User:PeterBraun74/Ekkehard Hübschmann

Ekkehard Hübschmann (born 1957) is a German socio-anthropologist, historian and genealogist.

Biography
After a school career in Sparneck, Münchberg, Gefrees, Nuremberg and Hamburg, Germany, Hübschmann studied Socio-Anthropology and Philosophy at the University of Bayreuth. His Master’s thesis answered the question What can be understood from today's point of view under Megalithism in Southeast Asia?, This provided him the opportunity to visit that continent for the first time in order to visit megalithic sites in Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia.

His professional work at the University of Bayreuth deepened his scientific thinking. research project The Correspondence of Heinrich Zschokke (1771-1848) acquainted him with edition sciences and the transliteration of letters from the 19th century. In the linguistic project Language Atlas of Northeast Bavaria, he worked for several years as an explorer, immersing himself in German dialectology. He realized the importance of recording the professional terms and workflows of the handweavers of North East Upper Franconia, West Bohemia and Saxonian Vogtland, as long as contemporary witnesses could give account. His PhD thesis is dedicated to this mission, following initially the methods of language atlases and oral history.

Huebschmann, supervised by Prof. Gerd Spittler, added Spittler’s focus on the ethnology of work as another central approach to his research. All work processes as well as the organisation of the work within families are described from the handweavers' perspective as acting persons within the meaning of Max Weber. The dissertation, submitted in 2004 in the discipline of ethnology (socio-anthropology) at the University of Bayreuth, interdisciplinarily combines the Ethnology of Work with German dialectology (German linguistics).

Since 1990 — initially in the context of the Bayreuth Historical Workshop and his long-term project the History of the Jewish Bayreuth Citizens 1759-1945 — Hübschmann has been pursuing another central research interest, namely, Research on the Franconian Jewish History in the Late Modern Period. Key topics are emancipation in the early 19th century, emigration, National Socialist persecution of Jews, deportation, commemoration of victims, restitution & compensation and family history.

In June 2007, Hübschmann started his own freelancing business as a researcher in the fields of genealogy, family history, and transliteration of texts in old German script (Kurrent). Since then, he has carried out numerous genealogical and historical projects mainly in Germany, as well as in Poland and Bohemia. From 2008 onwards he has conducted conference and research trips to the USA, Poland, France and Israel. Since 2012 he lectures at conferences of the International Association of Jewish Genealogical Societies. He also is a member of the International German Genealogy Partnership.

As in his doctoral thesis, Hübschmann is also guided in the research projects by the conviction that man must be the centre of all considerations and descriptions. Thus, he regards genealogical research in order to gather biographical data essential, but family history goes beyond that. It is most important to find out and to describe as much as possible about the life of individuals.

Bibliography (selection)

 * 1997, Archiverfahrungen am Beispiel: Unternehmen jüdischer Bürger in Bayreuth. (Archive Experiences–the Example of Companies of Jewish Citizens in Bayreuth) Geschichte quer 5:43-46.
 * 2003, The Deportation from Nuremberg on 29 November 1941. In: Wolfgang Scheffler and Diana Schulle (comps.). Book of Remembrance. The German, Austrian and Czechoslovakian Jews deported to the Baltic States. Edited by ”Volksbund Deutsche Kriegsgräberfürsorge e.V.” and ”Riga-Komitee der deutschen Städte” in cooperation with the ”Stiftung Neue Synagoge Berlin – Centrum Judaicum” and the memorial ”Haus der Wannsee-Konferenz”. 2 vols. München, 541-44.
 * 2004, Handweber im 20. Jahrhundert - Von der Arbeit und der mundartlichen Fachsprache der Handweber in NO-Oberfranken, West-Böhmen und im Sächs. Vogtland (Handweavers in the 20th Century. About the Work and the Dialectical Technical Language of the Handweavers in North East Upper Franconia, Western Bohemia and the Saxonian Vogtland), PhD thesis, University of Bayreuth (online)
 * 2004, Die Deportation von Juden aus Franken nach Riga (The Deportation of Jews from Franconia to Riga) Frankenland – Zeitschrift für fränkische Landeskunde und Kulturpflege 56, 344-369.
 * 2005, Das Archiv der Israelitischen Kultusgemeinde Bayreuth 1759–1938 aus den Central Archives for the History of the Jewish People in Jerusalem (The Archive of the Jewish Religious Community Bayreuth 1759–1938 from the Central Archives for the History of the Jewish People in Jerusalem) Edited by Geschichtswerkstatt Bayreuth e.V.
 * 2006, Das KZ-Außenlager Helmbrechts und der Todesmarsch nach Wallern und Prachatitz. Ein nichtalltägliches Beispiel von Forschung und Gedenkarbeit (The Concentration Camp Helmbrechts and the Death March to Wallern and Prachatice. A Non-Everyday Example of Research and Commemorative Work) Geschichte quer 13, 35–39.
 * 2006, Die Gedenk- und Erinnerungsstätte “Langer Gang” in Schwarzenbach/Saale (The Memorial and Remembrance Site ”Langer Gang” in Schwarzenbach on Saale) Geschichte quer 13, 63–64.
 * 2009, Integration versus Assimilation. Zur Geschichte der Juden in Bayern (Integration versus Assimilation. On the History of the Jews in Bavaria) Geschichte quer 14, 2–5.
 * 2014, Restitution and Compensation Files and their Genealogical Significance. Avotaynu, The International Review of Jewish Genealogy, Volume XXX, Number 1, Spring 2014, 45-53.
 * 2016, From Germany to North America in the 19th Century: The Bavarian Example. Avotaynu, The International Review of Jewish Genealogy, Volume XXXII, Number 2, Summer 2016, 25-32.

