Jewish Salonières

Anna Dorthea Therbusch, German, 1721-1782.

Henriette Herz as Hebe, 1778.

Oil on canvas, 29 1/2 x 23 1/2 in.

Nationalgalerie, Staatliche

Museen zu Berlin- Preussischer Kulturbesitz

Moritz Daniel Oppenheim, German 1800-1882.

Portrait of Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel, 1842.

Oil on panel, 16 1/2 x 12 1/4 in.

Collection of Daniel M. Friedenberg, New York.

Johann Karl Kretschmar, German 1769- 1847.

Portrait of Amalie Beer, c. 1803.

Oil on canvas, 38 1/4 x 28 in.

Stiftung Stadtmuseum Berlin,

Hans-und-Luise-Richter-Stiftung

Salons of Jewish women appeared in Berlin during the 1780s. One result of salons was the dissemination of the concepts of the Enlightenment. Jewish saloniers contributed to the acculturation and modernization of German and other European Jews. Mixing education and dialogue with "social networking," salons included musical, literary, artistic, social, political and a philanthropic forum between Jews and non-Jews. Salonières were like "female powerbroakers." However, power, assimilation or conversion did not protect them from pariah status.

Suggested Reading:

Bilski, Emily D. and Emily Braun. Jewish Women and Their Salon: The Power of Conversation. The Jewish Museum, New York. United States: Yale University Press, 2005.