Glückel of Hameln

A fancy portrait of Bertha Pappenheim in the persona of Glückel, wearing 17th century costume. The portrait is painted in a pastiche of the style of the period by Leopold Pilichowski. Pappenheim was a descendant of Glückel, who also translated the diaries into German.

Glückel of Hameln (also spelled Gluckel or Glikl of Hamelin; also known as Glikl bas Judah Leib) (1646 – September 19, 1724) was a Jewish businesswoman and diarist, whose account of life provides scholars with an intimate picture of German Jewish communal life in the late-17th-early eighteenth century Jewish ghetto. It was a time of transition from the authority and autonomy of the Medieval kehilla, toward a more modern ethos in which membership in the community was voluntary and Jewish identity far more personal and existential; a time historian Jacob Katz has defined as 'tradition and crisis',in his 1961 book by that name. Written in Yiddish, her diaries were originally intended for her descendants. The first part is actually a living will urging them to live ethical lives. It was only much later that historians discovered the diaries and began to appreciate her account of life at that time.

Life

Glückel was born and grew up in the city of Hamburg. When she was twelve years old, her parents betrothed her to Hayyim of Hamelin, whom she married in 1660. After the marriage, the couple lived in his parents’ home in Hamelin. A year after their marriage, the couple moved in with Glückel's parents in Hamburg, where Hayyim became an affluent businessman. Already involved in his business during his lifetime, when he died in 1689, she took over the business, conducting trade with markets as far as Amsterdam, Leipzig, Berlin, Vienna, Metz and Paris.

In 1700 she remarried, to a banker from Metz in Lorraine, and relocated there. Two years later, her husband Cerf Levy failed financially, losing not only his own fortune but hers as well. He died in 1712, leaving her a widow for a second time. [Liptzin, 1972, 14] She died in Metz.

Content of the diaries

In her diaries, begun after her first husband's death in 1689, she describes key events in both Jewish and world history, such as the messianic fervor surrounding Sabbatai Zevi or the impact of the Swedish wars waged by King Charles XII. At the same time, she also describes day-to-day life among the Jewish inhabitants of the Rhine valley. Her diaries were left off in 1699, shortly before her second marriage, and resumed 1715–1719, after her second husband's death. [Liptzin, 1972, 15]

Glückel's twelve children by her first husband married into the most prominent Jewish families of Europe. [Liptzin, 1972, 14]

History of the diary

The handwritten manuscript of Glückel's diaries was kept by Glückel's children and grandchildren. It was created by Glückel's son Moshe Hamel who copied her original manuscript, and the copy was inherited first by Moshe's son Chayim Hamel (d. 1788) and then by members of the next generation, Yosef Hamel and Chayim Hamel Segal of Königsberg (now Kaliningrad). The manuscript was deposited in the Bavarian State Library in the second half of the nineteenth century. [Comments by David Kauffman, quoted by Rabinovitz 1929]

The Bavarian State Library manuscript was published as a book in 1892 by David Kauffman in Pressburg (Bratislava) under the name "Zikhroynes Glikl Hamel" (Yiddish: the Memoirs of Glikl Hamel). Bertha Pappenheim, a descendant of hers, translated the Memoirs into German and published them in Vienna in 1910. An abridged translation into German with commentary by Alfred Feilchenfeld appeared in 1913, and went through four print runs by 1922/23. The first Hebrew translation was published in 1929 by Rabinovitz, who had also added detailed references for the many quotes often used by Glückel.

The Jewish Museum in Berlin has devoted an entire exhibit to Glückel of Hamelin, intended to provide a sense of what life was like for the Jews of Germany before their emancipation.

Sol Liptzin describes Glückel as "well versed in the legendary lore of the Talmud", familiar with the popular, ethically oriented Musar tracts, and "profoundly influenced by Tkhines, devotional prayers for women". "Her style," he writes, "had the charm of simplicity and intimacy and the qualities of sincerity, vividness and picturesqueness." [Liptzin, 1972, 15]

Descendants

Because her family is so well documented, it has been possible to identify many of her descendants. Among these have been such notable figures as Heinrich Heine, Samson Raphael Hirsch, and Bertha Pappenheim (also known as "Anna O.").

Bibliography

Original publication:

• Zikhroynes Glikl Hamel זיכרונות גליקל האמיל Die Memoiren der Glückel von Hameln, 1645-1719. Herausg. von David Kaufmann. Frankfurt am Main, J. Kauffmann, 1896. 8vo. In Yiddish (in Hebrew letters), with introduction in German.

German translations:

• "Die Memoiren der Glückel von Hameln" Aus dem Jüdisch-Deutschen von Bertha Pappenheim (Autorisierte Übertragung nach der Ausgabe von Prof. Dr. David Kaufmann, Wien 1910). Mit einem Vorwort von Viola Roggenkamp. Weinheim und Basel: Beltz Verlag, 2005.
• Denkwürdigkeiten der Glückel von Hameln Aus dem Jüdisch-Deutschen übersetzt, mit Erläuterungen versehen und hrsg. von Alfred Feilchenfeld. Mit 25 Bildbeigaben. Berlin, Jüdischer Verlag, 1913.

Translation into English:

• Memoirs of Glückel of Hameln translated by Marvin Lowenthal, 1977 (ISBN 0805205721)
• The Life of Glückel of Hameln 1646-1724, written by herself. Translated from the original Yiddish and edited by Beth-Zion Abrahams, Yoselof 1963 (1962 Horovitz Publ. Co., London).

On these two translations, see: Bilik, Dorothy. “The Memoirs of Glikl of Hameln: The Archaeology of the Text.” Yiddish 8/2 (1992): 5–22.

Translation into Hebrew:

• Gliḳl : zikhronot / hehedirah ṿe-tirgemah mi-Yiddish Translated by Chava Turniansky, Jerusalem 2006 (ISBN 9652272132). This edition also includes the Yiddish text, side by side with the Hebrew translation.

References

• This article draws on the corresponding article in the Hebrew Wikipedia, retrieved February 22, 2004.
• Liptzin, Sol, A History of Yiddish Literature, Jonathan David Publishers, Middle Village, NY, 1972, ISBN 0-8246-0124-6.
• Rabinovitz, A.Z., Introduction to the Hebrew Translation of "Memories of Glikl," זכרונות גליקל, Dvir, Tel Aviv, 1929.
• Note, Joris: Vanwege mijn hartepijn, De Brakke Hond, No. 81, 1989
• Zemon Davis, Natalie, Women on the Margins: Three Seventeenth-Century Lives, Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard UP, 1995
• Riemer, Nathanael, Some parallels of stories in Glikls of Hameln "Zikhroynes". In: PaRDeS. Zeitschrift der Vereinigung für Jüdische Studien e.V. (2008) 14 , p. 125-148.
• Idelson-Shein, Iris, "What have I to do with Wild Animals?": Glikl Bas Leib and the Other Woman. Eighteenth Century Studies 44.1, 2010.
• Jewish History Lecture on Gluckel of Hameln by Henry (Hillel) Abramson, PhD==External links==
• Turniansky, Chava. "Glueckel of Hameln.", Jewish Women: A Comprehensive Historical Encyclopedia. 1 March 2009. Jewish Women's Archive. January 4, 2010
• Glückel von Hameln at "Other Women's Voices"
• Natalie Zemon Davis, "Glückel of Hameln: Businesswoman," Jewish Heritage Online Magazine
• Glikl bas Judah Leib (Gluckel of Hameln), excerpt from her memoirs on "Early Modern Notes"