User:Eli185/Bertha Hirsch

Berta Hirsch, also Bertha Hirsch, née Eberstadt (born September 10, 1850 in Worms; died January 10, 1913 in Heidelberg) was a German patron of the arts.

Berta Eberstadt came from the well-known Worms Jewish family of Falck Ferdinand Eberstadt (* Worms 1808, † Mannheim 1888). He was a textile merchant and an active participant in the revolution of 1848. From 1849 to 1852 he was the first Jew in Germany to be appointed mayor of Worms.

For political and family reasons, he moved with his ten children to liberal Mannheim from December 5, 1857. There he founded the "Firma Ferd. Eberstadt und Cie." Art and culture became an important part of his life within the better Jewish society, into which his daughters married.

Berta married the grain wholesaler Emil Hirsch (1840-1918) in 1872. Her social salon, which she maintained with Helene Hecht, was frequented by artists and politicians, such as Ludwig Frank, Hedwig Wachenheim, Theodor Heuss and Friedrich Naumann, who called her "Frau Kultur" in an obituary. She developed her activities in the spirit of the women's movement of the time, which was founded as an association in Berlin in 1896, today "Deutscher Verband Frau und Kultur" with 30 local groups.

Emma Eberstadt (1840-1906), the sister, was married to Bernhard Kahn. After his death, she founded the Bernhard Kahn Reading Hall in the working-class district of Neckarstadt in his memory for 60,000 gold marks (purchasing power today €560,000). This institution was supported by Bertha Hirsch.

Berta Hirsch was cremated in the Christian cemetery.

The city of Mannheim honored her with the name of the elementary school "Bertha-Hirsch-Schule" in Mannheim-Käfertal.

Literature

 * Friedrich Naumann: Frau Kultur. In: Die Hilfe, 1913. S. 56–58.
 * Willi Wendling: Berta Hirsch: Die Gründerin und Leiterin der ersten Bücherhalle mit Kinderlesezimmern. In: Mannheimer Hefte. 1977, H.1. S. 29–34. Und in: Bibliothekarische Arbeit zwischen Theorie und Praxis. Stuttgart 1976. S. 107–118.
 * Hirsch, Berta. In: Karl Otto Watzinger: Geschichte der Juden in Mannheim 1650-1945. Kohlhammer, Stuttgart 1984, ISBN 3-17-008696-0, S. 102–103.
 * Die Friedhöfe in Mannheim. Grab Nr. 32: Ferdinand Eberstadt. Mannheim 1992, S. 327.