutschen Sprachbereich erschienenen Drucke des XVI. Jahrhunderts [Catalogue of 16thCentury Imprints Published in German-speaking Areas] (see RREA 2:26); at a minimum, one could have expected a list of titles not appearing in VD 16. Although there are cross references from title variants and from titles listed elsewhere because of the catalog’s organization, there is no alphabetical title index. One might also have expected an alphabetical list of titles, an index of publisher/printers as well as a chronological index to Erasmus editions. [sh/rc,cjm]

Islam-Lexikon A-Z: Geschichten, Ideen, Gestalten [Encyclopedia of Islam, A-Z: Histories, Ideas, Individuals]. Adel Theodor Khoury, Ludwig Hagemann, and Peter Heine. Rev. and updated new ed. Freiburg: Herder, 2006. 768 p. 21 cm. (Herder-Spektrum, 5780). ISBN 978-3-451-05780-9; ISBN 3-451-05780-8: EUR 24.90 [06-2-226]

Since two earlier editions of the Lexikon have been reviewed in IFB, here one can focus on the innovations introduced in this updated and revised edition. The changes range from updated bibliographies for most articles to the addition of completely new ones. This approach can be illustrated by looking at how the topic “Fundamentalism” has been handled in this and earlier editions. Instead of reworking the existing article “Fundamentalism” to reflect the new developments, the present edition adds a completely new and informative article on “Islamism.” Nevertheless, it might have been more productive to combine the two articles into one.

In general, the authors’ endeavors to make the articles relevant to the present time are to be commended. Many articles, such as “City of God,” “Re-islamization,” “Salafiyya,” and “Shura” have been thoroughly revised. The article on “Dialog,” which in previous editions limits itself to Christianity and Islam, has been rewritten to include inter-religious and inter-cultural relations. Sometimes, however, the authors end up overshooting their mark in their quest for relevancy. For example, the 2006 Lebanon War is listed as one of 40 crucial dates in the whole Islamic history, which can only be explained by desire to make this reference work appear as modern as possible.

Since its inception 15 years ago, the Islam-Lexikon has earned and preserved an important place as an indispensable reference source for researchers in Islamic studies. Therefore, despite the noted shortcomings, this edition is recommended for purchase by large academic libraries as well as smaller libraries with Middle Eastern studies collections. The moderate price of this one-volume edition adds to its attraction. [ro/as]

Synagogen in Baden-Württemberg: “Hier ist nichts anderes als Gottes Haus” [Synagogues in Baden-Württemberg: “Here is Nothing Other than God’s House”]. Ed. Rüdiger Schmidt and Meier Schwarz. Stuttgart: Theiss. 25 cm. (Gedenkbuch der Synagogen in Deutschland, 4). ISBN 978-3-8062-1843-5: EUR 69.90 [06-2-227]

Pt. 1. Geschichte und Architektur [History and Architecture]. Jürgen Krüger. 2007. 397 p. ill. (p. 307-333: Verzeichnis der Rabbiner in jüdischen Gemeinden im Bereich Baden-Württembergs [Index of Rabbis in Jewish Communities in the Baden-Württemberg Region])

Pt. 2. Orte und Einrichtungen [Places and Buildings]. Joachim Hahn. 2007. 576 p. ill.

This fourth issue in the series of commemorative volumes on the synagogues in different German states has resulted from a collaboration between Jürgen Krüger, professor of art history at Karlsruhe University, and Pastor Joachim Hahn, the compiler of an authoritative history of Jews in Baden-Württemberg. It is clearly separated into two parts, the first of which contains the general historical outline and the second provides in-depth information about each building. The chronological subdivisions are: (1) Conditions in the Ancient Times, with a short chapter on the beginning of Jewish settlements in Southwest Germany, (2) The Middle Ages, (3) New Golden Age during the Baroque Era, (4) From the Emancipation to the End of the Weimar Republic, and (5) The Destruction and New Beginnings after 1945. Maps of localities that had Jewish communities with synagogues extant (or with post-1945 memorials) can be found at the beginnings of chapters 2, 4 and 6. Chapters are subdivided into smaller units according to the particulars of each historical period, such as the historical development of Jewish communities, the building of synagogues, different architectural styles, the pogroms, reuse and rebuilding.

The material in the book is richly supplemented with black-and-white and color illustrations, such as photographs, floor plans, elevations, and city maps. There is an appendix containing numerous supplementary information, such as the list of rabbis in the Baden-Württemberg region (with short biographical sketches), a glossary, a bibliography, as well as subject-, place-and personal name indexes. Volume 1 uses the historical place names, while volume 2 utilizes their modern designations. The place-name index contains both old and new names, which leads to unnecessarily complicated cross-reference searching.

Volume 2 contains neither introduction nor usage guide. The jacket blurb states that around 260 names of communities with synagogues existed have been listed in the alphabetical order. The places where synagogues had disappeared prior to 1938, as well those in which new synagogues have been erected, have also been duly noted. The articles on individual localities briefly trace the history of the Jewish community there, describe the synagogue in as much detail as possible and provide information about any other facilities, such as schools, cemeteries, ritual baths etc. The bibliographical information is inconveniently relegated to the appendix. Much of the material is taken from Hahn’s earlier work on the subject, with some aspects left out and some enlarged upon. Some of the illustrations are new, but they are fewer in number than in the 1988 book. The bibliography has been expanded and brought up to date.

Altogether, this is an excellent reference work, which sets a high benchmark for all future volumes in the series. [sh/as]

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