Selma Stern
Der Hofjude im Zeitalter des Absolutismus
Edited by Marina Sassenberg
[The Court Jew in the Age of Absolutism. A Contribution to European History in the 17th and 18th Century. By Selma Stern. The English original has been translated into German, annotated and edited by Marina Sassenberg.]
2001. X, 284 pages. Published in German.
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Summary
Most rulers in 17th and 18th century central Europe regarded the court Jew as an indispensable institution for strengthening their political and economic power. However Jewish logisticians, financiers, political advisers and diplomats, such as for example Joseph Süß Oppenheimer, Samuel Wertheimer and others were highly dependent on their princes. The German-Jewish historian Selma Stern (1890-1981) was the first person to analyze this ambivalent role of the European court Jew, combining interdisciplinary academic research with high literary standards. Written for a pre-war German audience, the book was banned by the Nazis and published in 1950 during the author's exile in the United States. It did however become a classic piece of European history, and has remained so until today. 50 years after its appearance, this volume is now being presented in German for the first time.