Ephraim Veitel Stiftung

The Ephraim Veitel Stiftung is a charitable foundation based in Berlin and widely regarded as the oldest Jewish foundation in Germany. It was established through the will of the Prussian-Jewish court jeweler Ephraim Veitel Ephraim, dated 6 February 1799, and became legally effective in 1803 after his death. The foundation's original capital was fixed at exactly "33,333 Reichsthaler and 8 Groschen Preußisch Courant," and its statutes stipulated that five-sixths of the annual income should serve Jewish purposes while the remaining sixth was reserved for the care of poor and sick members of the "ruling nation." The foundation's assets were not to be diminished, although this principle could not be maintained, particularly as a result of the Second World War. Ephraim Veitel Ephraim (1729–1803) was a son of Veitel Heine Ephraim, one of the so-called court Jews who served Frederick the Great as court factors, mint entrepreneurs, bankers and industrialists. The family operated a gold and silver manufactory, extensive silk production and trade, and owned numerous properties, including the Rococo Ephraim-Palais in Berlin-Mitte, built between 1762 and 1769. In his will, Ephraim Veitel Ephraim followed a kabbalistic guideline in setting aside his endowment for charitable purposes. The foundation initially supported the Veitel Heine Ephraimsche Lehranstalt, an educational institution founded by his father, financing teaching staff and its library, and also made payments to physicians at the Jewish Hospital in Berlin. The foundation's history has been turbulent. From 1934, under National Socialist persecution, it was "Aryanized," forced to drop the name of its Jewish founder, and continued as the "Stiftung von 1803," described as a no-longer-Jewish foundation. After the Second World War, which brought substantial capital losses, efforts at "re-Judaization" and restoration of the original legal status were blocked, largely due to chairman Ralf Lohan, who served from 1936 until his death in 2000 and moved the foundation's seat from Berlin to Bonn. Only after Lohan's death, and with new historical research, was the foundation able to return to its original identity. Under chairman Karl Erich Grözinger, appointed in 2007, the foundation researched its own history intensively, and in 2018 it relocated from its Bonn "exile" back to Berlin, taking up offices in the rebuilt Ephraim-Palais in the Nikolaiviertel. Today the Ephraim Veitel Stiftung focuses on researching and documenting its own complex history and works publicly in the fields of science and education. It organizes its own event series, most prominently the Ephraim-Veitel-Soirées, which combine lectures, music and conversation on topics of German-Jewish history from the 18th to the 20th century. Recent soirées have addressed subjects such as Jewish historians of German history in 19th-century Berlin, Jewish physicians as pioneers of medicine, Jewish portraits at the end of the 18th century, and Jewish literature in Berlin after 1933. The foundation also publishes books, including a 2023 volume on the Prussian court jeweler family Ephraim. Where its funds permit, it continues to support charitable causes in the spirit of its founder.

The Ephraim Veitel Stiftung traces its origins to the will of Ephraim Veitel Ephraim, dated 6 February 1799. Ephraim Veitel Ephraim (born 8 October 1729 in Berlin) was the second child of Veitel Heine Ephraim (1703–1775) and Elke Fraenkel (1703–c. 1769). His father was one of the so-called court Jews who served Frederick the Great as court factors, mint lessees, bankers and industrialists. Ephraim Veitel and his three brothers Joseph, Zacharias and Benjamin received both a traditional Jewish education and a modern secular education. After their father's death, the brothers took over his businesses, and Ephraim Veitel became a prominent representative of the Jewish court factors who, as court jewelers, mint entrepreneurs and bankers at the Prussian court in Berlin, were substantially responsible for financing the state under Frederick the Great and his successor Frederick William II. In 1782, Prince Frederick William II granted Ephraim Veitel the official title "Wirklicher Hof-, Krieges- und Cammer-Agent," and after his accession to the throne the title "Hofjuwelier und Hofagent." The family also operated a gold and silver manufactory and extensive silk production and trade, and owned several houses and large gardens, including the Ephraim-Palais built between 1762 and 1769 on the edge of the Nikolaiviertel in Berlin-Mitte. The magnificent Rococo palace served the family as a residence and business premises until 1823. It was demolished in 1935 during an expansion of the Mühlendamm and rebuilt between 1985 and 1987 by the GDR on the occasion of Berlin's 750th anniversary and the reconstruction of the entire Nikolaiviertel, using original facade parts. Today it is used for thematic exhibitions and belongs to the Stiftung Stadtmuseum Berlin; the Ephraim Veitel Stiftung has had an office there since 2018. In his will of 1799, Ephraim Veitel Ephraim, following a kabbalistic guideline, designated exactly "33,333 Reichsthaler and 8 Groschen Preußisch Courant" for a charitable foundation. Five-sixths of the annual capital income were to serve Jewish purposes and the last sixth the "care of poor old and sick people of the ruling nation." Three executors were provided for, two from the Jewish and one from the "ruling" nation. The will emphasized that the foundation's assets must not be diminished, although this was not achieved, especially as a result of the Second World War. The foundation deed regulated the use of the capital income in detail: after deducting administrative costs, the amount to be paid out was divided into three parts. One third was intended to support the study of Holy Scripture and the Talmud, especially at the Veitel Heine Ephraimsche Lehranstalt founded by Ephraim's father, for teaching staff and pupils, in order to instruct them in sciences "useful" for Talmud study. The second third of the income was for the care of sick, poor old people from the Jewish community. The foundation became effective in 1803 under the name "Ephraim Veitel('sche) Stiftung." At the beginning it stood entirely in the family tradition and substantially financed the teaching staff and library of the Veitel Heine Ephraimsche Lehranstalt (Bet Ha-Midrasch) and paid amounts to physicians of the Jewish Hospital in Berlin. From 1934, in the course of National Socialist disenfranchisement, the foundation was "Aryanized" and had to drop the name of its Jewish founder. It was then continued under the designation "Stiftung von 1803" as a "no longer Jewish" foundation. After the Second World War, which also brought high capital losses, a "re-Judaization" and thus the restoration of the original legal status was prevented despite the emphatic demand of Allied and Berlin authorities. Responsible in this period was the chairman Ralf Lohan, who served from 1936 until his death in 2000 and who also moved the foundation's seat from Berlin to Bonn. The return to the original status as a Jewish foundation under the name of its founder succeeded only after the death of the "permanent chairman" Lohan. More recent historical research on the foundation contributed to this. This was pursued with emphasis from 2007 by the new chairman Karl Erich Grözinger and on the basis of his research into the foundation's history. The efforts finally led in 2018 to the return from the Bonn "exile" to Berlin, into the former family home of the Ephraim family, the rebuilt Ephraim-Palais in the Nikolaiviertel of Berlin-Mitte. The return and new beginning of the foundation's activity in Berlin are also owed to the joint effort of the new board, which now also included Ms. Lala Süsskind (2016–2024) and Ms. Beatrice Magnus-Wiebel (since 2017), and the director of the Stiftung Stadtmuseum Berlin, Paul Spies, and his (then) colleague Ms. Nele Güntheroth. Today the Ephraim Veitel Stiftung primarily researches and documents its own eventful and complex history and works publicly in the field of science and education, organizing its own events. Where the foundation's funds permit, it supports charitable causes. Its event series, the Ephraim-Veitel-Soirées, has addressed topics such as Jewish historians of German history in 19th-century Berlin, Jewish physicians as pioneers of medicine, Jewish portraits at the end of the 18th century, and Jewish literature in Berlin after 1933. The foundation also publishes books, including a 2023 volume on the Prussian court jeweler family Ephraim.

