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130-764: The Leo Baeck Institute is made up of three independent international institutes, as well as two Berlin centres, and two Berlin working groups that are governed by the Leo Baeck Institute International board: In the beginning of the 1950s some of the most influential Jewish scholars from Germany met in Jerusalem to discuss what form the Leo Baeck Institute would take. The founding conference took place from May 25–31, 1955; Martin Buber , Ernst Simon , and Gershom Scholem were some of

260-550: A binational solution in Palestine , and, after the establishment of the Jewish state of Israel, of a regional federation of Israel and Arab states. His influence extends across the humanities, particularly in the fields of social psychology , social philosophy , and religious existentialism . Buber's attitude toward Zionism was tied to his desire to promote a vision of "Hebrew humanism". According to Laurence J. Silberstein,

390-651: A "strategic awakening" in the late 20th and early 21st century, with initiatives such as the Central European Defence Cooperation , the Central European Initiative , Centrope , and the Visegrád Four Group . This awakening was accelerated by writers and other intellectuals, who recognized the societal paralysis of decaying dictatorships and felt compelled to speak up against Soviet oppression. In

520-438: A 1910 essay entitled "He and We," Buber established himself and Herzl (who had died in 1904) as diametrically opposed in their perspectives on Zionism. Buber described Herzl by saying, "The impulse of the elementally active person (Elementaraktiver) to act is so strong that it prevents him from acquiring knowledge for the sake of knowledge," and, according to Buber, when a person like Herzl is aware of his Jewishness, "In him awakens

650-628: A Central European Danube Confederation to counter these countries against Germany and Russia. There were also plans to add Bavaria and Württemberg to an enlarged Austria. There were also various resistance movements around Otto von Habsburg that pursued this goal. The group around the Austrian priest Heinrich Maier also planned in this direction, which also successfully helped the Allies to wage war by, among other things, forwarding production sites and plans for V-2 rockets , Tiger tanks and aircraft to

780-549: A Geographical Term ) most Central European states were unable to preserve their political independence and became Soviet satellites . Besides Austria, Switzerland and Yugoslavia, only the marginal European states of Cyprus , Finland , Malta and Sweden preserved their political sovereignty to a certain degree, being left out of any military alliances in Europe. The opening of the Iron Curtain between Austria and Hungary at

910-513: A barrier to deeper relationship and community. The Ich-Es ("I‑It") relationship is nearly the opposite of Ich‑Du . Whereas in Ich‑Du the two beings encounter one another, in an Ich‑Es relationship the beings do not actually meet. Instead, the "I" confronts and qualifies an idea, or conceptualization, of the being in its presence and treats that being as an object. All such objects are considered merely mental representations, created and sustained by

1040-656: A buffer zone between these regions. In the early nineteenth century, the terms "Middle" or "Central" Europe (known as "Mitteleuropa" in German and "Europe centrale" in French) were introduced in geographical scholarship in both German and French languages. At first, these terms were linked to the regions spanning from the Pyrenees to the Danube, which, according to German authors, could be united under German authority. However, after

1170-564: A close relative) is a relationship that stresses the mutual, holistic existence of two beings. It is a concrete encounter, because these beings meet one another in their authentic existence, without any qualification or objectification of one another. Even imagination and ideas do not play a role in this relation. In an I–Thou encounter, infinity and universality are made actual (rather than being merely concepts). Buber stressed that an Ich‑Du relationship lacks any composition (e. g., structure) and communicates no content (e. g., information). Despite

1300-497: A new social organization, referencing the emergence of kibbutzim . Buber goes on to discuss, broadly, the necessity for injustice in order to survive, and focuses it to the Zionist perspective by writing, "It is indeed true that there can be no life without injustice. The fact that there is no living creature that can live and thrive without destroying another existing organism has a symbolic significance as regards our human life. But

1430-479: A professorship at Hebrew University , there lecturing in anthropology and introductory sociology . The lectures he gave during the first semester were published in the book The problem of man ( Das Problem des Menschen ); in these lectures he discusses how the question "What is Man?" became the central one in philosophical anthropology . He participated in the discussion of the Jews' problems in Palestine and of

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1560-640: A prominent power within the Holy Roman Empire, came to reign over the territories of Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina , Croatia, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovakia and Slovenia, alongside parts of Serbia , Germany, Italy , Poland and Switzerland. Since the Cold War the countries that make up Central Europe have historically been, and in some cases continue to be, divided into either Eastern or Western Europe. After World War II, Europe

1690-572: A public programme of lectures and workshops, often in collaboration with other UK or international organizations. Events are aimed at a broad audience. A Leo Baeck Fellowship Programme (in collaboration with the Studienstiftung des deutschen Volkes ) was created in 2005 to support doctoral candidates in German-Jewish studies. The programme includes bi-annual seminars during which Fellows discuss their research with senior academics in

1820-588: A relation creates qualities associated with It‑ness, and so would prevent an I‑You relation, limiting it to I‑It. Buber claims that if we are open to the I–Thou, God eventually comes to us in response to our welcome. Also, because the God Buber describes is completely devoid of qualities, this I–Thou relationship lasts as long as the individual wills it. When the individual finally returns to the I‑It way of relating, this acts as

1950-611: A significant trade route, restoring ports and revitalising commercial activity. Before 1870, the industrialization that had started to develop in Northwestern and Central Europe and the United States did not extend in any significant way to the rest of the world. Even in Eastern Europe , industrialization lagged far behind. Russia , for example, remained largely rural and agricultural, and its autocratic rulers kept

2080-454: A somewhat teleological perspective in a 1948 piece "Zionism and Zionism". He summarizes these two competing perspectives as, on the one hand, "returning and restoring the true Israel, whose spirit and life would once again no longer exist beside each other," and, on the other hand, as a process of "normalization," and that to be "normal," a "nation needs a land, a language, and independence. Thus, one must only go and acquire those commodities, and

2210-650: A static spatial one. For example, a fair share of Belarus and Right-bank Ukraine are in Eastern Europe today, but 240 years ago they were in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth . Johnson's study on Central Europe received acclaim and positive reviews in the scientific community. However, according to Romanian researcher Maria Bucur , this very ambitious project suffers from the weaknesses imposed by its scope (almost 1600 years of history). The World Factbook defines Central Europe as: Austria,

