Geis, Robert Raphael

Robert Raphael Geis was born in Frankfurt am Main on July 4, 1906 to Moritz Geis and his wife Sittah née Stern, a well-to-do assimilated couple. He attended grammar school ( Gymnasium ) in Frankfurt am Main from 1916 to 1925. He became friends with the children of the liberal rabbi, Ceasar Seligmann, and visited his household. During his studies, Robert Raphael Geis joined the local Jewish youth socialist association.

After his graduation Robert Raphael Geis decided to continue his studies at the University of Berlin where he studied modern history, and at the Hochschule für die Wissenschaft des Judentums . This was against the will of his father who foresaw a career in banking for his son. He studied with Friedrich Meinecke at the University of Berlin, and attended the classes of Ismar Elbogen, Harry Torzcyner, and Julius Guttmann at the Hochschule . In 1926-1927 he studied at the University in Breslau (then Germany; now Wrocaw, Poland) with Johannes Ziekursch and at the Jüdisch-Theologisches Seminar . After Johannes Ziekursch left Breslau for the University of Cologne (Universität Köln), Robert Raphael Geis followed him and finished his studies completing his dissertation Der Sturz des Reichskanzlers Caprivi (The Fall of Chancellor Caprivi) in 1930. His rabbinic studies were concluded in 1932 by a rabbinical examination overseen by Ismar Elbogen, Leo Baeck, Julius Guttmann, Harry Torzyner, and Chanoch Albeck. The rabbinical ordination allowed Robert Raphael Geis to function as a rabbi and Religion teacher.

In 1932, Robert Raphael Geis received his first appointment as a youth rabbi ( Jugendrabbiner ) in Munich. He left his position two years later because of differences with the rather conservatively-inclined board of the local Jewish community and accepted the position of rabbi ( Stadtrabbiner ) in Mannheim. In 1935 he traveled to Palestine. In 1937, Robert Raphael Geis left his position in Mannheim and became a rabbi ( Land- und Gemeinderabbiner ) in Kassel. After Kristallnacht in 1938, Robert Raphael Geis was deported together with the other men of the Kassel community to the concentration camp Buchenwald. He was released one month later after showing his visa for Palestine. Robert Raphael Geis left Germany early in 1939 and after a short stay in Paris, where he visited his sister Ilse Feldmeier, he arrived in Haifa, Palestine.

His visit to Palestine in 1935 had already weakened his Zionistic sentiment. Robert Raphael Geis was troubled by the relations between the Jewish settlers and the Arab population. After his immigration to Palestine, Robert Raphael Geis had difficulties finding a position as a liberal rabbi. In 1943 he married Margarete Kitzinger, who, however, died only one month after the wedding. Starting in February 1944, Robert Raphael Geis worked as an editor and moderator for the Psychological Warfare Branch (Division) of the Allied Forces Supreme Headquarters in Jerusalem.

In February 1945, Robert Raphael Geis married Susanne Herzberg née Landshut and returned to Europe in 1946. After several months spent in London, England, Robert Raphael Geis accepted appointment as a teacher for the Jewish community in Zürich, Switzerland. He applied for several other rabbinical positions, among them were the Jewish communities in Bern, Switzerland; Luxemburg, Luxemburg; and Stockholm, Sweden, where he would succeed Marcus Ehrenpreis. In the end his colleague Kurt Wilhelm, was selected by a committee of which the professor of the Hebrew University Hugo Bergmann was a member. Robert Raphael Geis left Zürich in 1949 and became the rabbi for an émigré community in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. In 1952, Robert Raphael Geis finally returned to Germany as he had intended to do immediately after the end of the war, and became a rabbi of the Baden region ( Landesrabinner ) in Karlsruhe. In 1956, Robert Raphael Geis resigned from his rabbinical duties. He moved to Düsseldorf in 1959 and to Baden Baden in 1971.

In 1961, Robert Raphael Geis took part in the Congress of the German Evangelical Church and for some time became an active participant in its Arbeitsgemeinschaft "Juden und Christen" (Working Group "Jews and Christians").

Robert Raphael Geis lectured frequently at various assemblies, conferences, and schools. He often appeared in radio broadcasts where he discussed Jewish religious and cultural traditions. He only received a formal academic appointment late in his life, however, when he was named an honorary professor of Jewish studies at the Pädagogische Hochschule Duisburg in 1969 and at the Theologische Fakultät of the Universität Göttingen .

Robert Raphael Geis authored four books, besides his dissertation: Der Sturz des Reichskanzlers Caprivi . Berlin 1930: E. Ebering, 124 p. and Pesach Haggadah, he edited three anthologies of texts. His essays, sermons, and lectures about Jewish religion and culture were published in Gottes Minorität. Beiträge zur jüdischen Theologie und zur Geschichte der Juden in Deutschland . München 1971: Kösel-Verlag, 246 p.. Another is an anthology of texts of German Jewish writers about Jewish tradition, life, and religion: Vom unbekannten Judentum . Freiburg 1961: Herder, 235 p., among the authors can be found Leo Baeck, Stefan Zweig, Hermann Cohen, Eduard Strauss, and numerous texts are taken from the Bible translation of Martin Buber and Franz Rosenzweig. Together with Hans-Joachim Kraus, Robert Raphael Geis put together a collection of texts of Jewish and Christian thinkers on Christian and Jewish understanding in Germany Versuche des Verstehens. Dokumente jüdisch-christlicher Begegnung aus den Jahren 1918-1933 . Munich 1966: Kaiser, 306 p., which included texts by Leo Baeck, Martin Buber, Hermann Cohen, Franz Rosenzweig, Eduard Lamparter, Alfred Jeremias, and Gerhard Kittel. Robert Raphael Geis also contributed a short biographical essay on Leo Baeck to Männer des Glaubens im deutschen Widerstand . Munich 1959: Ner-Tamid-Verlag, 72 p. a collection of portraits put together by him and Oskar Hammelsbeck and Oskar Simmel. In 1954, the weekly Allgemeine Wochenzeitung der Juden in Deutschland published Robert Raphael Geis' Pessach-Haggadah .

The contributions of Robert Raphael Geis to the reconstruction of cultural life in Germany after the Second World War were recognized in 1970 when he was awarded the Buber-Rosenzweig Medal. He represented German Jews in the Deutsche UNESCO-Kommission (German UNESCO Commission), and sat on the programing council of the German broadcasting company Westdeutscher Rundfunk (WDR).

Robert Raphael Geis died in Baden Baden on May 18, 1972. He had two children, Jael (1948) and Gabriel (1950).

Source used: Geis, Robert Raphael: Leiden an der Unerlöstheit der Welt: Robert Raphael Geis, 1906-1972 : Briefe, Reden, Aufsätze . Dietrich Goldschmidt and Ingrid Ueberschär (eds.). Munich 1984: Chr. Kaiser, 399 p.

From the guide to the Robert Raphael Geis Collection, 1862-1997, bulk 1928-1972, (Leo Baeck Institute)