Citizenship · Germany · 1871–1933
As equal citizenship advanced, antisemites changed the test of belonging from belief to supposedly fixed ancestry.
Explore GermanyPublished by WTJPublication updated
1871–1933
Citizenship · A right—and a challenge
As equal citizenship advanced, antisemites changed the test of belonging from belief to supposedly fixed ancestry.
The citizenship page
Jewish emancipation advanced unevenly across German territories: some reforms were reversed or never adopted. With unification in 1871, Jews gained equal citizenship. The law changed their status, but legal equality and everyday acceptance are different questions. Look for both when you move through time.
A new story of exclusion
In the late nineteenth century, racist politicians portrayed Jews as a separate, supposedly unchangeable race. That claim was false. It recast an older religious prejudice as a story about ancestry and national belonging, allowing exclusion to persist even when a person changed religion.
A voice in public life
Doctor and parliamentarian Emanuel Mendel helped found the Central Association of German Citizens of Jewish Faith in 1893. His preserved letters reveal a person with professional, political and communal commitments. Jewish citizens organized and participated in public life; their story cannot be reduced to the prejudices aimed at them.