2340-509: A young Buber disagreed with Theodor Herzl about their respective positions on Zionism. Herzl did not envision Zionism as a movement with religious objectives. In contrast, Buber believed the potential of Zionism was for social and spiritual enrichment. For example, Buber argued that following the formation of the Israeli state, there would need to be reforms to Judaism: "We need someone who would do for Judaism what Pope John XXIII has done for

2470-442: Is a part of Europe composed of Austria, Belgium , the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Germany, Hungary, Luxembourg , Netherlands , Poland, Romania and Switzerland, and northern marginal regions of Italy and Yugoslavia (northern states – Croatia and Slovenia ), as well as northeastern France. The German Ständige Ausschuss für geographische Namen (Standing Committee on Geographical Names), which develops and recommends rules for

2600-577: Is an ambiguous German concept. It is sometimes used in English to refer to an area somewhat larger than most conceptions of 'Central Europe'. According to Fritz Fischer Mitteleuropa was a scheme in the era of the Reich of 1871–1918 by which the old imperial elites had allegedly sought to build a system of German economic, military and political domination from the northern seas to the Near East and from

2730-657: Is no general agreement either on what geographic area constitutes Central Europe, nor on how to further subdivide it geographically. At times, the term "Central Europe" denotes a geographic definition as the Danube region in the heart of the continent, including the language and culture areas which are today included in the states of Bulgaria , Croatia , the Czech Republic , Hungary , Moldova , Poland , Romania , Serbia , Slovakia , Slovenia and usually also Austria and Germany. The terminology EU11 countries refer

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2860-507: Is not a natural phenomenon, and that Zionism is a movement centered around religiosity, not nationalism. However, according to Buber, the messianic movement within Zionism is obscured by those in liberal Jewish and anti-Zionist circles, who argue that Messianism necessitates a diaspora. On the importance of the Hebrew language, Buber believed, "Hebrew is not first and foremost a vernacular but

2990-427: Is one of dialogue ( Ich-Du ) and monologue ( Ich-Es ). The concept of communication, particularly language-oriented communication, is used both in describing dialogue/monologue through metaphors and expressing the interpersonal nature of human existence. Ich‑Du ("I‑Thou" or "I‑You" – 'you' in a very personal, connected sense. 'Du' in German means 'you', but is generally only used to a closely-connected person, such as

3120-406: Is widely used in German education and media without negative meaning, especially since the end of communism. Many people from the new states of Germany do not identify themselves as being part of Western Europe and therefore prefer the term "Mitteleuropa". During World War II, Central Europe was largely occupied by Nazi Germany. Many areas were a battle area and were devastated. The mass murder of

3250-527: The Reichsvereinigung der Juden in Deutschland ). It was initially assumed that this project would take the form of a long-term historical project, preparing a comprehensive work on the history of German Jewry . With the expectation that this would not last more than a decade, institute members concentrated entirely on research projects and filling in the history of German-speaking Jewry from

3380-907: The Baal Shem Tov ), the founder of Hasidism. Chinesische Geister- und Liebesgeschichten included the first German translation ever made of Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio . Alex Page translated the Chinesische Geister- und Liebesgeschichten as "Chinese Tales", published in 1991 by Humanities Press . Werke 3 volumes (1962–1964) Martin Buber Werkausgabe (MBW). Berliner Akademie der Wissenschaften / Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities, ed. Paul Mendes-Flohr & Peter Schäfer with Martina Urban; 21 volumes planned (2001–) Briefwechsel aus sieben Jahrzehnten 1897–1965 (1972–1975) Several of his original writings, including his personal archives, are preserved in

3510-684: The Carolingian Renaissance , limited to the territories that practised Western Christianity at the time. "European" as a cultural term did not include much of the territories where the Orthodox Church represented the dominant religion until the 19th century. Following the Christianization of various Central European countries, elements of cultural unity emerged within the region, specifically Catholicism and Latin . Eastern Europe remained Eastern Orthodox , and

3640-554: The Center for Jewish History , a centralized partnership with other Jewish organizations that share one location, with separate governing bodies and finances, but collocate resources, in New York City. Additionally, Leo Baeck Institute New York administers several fellowships for scholars working in the field of German-Jewish history, and produces exhibitions and public programming related to German-Jewish history. It also awards

3770-740: The Christianization of Lithuania . It also resulted in the Union of Krewo , signifying a personal union between the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Kingdom of Poland. The union commenced an enduring political alliance between the two entities and laid the foundations for the later establishment of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in 1569. Between the 15th and early 16th centuries, the Kingdom of Croatia, which

3900-679: The Czechoslovak , Hungarian and Polish presidents was hailed at the time as a major breakthrough in Central European cooperation, but the Visegrád Group became a vehicle for coordinating Central Europe's road to the European Union, while development of closer ties within the region languished. American professor Peter J. Katzenstein described Central Europe as a way station in a Europeanization process that marks

4030-849: The Eastern Bloc countries, as its every result proved the dissimilarity of Central Europe, which was inconsistent with the Stalinist doctrine. On the other hand, the topic became popular in Western Europe and the United States, much of the research being carried out by immigrants from Central Europe. Following the Fall of Communism , publicists and historians in Central Europe, especially the anti-communist opposition, returned to their research. According to Karl A. Sinnhuber ( Central Europe: Mitteleuropa: Europe Centrale: An Analysis of

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4160-533: The Enlightenment to the Nazi seizure of power . The Leo Baeck Institute was created in 1955 at the conference in Jerusalem. It was founded as a board that was made up of two governing bodies, a research and publication board, and an administrative board. It was founded internationally, with multiple locations made up of three independent branches. It is named in honor of its international president, Leo Baeck ,

4290-605: The Frankfurt Parliament , which was established in the wake of the March Revolution of 1848, there were multiple competing ideas for the integration of German-speaking areas, including the mitteleuropäische Lösung (Central European Solution) propagated by Austria, which sought to merge the smaller German-speaking states with the multi-ethnic Habsburg Empire, but was opposed by Prussia and others. An imperialistic idea of Mitteleuropa also became popular in

