The Convert's Identity: A German Prayer Book Written in Hebrew Letters (2009)

Undergraduate: Joseph Meeks

Faculty Advisor: Ruth Von Bernuth
Department: Germanic Languages

---

Niklaus Bauman, a tradesman in 16th century Augsburg, created a book of Christian prayers, written in German but in Hebrew script. This book is a window into the life of a Jew in German Christian society, in which religion was inseparable from one’s broader life. The relationship between these two cultures sets the stage for an interesting occurrence: a Jew forsaking his religion in order to join the Christian faith. The identity of a convert is an intriguing mixture of the old and the new, with elements of one’s new religion interweaved with the heritage of one’s former culture. By investigating this example of convert literature, we can explore what it meant to be a Jew in 16th century Germany; how the author’s Jewish heritage informs the work; and how these elements create an identity that is neither Jewish nor Christian, but something distinctly new.