Lectures (selection)

 * »Evakuiert nach dem Osten« – Die acht Deportationen jüdischer Bürger aus Franken (”Evacuated to the east”—the Eight Deportations of Jewish Citizens from Franconia) presented at Dokumentationszentrum Reichsparteitagsgelände (Documentation Center Nazi Party Rally Grounds) Nuremberg on 29 Jun 2010.
 * The Emigration from Franconia to the Free States of North America in the 19th Century. Indianapolis, USA, 08 Sep 2011, Max Kade Center for German-American Studies in collaboration with the Indiana University – Purdue University Indianapolis.
 * Jüdische Bürger der Stadt Selb vor und während der NS-Zeit. (Jewish Citizens of the City of Selb before and during the Nazi period) Selb, Rosenthal-Theater, 04 Feb 2012 as part of the Vishay Intertechnology, Inc. anniversary 50 Years in Germany and 25 Years in Selb.
 * The Genealogical Significance of Old Photos and Postcards (L’importance généalogique des vieilles photos et des cartes postales) Paris, 32nd IAJGS International Conference on Jewish Genealogy, 18 Jul 2012.
 * Restitution and Compensation Files and their Genealogical Significance, Boston, 33rd IAJGS International Conference on Jewish Genealogy, 8 Aug 2013.
 * From Germany to North America in the 19th Century – The Bavarian Example. Salt Lake City, 34th IAJGS International Conference on Jewish Genealogy, 31 Jul 2014.
 * World War I: Photos, Field Post, War Diaries, Military Records in Archives. Jerusalem, 35th IAJGS International Conference on Jewish Genealogy, 06 Jul 2015.
 * Life Under the Restrictive Laws for Jews in 19th Century Germany. Jerusalem, 35th IAJGS International Conference on Jewish Genealogy, 07 Jul 2015.
 * Buried Treasures: Hardly Known Files of Genealogical Significance in German Archives – 19th Century. Seattle, 36th IAJGS International Conference on Jewish Genealogy, 10 Aug 2016.

Projects

 * 1990 (ongoing) Die jüdischen Bayreuther 1759-1945 (The Jews of Bayreuth 1759-1945).
 * 1999 (ongoing) Ottemberg-Isaak-Fleischmann, die Familiengeschichte und Genealogie einer jüdischen Familie aus Oberfranken im 19. und 20. Jahrhundert (Ottemberg-Isaac-Fleischmann, the Family History and Genealogy of a Jewish Family from Upper Franconia in the 19th and 20th Century) (long-term project)
 * 2000-2006 Mikroverfilmung und Digitalisierung des Archivs der früheren Israelitischen Kultusgemeinde Bayreuth 1787–1938 (Microfilming and Digitisation of the Archive of the Former Jewish Religious Community of Bayreuth 1787-1938). Participation as head of the project of the Geschichtswerkstatt Bayreuth e.V. (Historical Workshop Bayreuth)
 * 2001–2003 Denk-Steine zum Gedenken an die jüdischen Bayreuther, die Opfer des Nationalsozialismus wurden (Memorial Stones to Commemorate the Jews of Bayreuth who became victims of Nazism). Participation of students of all five Bayreuth High Schools, the Municipal Business School and members of the 2nd Battalion of the Air Force Training Regiment 3 of the Bundeswehr in Bayreuth. Participation as a major contributor to the project of the Geschichtswerkstatt Bayreuth e.V. (Historical Workshop Bayreuth)
 * September 2003 Geste der Erinnerung (Gesture of Remembrance). Invitation project for former Jews of Bayreuth from Great Britain, Canada, Israel and the USA. Participation as a major contributor to the project of the Geschichtswerkstatt Bayreuth e.V. (Historical Workshop Bayreuth) on the occasion of the official handover of the exhibition and the Memoria Stones to the City of Bayreuth on 15 Sep 2003
 * February 2005 Initiation of the Arbeitsgemeinschaft fränkisch-jüdische Geschichte (AGfjG) (Work Study Association Franconian Jewish History), a loose association of private researchers who have been engaged with the Jewish history of their city or their region for years. The aim of the working group was to prepare the Project for the Study of the Deportations of Jews from Franconia 1941-1944
 * May 2007 to June 2010 research project Die jüdischen Ansbachern der 1930er Jahre (The Jews of Ansbach in the 1930s) promoted by private sources for the impetus of a broader project of the same subject.
 * September 2009 to January 2010 contract for research on The Jewish Holocaust Victims of the City of Selb. On behalf of the City of Selb the Jewish Holocaust victims were determined and their lives and forms of persecution were researched. The results were published in two public lectures.
 * Since November 2014 research and publication contract The Jews of Hof on Saale 1933 – 1945 financed by the Hermann and Bertl Müller Foundation on behalf of the Nordoberfränkischen Verein für Natur-, Geschichts- und Landeskunde e.V. (Northern Upper Franconian Association for Natural, Historical and Regional Studies). The aim is the documentation of the fates under the Nazi persecution of the Jews.