4420-618: The German Empire established in 1871, which experienced intensive economic growth. The term was used when the Union of German Railway Administrations established the Mitteleuropäische Eisenbahn-Zeit (Central European Railway Time) time zone , which was applied by the railways from 1 June 1891 and was later widely adopted in civilian life, thus the time zone name shortened to the present-day Central European Time . The German term denoting Central Europe

4550-540: The Ihud party, which advocated a bi-nationalist program. Nevertheless, he was connected with decades of friendship to Zionists and philosophers such as Chaim Weizmann , Max Brod , Hugo Bergmann , and Felix Weltsch , who were close friends of his from old European times in Prague , Berlin , and Vienna to the Jerusalem of the 1940s through the 1960s. Buber evaluated the competing strains of cultural and political Zionism from

4680-710: The Jewish National Committee to improve the condition of Eastern European Jews. During that period he became the editor of Der Jude (German for "The Jew"), a Jewish monthly (until 1924). In 1921, Buber began his close relationship with Franz Rosenzweig . In 1922, he and Rosenzweig co-operated in Rosenzweig's House of Jewish Learning , known in Germany as Lehrhaus . In 1923, Buber wrote his famous essay on existence, Ich und Du (later translated into English as I and Thou ). Though he edited

4810-692: The Leo Baeck Medal annually which is the highest recognition the institute bestows upon those who have helped preserve the spirit of German-speaking Jewry in culture, academia, politics, and philanthropy. As the second generation took over, the LBI Jerusalem transformed from a memorial community to a research centre. Almost all members of the LBI Jerusalem’s second generation were professional historians. Most had left Germany as children or adolescents, and had either little or no share at all in

4940-644: The National Library of Israel , formerly the Jewish National and University Library, located on the campus of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem Central Europe Central Europe is a geographical region of Europe between Eastern , Southern , Western and Northern Europe. Central Europe is known for its cultural diversity; however, countries in this region also share historical and cultural similarities. Whilst

5070-619: The Netherlands ) as its main aim. Another time, the term Central Europe became connected to the German plans of political, economic, and cultural domination. The "bible" of the concept was Friedrich Naumann 's book Mitteleuropa in which he called for an economic federation to be established after World War I. Naumann's proposed a federation with Germany and the Habsburg empire as its centre, eventually uniting all external European nations through economic prosperity. The concept failed after

5200-665: The Pan-European Picnic on 19 August 1989 then set in motion a peaceful chain reaction, at the end of which there was no longer an East Germany and the Eastern Bloc had disintegrated. It was the largest escape movement from East Germany since the Berlin Wall was built in 1961. After the picnic, which was based on an idea by Otto von Habsburg to test the reaction of the USSR and Mikhail Gorbachev to an opening of

5330-692: The Reichsschrifttumskammer (the National Socialist authors' association). He then founded the Central Office for Jewish Adult Education , which became an increasingly important body, as the German government forbade Jews to attend public education. The Nazi administration increasingly obstructed this body. Finally, in 1938, Buber left Germany, and settled in Jerusalem , then capital of Mandate Palestine . He received

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5460-470: The Talbiya neighborhood of Jerusalem on June 13, 1965. Buber was a vegetarian . Buber's evocative, sometimes poetic, writing style marked the major themes in his work: the retelling of Hasidic and Chinese tales, Biblical commentary, and metaphysical dialogue. A cultural Zionist , Buber was active in the Jewish and educational communities of Germany and Israel . He was also a staunch supporter of

5590-668: The Zionist movement, participating in congresses and organizational work. In 1899, while studying in Zürich , Buber met his future wife, Paula Winkler , a "brilliant Catholic writer from a Bavarian peasant family" who in 1901 left the Catholic Church and in 1907 converted to Judaism . Buber, initially, supported and celebrated the Great War as a "world historical mission" for Germany along with Jewish intellectuals to civilize

5720-468: The dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire around 1800, there was a consolidation of power among the Habsburgs and Hohenzollerns as the two major states in the area. They had much in common and occasionally cooperated in various channels, but more often competed. One approach in the various attempts at cooperation, was the conception of a set of supposed common features and interests, and this idea led to

5850-417: The "dialogical community" founded upon interpersonal "dialogical relationships". After World War II , Buber began lecture tours in Europe and the United States. In 1952, he argued with Jung over the existence of God. Buber is famous for his thesis of dialogical existence, as he described in the book I and Thou . However, his work dealt with a range of issues including religious consciousness, modernity,

5980-402: The 11th and 15th centuries, not only did Christianization influence the cultures within Central Europe, but well-defined social features were also implemented in the region based on Western characteristics. The keyword of Western social development after the turn of the millennium was the spread of Magdeburg rights in some cities and towns of Western Europe. These began to spread in the middle of

6110-642: The 13th century in Central European countries, bringing about self-governments of towns and counties. In 1335, the Kings of Poland , Bohemia and Hungary and Croatia met in the castle of Visegrád and agreed to cooperate closely in the field of politics and commerce, inspiring the post- Cold War Visegrád Group . In 1386, Jogaila , the Grand Duke of Lithuania , converted to Christianity (specifically Catholicism) and subsequently became King of Poland through marriage to Queen Jadwiga of Poland . This initiated

6240-441: The 1920s, and were able to reconstruct the collection. The project was funded by a joint grant from the U.S. National Endowment for the Humanities and the German Research Foundation (Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft – DFG) . Martin Buber Martin Buber ( Hebrew : מרטין בובר ; German : Martin Buber , pronounced [ˈmaʁtiːn̩ ˈbuːbɐ] ; Yiddish : מארטין בובער ; February 8, 1878 – June 13, 1965)

6370-552: The 19th and 20th centuries, as well as a collection of family papers, genealogical materials, and community histories. The Leo Baeck Institute London, founded in 1955, researches the history and culture of German-speaking Jewry from the 17th century to the present day. It aims to facilitate academic exchange, and to use the German and Central European Jewish experience from the 17th to the 21st centuries to help understand contemporary socio-political debates concerning immigration, minorities, integration, and civil rights, in particular in

