I posted this before I am sure but I just got the page up for this medal so I thought I would show it...it take me much too long to get these pages up BRONZE MEDAL / FRANKFURT / 1904 Bronze Medal Commemorating 100 Years Since the Founding of the Philanthropin Jewish School in Frankfurt am Main in 1804 Obverse: Depicting a man working in the fields planting seeds with the city of Frankfurt in the background / "The youth is the time of the seed" Reverse: Depicting wheat bundles with a beehive separating the dates / "Century Celebration of the Philanthropins" / "For Enlightenment and Humanity" - School Motto The Philanthropin was a school for poor Jewish children in the city of Frankfurt's Judengasse, the oldest Jewish Ghetto in Germany. It was founded by Mayer Amschel Rothschild, with his head clerk and bookkeeper Sigmund Geisenheimer, in 1804. Rothschild was born in the Judengasse as one of eight children. He went on to become the founder of the most successful, powerful, and influential business and banking dynasty in history. This medal was issued to celebrate the schools 100th year. The Nazi party seized power in 1933 and in 1938 the Ministry for Science and Education revoked its status as a public school. By 1941 most of the students and teachers had been deported to concentration camps and murdered. Since the end of World War II it has served a variety of purposes (clinic, community center, etc.) until it was again made a Jewish school. It was renamed the I.E. Lichtigfeld School after Rabbi and teacher Isaac Emil Lichtigfeld. Detail Mayer Amschel Rothschild Three different views of the Judengasse (Jews Ally or Lane) Ghetto in Frankfurt The Philanthropin Today http://www.cachecoins.org/philanthropins.htm
Great medal and interesting, albeit tragic, history. Fascinating to see how times change, though, and in this case, with a happy ending.
Nice Medal...A real piece of history. I wonder how many of these had survived Nazi brutality. Must be very rare.
I have yet to find another one, I am sure there are others out there but I couldnt find a similar example.
Interesting medal! By the way, the prominent building in that city view is the cathedral in Frankfurt. While the very first location of that school was indeed what used to be the Jewish ghetto (Frankfurt was one of the last cities that had one), it was founded in pretty much the opposite spirit - Jewish emancipation, French revolution and enlightenment, hence that motto. In 1805 it already moved to a different location, outside the former ghetto, and also had non-Jewish students. The nazi terror made an end to all of that. Nowadays there are about 100 Jewish communities (synagogues) in Germany, with a total of about 100,000 members. The Jewish Community in Frankfurt was founded again in the late 1940s but did not have its own school until the mid-1960s. Then, in 2005/2006, that school moved into the old Jewish school building. Just a few days ago, by the way, the Philanthropin (ie. the present building) had its centennial. Note by the way that a "Philantropin" is not necessarily a Jewish school but a name for some reform schools. The first Philanthropinum was founded (and still exists) in Dessau. Christian
