View of the Philanthropin in Frankfurt am Main © Isaak Emil Lichtigfeld Schule im Philanthropin The Isaak Emil Lichtigfeld School is a state-recognised school with entry level classes, a primary school and a middle school. It is a Jewish school that has been open to all religious denominations and to people of all beliefs since its foundation in 1804. The school plays an active role in the trialogue between the cultures. We all also have a quality seal for the promotion of highly talented children and we are the most experienced school throughout the federal state of Hessen in this field. The school’s history reaches back to the times when Frankfurt has a Jewish quarter, the Judengasse, and was the first Jewish school to open again after the Shoah, in the year 1966.

In 1804, the Jewish “Philanthropin” School with primary and secondary levels was founded in Frankfurt’s Judengasse in the spirit of the Jewish Enlightenment. Christian children were also accepted very early on in the school history, with girls being allowed to attend at a later date. In its continued development, the school remained dedicated to this liberal tradition. The number of pupils rose and the school had to move repeatedly to larger premises, until it moved to Hebelstrasse in 1908, where the school is (once again) at home today.

When the Nazis seized power in January 1933, this soon affected the Philanthropin’s fate. Very soon afterwards, Jewish pupils were forbidden from attending state schools by the “Law against the Overfilling of German Schools and Universities”.  This and the increasing anti-Semitism saw the number of pupils almost double 1933 (376) to 1934 (701) – and non-Jewish teaching staff had to leave the school. While integration and assimilation into German society were important goals before 1933, from 1934 more focus was placed on strengthening Jewish identity. When all higher Jewish schools in the Reich were disbanded in 1941, the Philanthropin also ceased to exist (apart from the primary level), and former pupils and teachers were already being transported to the death camps. After the war, the Philantrhopin building was used by Jewish organisations from 1948 onwards and later by Frankfurt’s Jewish community for various purposes. In 1966, the Gemeindeschule, later to be called the Isaak Emil Lichtigfeld Schule, opened as the first Jewish school to do so after the Shoah.

In 2006, the school moved into the Philanthropin building in Hebelstrasse. Upon moving, the school became an all-day school serving lunch and providing afternoon care and homework assistance.
At the present time the school has an entry level (3 classes), a primary school (3 classes) and a middle school with the German G8 system up to year 9 (2 classes). In addition to the subjects from the Hessian curriculum, the school also teaches Modern Hebrew (Ivrit), Jewish Religion and Jewish History as additional classes.