6500-506: The Adriatic had not been approved by the Western Allied chiefs of staff. As a result of the military situation at the end of the war, Stalin's plans prevailed and much of Central Europe came under Russian control. Following World War II , parts of Central Europe became part of the Eastern Bloc . The boundary between the two blocks was called the Iron Curtain . Austria, Switzerland and Yugoslavia remained neutral. The post-World War II period brought blocking of research on Central Europe in

6630-445: The Arab question – working out of his Biblical, philosophic, and Hasidic work. He became a member of the group Ihud , which aimed at a bi-national state for Arabs and Jews in Palestine. Such a binational confederation was viewed by Buber as a more proper fulfillment of Zionism than a solely Jewish state. In 1949, he published his work Paths in Utopia , in which he detailed his communitarian socialist views and his theory of

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6760-456: The Catholic Church ". Herzl and Buber would continue, in mutual respect and disagreement, to work towards their respective goals for the rest of their lives. In 1902, Buber became the editor of the weekly Die Welt , the central organ of the Zionist movement. However, a year later he became involved with the Jewish Hasidic movement. Buber admired how the Hasidic communities actualized their religion in daily life and culture. In stark contrast to

6890-402: The Central European area is subject to debates. Very often, the definition depends on the nationality and historical perspective of its author. The concept of "Central Europe" appeared in the 19th century. It was understood as a contact zone between the Southern and Northern areas, and later the Eastern and Western areas of Europe. Thinkers portrayed "Central Europe" either as a separate region, or

7020-413: The Central Office for Jewish Adult Education, which became an increasingly important body as the German government forbade Jews from public education. In 1938, Buber left Germany and settled in Jerusalem , Mandatory Palestine , receiving a professorship at Hebrew University and lecturing in anthropology and introductory sociology . In 1947, he was forced to flee his home in Abu Tor , Jerusalem, due to

7150-457: The Central, Eastern and Baltic European member states which accessed in 2004 and after: in 2004 Czech Republic, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, Poland, Slovenia, and Slovakia; in 2007 Bulgaria, Romania; and in 2013 Croatia. The choice of states that make up Central Europe is an ongoing source of controversy. Although views on which countries belong to Central Europe are vastly varied, according to many sources (see section Definitions )

7280-481: The Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia and Switzerland. The German Encyclopaedia Meyers Grosses Taschenlexikon ( Meyers Big Pocket Encyclopedia ), 1999, defines Central Europe as the central part of Europe with no precise borders to the East and West. The term is mostly used to denominate the territory between the Schelde to Vistula and from the Danube to the Moravian Gate . According to Meyers Enzyklopädisches Lexikon , Central Europe

7410-453: The Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, Liechtenstein, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia and Switzerland. The Columbia Encyclopedia includes: Austria, the Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia and Switzerland. While it does not have a single article defining Central Europe, Encyclopædia Britannica includes the following countries in Central Europe in one or more of its articles: Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia,

7540-402: The Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Lithuania and Yugoslavia. The main proposed regional definitions, gathered by Polish historian Jerzy Kłoczowski , include: Former University of Vienna professor Lonnie R. Johnson points out criteria to distinguish Central Europe from Western, Northern, Eastern and Southern Europe: He also thinks that Central Europe is a dynamic historical concept, not

7670-415: The Early Modern period, the territories of Poland and Lithuania were part of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth . Meanwhile, the Archduchy of Austria , the Kingdom of Bohemia (Czech Republic), the Duchy of Carniola (part of present-day Slovenia), the various German Principalities and the Old Swiss Confederacy were within the Holy Roman Empire . By the end of the 18th century, the Habsburg monarchy ,

7800-405: The Franco-Prussian war of 1870, the French began to exclude France from this area, and later the Germans also adopted this perspective by the end of World War I. The concept of "Central" or "Middle Europe", understood as a region with German influence, lost a significant part of its popularity after WWI and was completely dismissed after WWII. Two defeats of Germany in the world wars, combined with

7930-441: The German defeat in World War I . The revival of the idea may be observed during the Hitler era . The interwar period (1918–1938) brought a new geopolitical system, as well as economic and political problems, and the concept of Central Europe took on a different character. The centre of interest was moved to its eastern part – particularly to the countries that had (re)appeared on the map of Europe. Central Europe ceased to be

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8060-418: The Germans have not played an exclusively negative role in the region. Most Central European Jews embraced the enlightened German humanistic culture of the 19th century. Jews of turn of the 20th century Central Europe became representatives of what many consider to be Central European culture at its best, though the Nazi conceptualisation of "Mitteleuropa" sought to destroy this culture. The term "Mitteleuropa"

8190-441: The Jewish people must disappear among contemporary humanity so that a messianic humanity might arise." Buber continued to explore and develop his views on Zionism in these years. One such notable piece of writing is a letter to a professor entitled "Concepts and Reality" in 1916. In this letter, Buber addresses the issues of nationalism, Messianism, and Hebrew within the Zionist movement of the period. Buber argued that nationalism

8320-599: The Jews depopulated many of their centuries-old settlement areas or settled other people there and their culture was wiped out. Both Adolf Hitler and Joseph Stalin diametrically opposed the centuries-old Habsburg principles of "live and let live" with regard to ethnic groups, peoples, minorities, religions, cultures and languages and tried to assert their own ideologies and power interests in Central Europe. There were various Allied plans for state order in Central Europe for post-war. While Stalin tried to get as many states under his control as possible, Winston Churchill preferred

8450-418: The LBI London publishes monographs and edited volumes in German and English. Its two series, Schriftenreihe wissenschaftlicher Abhandlungen des Leo Baeck Instituts , in German, and German Jewish Cultures , in English, cover the period from the Enlightenment to the contemporary era with a special focus on European Jewish history. The institute organises a range of events, such as international conferences and

8580-506: The Low Countries through the steppes of Russia to the Caucasus. Later on, professor Fritz Epstein argued the threat of a Slavic "Drang nach Westen" (Western expansion) had been a major factor in the emergence of a Mitteleuropa ideology before the Reich of 1871 ever came into being. In Germany the connotation was also sometimes linked to the pre-war German provinces east of the Oder-Neisse line . The term "Mitteleuropa" conjures up negative historical associations among some people, although

