Max-Samuel-Haus

Description

Since 1991 the Max-Samuel-Haus has served as the seat of the Stiftung Begegnungsstätte für jüdische Geschichte und Kultur in Rostock, functioning as a cultural meeting place in the Steintor quarter of Rostock. The villa at Schillerplatz 10 was built in 1912; in 1921 the house became the property of Max Samuel. It was damaged on the pogrom night of 9 November 1938. In 1939 the Kaiser-Wilhelm-Institut für Tierzuchtforschung Dummerstorf acquired the building, which after the Second World War was first used by the Kulturbund Rostock and later by municipal authorities. From 1955 to 1991 it served as a kindergarten. In August 1991 Herbert Samuel, son of Max Samuel, donated the restituted villa to the newly founded foundation.

The foundation emerged from initiatives at the end of the GDR and from an association founded in 1990; its purpose is the promotion of active tolerance in the coexistence of people of different religions, nationalities and worldviews. The house organises readings, exhibitions and concerts and houses a library of specialist literature on Jewish history and culture. The focus of its work is to communicate Jewish history in Rostock and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and to combat xenophobia and anti-Semitism through youth and educational programmes. In its early years the foundation in particular supported the reconstruction of the Jüdische Gemeinde Rostock and the maintenance of contacts with Jewish fellow citizens rooted in the city. The work is supported by the city of Rostock and the state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern; since 1993 a support association has accompanied the foundation. In memory of Herbert Samuel the foundation annually awards the Herbert-Samuel-Preis for special services to the promotion of active tolerance.