Julius Katzenstein was born on October 6, 1890 in Bremen, the son of Manus Katzenstein and his wife Karoline Katzenstein née Aschenberg. He had a younger brother, Leopold. In 1911 he began studying law at the University of Munich, where he became a member of a student Zionist movement. He continued his legal studies at universties in Freiburg im Breisgau, Berlin, and Göttingen, with his first trip to Palestine taken during this time, in 1913. In 1916 he returned to Palestine with Ilse Mengers, who would later become his first wife. After completing his studies he worked as a lawyer in his hometown, Bremen. In 1919 his eldest son was born; a second would follow in 1921.
In addition to his legal work Julius Katzenstein also began to write under the name Josef Kastein. His first pieces were some poetry and the play Arbeiter, about Eastern European Jews, which was published in 1921. In 1922 his first novel Die Brücke was published. In 1926 he and his first wife separated, but he continued to write; in the following year he produced the novels Melchior and Pik Adam .
In 1928 Kastein gave up his legal career, left Bremen, and settled in Switzerland, first in Ascona and then later in Moscia, where he was a neighbor of the popular biographer Emil Ludwig. At this time he began to contribute to publications as well as continue to write longer works. In 1932 he resettled Palestine, first in Tel Aviv and then later in Haifa, where he would remain for the rest of his life. These years in Palestine proved to be his most prolific, and he produced a number of works during this time. To supplement his income Josef Kastein also gave lectures and taught Hebrew. It was also at this time that he met his second wife Shulamith Kastein, born as Margarethe Vogl.
Josef Kastein died in Haifa on June 13, 1946.
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1918:
Logos und Pan
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1921:
Arbeiter: eine dramatische Szene
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1922:
Die Brücke
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1927:
Melchior, ein hanseatischer Kaufmannsroman
Pik Adam
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1930:
Sabbatai Zwi: der Messias von Ismir
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1931:
Uriel da Costa: Tragödie der Gesinnung
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1931 -
1938
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Eine Geschichte der Juden
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1934:
Süsskind von Trimberg oder die Tragödie der Heimatlosigkeit
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1935:
Juden in Deutschland
Theodor Herzl, das Erlebnis des jüdischen Menschen
Jüdische Neuorientierung
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1936:
Das Geschichtserlebnis der Juden
Herodes, die Geschichte eines fremden Königs
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1937:
Jerusalem, die Geschichte eines Landes
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1938:
Jeremias, der Bericht von Schicksal einer Idee
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1942:
Eine pälastinenische Novelle
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1947:
Wege und Irrwege: drei Essays zur Kultur der Gegenwart
From the guide to the Josef Kastein and Shulamith Kastein Collection, 1935-1988, bulk 1935-1946, (Leo Baeck Institute)