8710-426: The Near East, to carry out policies in the framework of the life of the Near East, and, God willing, to send the "living idea" forth to the world from the Near East once again." During this same time period Buber remained critical of many policies and leaders of the new Israeli government. He was particularly vocal about the treatment of Arab refugees, and was unafraid to criticize top leadership like David Ben-Gurion ,

8840-402: The Near East. Some researchers believe that while in Vienna during and after World War I, he was influenced by the writings of Jacob L. Moreno , particularly the use of the term ‘encounter’. In 1930, Buber became an honorary professor at the University of Frankfurt am Main , but resigned from his professorship in protest immediately after Adolf Hitler came to power in 1933. He then founded

8970-500: The Soviet sphere of influence in the late 1940s–1980s. For the most part, this geographical framework lost its attraction after the end of the Cold War. A number of Post-Communist countries rather re-branded themselves in the 1990s as "Central European.", while avoiding the stained wording of "Middle Europe," which they associated with German influence in the region. This reinvented concept of "Central Europe" excluded Germany, Austria and Switzerland, reducing its coverage chiefly to Poland,

9100-408: The UK. Between 2011 and 2024, the LBI London was based at Queen Mary University of London. In 2024, the institute moved to a central London location, where it is now affiliated with Birkbeck, University of London. The LBI London remains an independent institute. The institute’s flagship publication, the Leo Baeck Institute Year Book (since 1956), is a leading international publication in the field of

9230-412: The USA. Otto von Habsburg tried to relieve Austria, Czechoslovakia, Hungary and northern Yugoslavia (particularly the territories of present-day Croatia and Slovenia) from Nazi German, and Soviet, influence and control. There were various considerations to prevent German and Soviet power in Europe after the war. Churchill's idea of reaching the area around Vienna before the Russians via an operation from

9360-768: The Zionist movement extensively over a nearly 50-year period spanning his time in Europe and the Near East. In 1923, Buber wrote his famous essay on existence, Ich und Du (later translated into English as I and Thou ), and in 1925 he began translating the Hebrew Bible into the German language . He was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature ten times, and the Nobel Peace Prize seven times. Martin ( Hebrew name: מָרְדֳּכַי, Mordechai ) Buber

9490-549: The Zohar to Buber. Buber was a scholar, interpreter, and translator of Hasidic lore. He viewed Hasidism as a source of cultural renewal for Judaism, frequently citing examples from the Hasidic tradition that emphasized community, interpersonal life, and meaning in common activities (e. g., a worker's relation to his tools). The Hasidic ideal, according to Buber, emphasized a life lived in the unconditional presence of God, where there

9620-480: The activities of all three branches, and each branch reports at annual international board meetings about their research and publication projects. Presidents of Leo Baeck Institute International, the umbrella organization of the institute, have been: The Leo Baeck Institute New York in Manhattan includes a library, an archive, an art collection, and an exhibition centre. Its offices and collections are housed in

9750-749: The advance of the Arab Liberation Army . After the creation of the state of Israel in 1948 , Buber became the best known Israeli philosopher. After 1948, Buber lived in Edward Said's family home in Jerusalem. Buber and Paula had two children: a son, Rafael Buber, and a daughter, Eva Strauss-Steinitz. They helped raise their granddaughters Barbara Goldschmidt (1921–2013) and Judith Buber Agassi (1924–2018), born by their son Rafael's marriage to Margarete Buber-Neumann . Buber's wife Paula Winkler died in 1958 in Venice, and he died at his home in

9880-478: The area of German aspiration to lead or dominate and became a territory of various integration movements aiming at resolving political, economic, and national problems of "new" states, being a way to face German and Soviet pressures. However, the conflict of interests was too big and neither Little Entente nor Intermarium ( Międzymorze ) ideas succeeded. Hungarian historian Ádám Magda wrote in her study Versailles System and Central Europe (2006): "Today we know that

10010-999: The area roughly corresponding to the Carpathian Basin was part of the Avar Khaganate, the realm of the Pannonian Avars . While the Avars dominated the east of what is now Austria, its north and south were under Germanic and Slavic influence, respectively. Meanwhile, the territories now comprising Germany and Switzerland were under the influence of the Merovingian dynasty , and later the Carolingian dynasty . Various Slavic tribes that inhabited eastern Central Europe established settlements during this period, primarily in present-day Croatia, Czech Republic, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia. The territory of Lithuania

10140-534: The bane of Central Europe was the Little Entente , military alliance of Czechoslovakia , Romania and Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (later Yugoslavia), created in 1921 not for Central Europe's cooperation nor to fight German expansion, but in a wrong perceived notion that a completely powerless Hungary must be kept down". The events preceding World War II in Europe —including the so-called Western betrayal / Munich Agreement were very much enabled by

10270-596: The border, tens of thousands of media-informed East Germans set off for Hungary. The leadership of the GDR in East Berlin did not dare to completely block the borders of their own country and the USSR did not respond at all. This broke the bracket of the Eastern Bloc and Central Europe subsequently became free from communism. According to American professor Ronald Tiersky , the 1991 summit held in Visegrád attended by

10400-481: The busy Zionist organizations, which were always mulling political concerns, the Hasidim were focused on the values which Buber had long advocated for Zionism to adopt. In 1904, he withdrew from much of his Zionist organizational work, and devoted himself to study and writing, as in that same year, he published his thesis, Beiträge zur Geschichte des Individuationsproblems , on Jakob Böhme and Nikolaus Cusanus . In

10530-435: The concept of evil, ethics, education, and Biblical hermeneutics. Buber rejected the label of "philosopher" or "theologian", claiming he was not interested in ideas, only personal experience, and could not discuss God, but only relationships to God. Politically, Buber's social philosophy on points of prefiguration aligns with that of anarchism, though Buber explicitly disavowed the affiliation in his lifetime and justified

10660-494: The country. In 1925, he, alongside his friend Judah Magnes , was involved in the creation of the organization Brit Shalom (Covenant of Peace), which advocated the creation of a binational state, and throughout the rest of his life, he hoped and believed that Jews and Arabs one day would live in peace in a joint nation. In a 1929 essay entitled "The National Home and National Policy in Palestine," Buber explores Jewish right to