• 2025

  14th Ephraim-Veitel-Soirée on 18 June launches the 2025–2029 event series.

• 2024

  11th Ephraim-Veitel-Soirée held on 25 June.

• 2023

  Foundation publishes book on the Prussian court jeweler family Ephraim.

• 2018

  Foundation returns from Bonn to Berlin, taking up offices in the rebuilt Ephraim-Palais.

• 2017

  Beatrice Magnus-Wiebel joins the board.

• 2016

  Lala Süsskind joins the board (until 2024).

• 2007

  Karl Erich Grözinger becomes chairman and intensifies research into the foundation's history.

• 2000

  Death of chairman Ralf Lohan, opening the way for the foundation's re-Judaization.

• 1985

  Reconstruction of the Ephraim-Palais begins (completed 1987) for Berlin's 750th anniversary.

• 1936

  Ralf Lohan becomes chairman, serving until 2000.

• 1935

  Ephraim-Palais demolished during expansion of the Mühlendamm.

• 1934

  Foundation is 'Aryanized' and forced to drop the founder's name; continued as 'Stiftung von 1803'.

• 1823

  The Ephraim-Palais ceases to serve as the family's residence and business premises.

• 1803

  Foundation becomes effective as 'Ephraim Veitel('sche) Stiftung' after the founder's death.

• 1799

  Will of Ephraim Veitel Ephraim dated 6 February endows the foundation with 33,333 Reichsthaler and 8 Groschen.

• 1782

  Ephraim Veitel Ephraim receives the title 'Wirklicher Hof-, Krieges- und Cammer-Agent'.

• 1762

  Construction of the Ephraim-Palais begins (completed 1769).

• 1729

  Ephraim Veitel Ephraim born in Berlin on 8 October.

A historic Jewish charitable foundation dedicated to preserving and researching German-Jewish history, operating public educational and cultural programs from its home in Berlin's Ephraim-Palais.

• Ephraim-Veitel-Soirée event series

  Regular soirées with lectures, music and conversation on German-Jewish history from the 18th to the 20th century.

• Book: 'Die preußische Hofjuweliersfamilie Ephraim' (2023)

  A publication on the history and stories of the Jewish Berlin of the 18th–20th centuries, edited by the foundation.

• Book: 'Die Stiftungen der preußisch-jüdischen Hofjuweliersfamilie Ephraim und ihre Spuren in der Gegenwart'

  A foundation-supported book documenting the history of the Ephraim family's foundations.

1. 1Ephraim Veitel Stiftung – official websiteephraim-veitel-stiftung.de
2. 2Stiftungsgeschichte – Ephraim Veitel Stiftungephraim-veitel-stiftung.de
3. 3Der Stifter – Ephraim Veitel Stiftungephraim-veitel-stiftung.de
4. 4»Berlin im 19. Jh.: Eine Stätte jüdischer Historiker deutscher Geschichte« – Ephraim Veitel Stiftungephraim-veitel-stiftung.de
5. 5Ephraim Veitel Stiftung – Wikidatawikidata.org
6. 6Ephraim Veitel Stiftung – Wikipedia (German)de.wikipedia.org