Leopold Zunz was the founder of academic Judaic Studies, the critical investigation of Jewish literature, hymnology and ritual. Zunz's historical investigations and contemporary writings had an important influence on contemporary Judaism.
Portrait by Moritz Daniel Oppenheim
Leopold Zunz on his 90th birthday, 10 August 1884
First edition of Namen der Juden, 1837, in the collection of the Jewish Museum of Switzerland.
Wissenschaft des Judentums
"Wissenschaft des Judentums" refers to a nineteenth-century movement premised on the critical investigation of Jewish literature and culture, including rabbinic literature, to analyze the origins of Jewish traditions.
First edition from 1822
Leopold Zunz (1794–1886), a founder of the Verein für Wissenschaft des Judentums
Heinrich Graetz, (1817–1891): his magnum opus History of the Jews was written in the spirit of Wissenschaft des Judentums.