10790-549: The division of Germany, an almost complete disappearance of German-speaking communities in these countries, and the Communist-led isolation of Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Lithuania, Poland and Yugoslavia from the Western world, turned the concept of "Central/Middle Europe" into an anachronism. On the other side, the non-German areas of Central Europe were almost universally regarded as "Eastern European" primarily associated with

10920-471: The early Middle Ages, Central Europe had a diverse landscape, with various ethnic groups inhabiting the region. Germanic tribes , among them the Franks , Alemans and Bavarians , were predominantly situated in the west, while Slavic tribes were predominantly in the east. However, the region encompassed a wide spectrum of additional tribes and communities. From the late 6th century to the early 9th century,

11050-548: The existence of a state under limited conditions. In I and Thou , Buber introduced his thesis on human existence. Inspired by Feuerbach 's The Essence of Christianity and Kierkegaard 's Single One , Buber worked upon the premise of existence as encounter. He explained this philosophy using the word pairs of Ich-Du and Ich-Es to categorize the modes of consciousness, interaction, and being through which an individual engages with other individuals, inanimate objects, and all reality in general. Theologically, he associated

11180-487: The fact that Ich‑Du cannot be proven to happen as an event (e. g., it cannot be measured), Buber stressed that it is real and perceivable. A variety of examples are used to illustrate Ich‑Du relationships in daily life—two lovers, an observer and a cat, the author and a tree, and two strangers on a train. Common English words used to describe the Ich‑Du relationship include encounter, meeting, dialogue, mutuality, and exchange. One key Ich‑Du relationship Buber identified

11310-589: The field. Up to 12 fellowships are awarded each year. In 2012, Leo Baeck Institute New York announced that it had digitized the majority of its archival holdings, as well as large segments of its art and library collections. Among the over 3.5 million digital images available through the online catalog, known as DigiBaeck, include: Leo Baeck Institute New York partnered with the Internet Archive non-profit digital library that offers permanent storage of and free public access to digitized materials to complete

11440-457: The first Prime Minister. From 1905 he worked for the publishing house Rütten & Loening as a lecturer; there he initiated and supervised the completion of the social psychological monograph series Die Gesellschaft  [ de ] . From 1906 until 1914, Buber published editions of Hasidic, mystical, and mythic texts from Jewish and world sources. In 1916, he moved from Berlin to Heppenheim . During World War I , he helped establish

11570-659: The first West Slavic states to be founded in Central Europe. In the late 9th Century, the Hungarian tribes , originating in the Ural Mountains and Western Siberia , settled in the Carpathian Basin and established the Principality of Hungary . The earliest recorded concept of Europe as a cultural sphere (instead of simply a geographic term) was formed by Alcuin of York in the late 8th century during

11700-412: The first discussions of a Mitteleuropa in the mid-nineteenth century, as espoused by Friedrich List and Karl Ludwig Bruck . These were mostly based on economic issues. Mitteleuropa may refer to a historical concept or a contemporary German definition of Central Europe. As a historical concept, the German term Mitteleuropa (or alternatively its literal translation into English, Middle Europe )

11830-479: The first with the Jewish Jesus and the second with the apostle Paul (formerly Saul of Tarsus, a Jew). Philosophically, these word pairs express complex ideas about modes of being—particularly how a person exists and actualizes that existence. As Buber argues in I and Thou , a person is at all times engaged with the world in one of these modes. The generic motif Buber employs to describe the dual modes of being

11960-586: The founders' memories. For this reason the “memorial function” of the historiography lost significance. In its place came more strictly scholarly aspirations. Through publications, scholarly seminars, academic and cultural events, and an archive, the Leo Baeck Institute Jerusalem has been the leading venue for German-Jewish historiography and documentation in Israel. Its archives consist of a microfilm collection of Jewish newspapers from

12090-440: The history and culture of German-speaking Jews. Published by Oxford University Press with a circulation of over 2,000 copies, it publishes original research on the cultural, economic, political, social, and religious history of German-speaking Jews. The Leo Baeck Institute Year Book Essay Prize is awarded annually to an early-career researcher writing on the history or culture of German-speaking Jewry. In addition to its Year Book ,

12220-447: The human aspect of life begins the moment we say to ourselves: We will not do more injustice to others than we are forced to do to exist." Buber then uses this perspective to argue in favor of Binationalism as means to establish a combination of potential coexistence and national independence. Living and writing in Jerusalem, Buber increased his political involvement, and continued to develop his ideas on Zionism. In 1942, he co‑founded

12350-454: The idea of Zionism as just another national movement , and wanted instead to see the creation of an exemplary society; a society which would not be characterized by Jewish domination of the Arabs. He was influenced by cultural Zionist Ahad Ha'am . Buber believed that it was necessary for the Zionist movement to reach a consensus with the Arabs even at the cost of the Jews remaining a minority in

12480-547: The individual mind. This is based partly on Kant's theory of phenomenon , in that these objects reside in the cognitive agent's mind, existing only as thoughts. Therefore, the Ich‑Es relationship is in fact a relationship with oneself; it is not a dialogue, but a monologue. In the Ich-Es relationship, an individual treats other things, people, etc., as objects to be used and experienced. Essentially, this form of objectivity relates to

12610-626: The intellectual heavyweights present. Most attendees as well as the personalities steering the institute had known each other before their flight from Germany through organizations such as the Central-Verein deutscher Staatsbürger jüdischen Glaubens and the Zionist Federation of Germany . Others had held positions with the Reichsvertretung der Deutschen Juden (formed under Leo Baeck 's direction, and later renamed

12740-399: The land of Israel before engaging with the question of Jewish-Arab relations. According to Buber, the Zionist right to establish a country in Israel originates from their ancient, ancestral connection to the land, the fact that Jews have worked to cultivate the land in recent years, and the future prospect that a Jewish state offers as both a cultural center for Judaism and a model for creating

12870-513: The legal development or the social, cultural, economic, and infrastructural developments in these countries. The avant-garde movements of Central Europe contributed to the evolution of modernism, reaching its peak throughout the continent during the 1920s. The Sourcebook of Central European avantgards (Los Angeles County Museum of Art) contains primary documents of the avant-gardes in the territories of Austria, Germany, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Romania and Yugoslavia from 1910 to 1930. With

13000-463: The multivalent Hebrew original. Between 1926 and 1930, Buber co-edited the quarterly Die Kreatur ("The Creature"). In 1930, Buber became an honorary professor at the University of Frankfurt am Main . He resigned in protest from his professorship immediately after Adolf Hitler came to power in 1933. On October 4, 1933, the Nazi authorities forbade him to lecture. In 1935, he was expelled from

13130-421: The outbreak of WWI, Buber engaged in debates with fellow German philosopher Hermann Cohen in 1915 on the nature of nationalism and Zionism. Whereas Cohen, whose argument was based in messianic principles, believed that a Jewish minority was essential to a broader German national identity, Buber argued that, "Judaism may well be taken up in messianic humanity, to be melted into it; we do not, however, consider that

13260-403: The peasants in serfdom. The concept of Central Europe was already known at the beginning of the 19th century, but it developed further and became an object of intensive interest towards the 20th century. However, the first concept mixed science, politics, and economy – it was strictly connected with the aspirations of German states to dominate a part of European continent called Mitteleuropa . At

13390-430: The potential to serve as an example for the "Near East" as, in his Binationalist perspective, two independent nations, could each maintain their own cultural identity, "but both united in the enterprise of developing their common homeland and in the federal management of shared matters. On the strength of that covenant we wish to return once more to the union of Near Eastern nations, to build an economy integrated in that of

13520-598: The project. The Freimann Collection of books related to the Wissenschaft des Judentums (in English: Science of Judaism ) is another digitization project. Working in coordination with Frankfurt University Library , the Leo Baeck Institute library located about 2,000 volumes in its collections that were missing from the Frankfurt Library’s collection of Judaica created by curator Aron Freimann in

13650-448: The region includes some or all of the states listed in the sections below: Depending on the context, Central European countries are sometimes not seen as a specific group, but sorted as either Eastern or Western European countries. In this case Austria, Germany and Switzerland are often placed in Western Europe, while Croatia, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia are placed in Eastern Europe. Croatia

13780-465: The region is variously defined, it often includes Austria , Croatia , the Czech Republic , Germany , Hungary , Liechtenstein , Lithuania , Poland , Slovakia , Slovenia , Switzerland and Transylvania as part of Romania . From the early 16th century until the early 18th century, parts of present-day Croatia and Hungary were under Ottoman rule. During the 17th century, the empire also occupied southern parts of present-day Slovakia. During

13910-482: The rest will take care of itself." According Buber, as Jews and Israel succeed at being a "normal nation," the drive for a spiritual and cultural rebirth is lost, and the war being waged over political structure threatens to become a war for survival. After the establishment of Israel in 1948, Buber advocated Israel's participation in a federation of " Near East " states wider than just Palestine. Buber outlines this concept in "Zionism and Zionism". For Buber, Israel has

14040-479: The rising nationalism and ethnocentrism that typified that period. The interwar period brought new elements to the concept of Central Europe. Before World War I, it embraced mainly German-speaking states, with non-German speaking territories being an area of intended German penetration and domination – German leadership was to be the 'natural' result of economic dominance. Post-war, the Eastern part of Central Europe

14170-502: The senior Rabbi of Berlin in Germany's Weimar Republic , and the last leader of the Jewish community under the Nazis . The Leo Baeck Institute, New York, was founded in 1955, at the same time as the parent organization, and is the United States branch of the organization. It is now a central umbrella organization focused on the study of the history and culture of German-speaking Jewry. The Leo Baeck Institute International board coordinates

14300-479: The single language that can fully absorb and express the sublime values of Judaism." In the early 1920s, Martin Buber started advocating a binational Jewish-Arab state, stating that the Jewish people should proclaim "its desire to live in peace and brotherhood with the Arab people, and to develop the common homeland into a republic in which both peoples will have the possibility of free development." Buber rejected

14430-401: The terminology of "Hebrew humanism" was coined to "distinguish [Buber's] form of nationalism from that of the official Zionist movement" and to point to how "Israel's problem was but a distinct form of the universal human problem. Accordingly, the task of Israel as a distinct nation was inexorably linked to the task of humanity in general". Approaching Zionism from his own personal viewpoint,

14560-446: The transformation process of the Visegrád Group countries in different, though comparable ways. According to him, in Germany's contemporary public discourse "Central European identity" refers to the civilizational divide between Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy. He argued that there is no precise way to define Central Europe and that the region may even include Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia and Serbia. The issue of how to name and define

14690-411: The uniform use of geographical names, proposes two sets of boundaries. The first follows international borders of current countries. The second subdivides and includes some countries based on cultural criteria. In comparison to some other definitions, it is broader, including Luxembourg, Estonia, Latvia, and in the second sense, parts of Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Romania, Serbia, Italy, and France. There

14820-604: The very beginning stages of that discussion during the rise of Hitler. They corresponded also in regards to their work with Brit Shalom , an early think-tank that was tasked with figuring out the dynamics of two-state solution to be brokered between Israel and Palestine more than twenty years before Israel became a nation state—and also about a great many issues regarding their shared interest in ancient, sacred and often mystical Jewish literature whilst keeping tabs likewise on mutual acquaintances and important publications in their fields of interest. Scholem dedicated his bibliography of

14950-455: The war). While his relationship with these two was sometimes unilaterally contentious (with the students occasionally attacking or critiquing their patron somewhat viciously) Buber acted as an impresario, publisher and by various means as one of the great sponsors of their careers and growing reputations. Scholem was to be amongst the friends and interested parties who helped attend to and orchestrate Buber's eventual emigration to Palestine from

15080-650: The will to help the Jews to whom he belongs, to lead the where they can experience freedom and security. Now he does what his will tells He does not see anything else." In that same essay, Buber would draw a parallel between Herzl and Baal Shem Tov , the founder of Hasidism, arguing that both seek to reinstate the Jewish people, the difference coming in their approaches; Herzl affecting change indirectly via history whereas Baal Shem Tov sought to achieve improvement directly through religion. Buber produced multiple writings on Zionism and nationalism during this time period, expanding upon broader ideas related to Zionism. In light of

15210-406: The work later in his life, he refused to make substantial changes. In 1925, he began, in conjunction with Franz Rosenzweig, translating the Hebrew Bible into German ( Die Schrift ). He himself called this translation Verdeutschung ("Germanification"), since it does not always use literary German language, but instead attempts to find new dynamic (often newly invented) equivalent phrasing to respect

15340-423: The world in terms of the self – how an object can serve the individual's interest. Buber argued that human life consists of an oscillation between Ich‑Du and Ich‑Es , and that in fact Ich‑Du experiences are rather few and far between. In diagnosing the various perceived ills of modernity (e. g., isolation, dehumanization, etc.), Buber believed that the expansion of a purely analytic, material view of existence

15470-770: Was a scholar of Midrash and Rabbinic Literature . At home, Buber spoke Yiddish and German. In 1892, Buber returned to his father's house in Lemberg . Despite Buber's putative connection to the Davidic line as a descendant of Katzenellenbogen, a personal religious crisis led him to break with Jewish religious customs . He began reading Immanuel Kant , Søren Kierkegaard , and Friedrich Nietzsche . The latter two, in particular, inspired him to pursue studies in philosophy. In 1896, Buber went to study in Vienna (philosophy, art history , German studies, philology ). In 1898, he joined

15600-553: Was an Austrian-Israeli philosopher best known for his philosophy of dialogue , a form of existentialism centered on the distinction between the I–Thou relationship and the I–It relationship. Born in Vienna , Buber came from a family of observant Jews, but broke with Jewish custom to pursue secular studies in philosophy . He produced writings about Zionism and worked with various bodies within

15730-616: Was at heart an advocation of Ich‑Es relations - even between human beings. Buber argued that this paradigm devalued not only existents, but the meaning of all existence. Buber was a sort of mentor figure in the lives of Gershom Scholem and Walter Benjamin , the 'Kabbalist of the Holy City' and the 'Marxist Rabbi' of Berlin during the era leading up to, overlapping with proceeding after the Holocaust (Benjamin died during his escape from Europe, but Buber retained contact with Scholem after

15860-579: Was at the time in personal union with the Kingdom of Hungary, served as a significant maritime gateway of Central Europe, with its ports facilitating key trade routes between Central Europe and the Mediterranean. The Republic of Ragusa emerged as a prominent hub for cultural exchange during this time. Following the Ottoman and Habsburg wars of the 16th and 17th centuries, the Kingdom of Croatia, under Habsburg rule , began to regain its position as

15990-667: Was born in Vienna to an Orthodox Jewish family. Buber was a direct descendant of the 16th-century rabbi Meir Katzenellenbogen , known as the Maharam (מהר"ם), the Hebrew acronym for “ M ordechai, H a R av (the Rabbi), M eir”, of Padua . Karl Marx is another notable relative. After the divorce of his parents when he was three years old, he was raised by his grandfather in Lemberg (now Lviv in Ukraine). His grandfather, Solomon Buber ,

16120-565: Was divided by the Iron Curtain into two parts, the capitalist Western Bloc and the socialist Eastern Bloc , although Austria, Switzerland and Yugoslavia (encompassing the territories of present-day Croatia, Slovenia and various other Balkans nations) declared neutrality. The Berlin Wall was one of the most visible symbols of this division. Respectively, countries in Central Europe have historical, cultural and geopolitical ties with these wider regions of Europe. Central Europe began

16250-671: Was dominated by Byzantine cultural influence. After the East–West Schism in 1054, significant parts of Eastern Europe developed cultural unity and resistance to Catholic Western and Central Europe within the framework of the Eastern Orthodox Church , Church Slavonic language and the Cyrillic alphabet . According to historian Jenő Szűcs , at the end of the first millennium Central Europe became influenced by Western European developments. Szűcs argued that between

16380-558: Was inhabited by Baltic tribes. Amongst them were the Samogitians , Aukštaitians and Curonians . The Holy Roman Empire was founded at the turn of the 9th century, following the coronation of Charlemagne by Pope Leo III . At its inception, it incorporated present-day Germany and nearby regions, including parts of what is now Austria, the Czech Republic, Slovenia and Switzerland. Three decades later, Great Moravia , centred in present-day Czech Republic and Slovakia, became one of

16510-555: Was no distinct separation between daily habits and religious experience. This was a major influence on Buber's philosophy of anthropology, which considered the basis of human existence as dialogical. In 1906, Buber published Die Geschichten des Rabbi Nachman , a collection of the tales of the Rabbi Nachman of Breslov , a renowned Hasidic rebbe , as interpreted and retold in a Neo-Hasidic fashion by Buber. Two years later, Buber published Die Legende des Baalschem (stories of

16640-697: Was placed at the centre of the concept. At that time the scientists took an interest in the idea: the International Historical Congress in Brussels in 1923 was committed to Central Europe, and the 1933 Congress continued the discussions. According to Emmanuel de Martonne , in 1927, Central Europe encompassed Austria, Czechoslovakia, Germany, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Switzerland, northern Italy and northern Yugoslavia. The author uses both Human and Physical Geographical features to define Central Europe, but he doesn't take into account

16770-735: Was so fashionable that other languages started referring to it when indicating territories from Rhine to Vistula , or even Dnieper , and from the Baltic Sea to the Balkans . An example of this vision of Central Europe may be seen in Joseph Partsch 's book of 1903. On 21 January 1904, Mitteleuropäischer Wirtschaftsverein (Central European Economic Association) was established in Berlin with economic integration of Germany and Austria (with eventual extension to Switzerland, Belgium and

16900-408: Was that which can exist between a human being and God. Buber argued that this is the only way in which it is possible to interact with God, and that an Ich‑Du relationship with anything or anyone connects in some way with the eternal relation to God. To create this I–Thou relationship with God, a person has to be open to the idea of such a relationship, but not actively pursue it. The pursuit of such

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