Academic education
2007-2011
Bachelor of Arts in Jewish Studies and Art History (second subject), University of Cologne.
2011-2015
Master of Arts in Jewish Studies and Art History (second subject), University of Cologne.
2017-2024
Doctorate (magna cum laude), Institute for Jewish Studies, University of Münster.
Dissertation: "Joel ben Simeon: A Jewish scribe and artist as a contemporary witness to the development of book printing". Supervision: Prof. Dr. Katrin Kogman-Appel (University of Münster) and Prof. Dr. Emile G. L. Schrijver (University of Amsterdam). The thesis was written as part of the research project "From Manuscript Culture to Book Printing: The Illustrated Book in Jewish Culture of the 14th-16th Century" (2016-2020) at the Cluster of Excellence "Religion and Politics", University of Münster, led by Prof. Dr. Katrin Kogman-Appel.
Main research interests
Jewish book history, illuminated manuscripts of the Middle Ages and early modern period.
Scholarships
2020-2021
PhD scholarship of the Rothschild Foundation Hanadiv Europe, London.
Academic activities
Summer semester 2015 & winter semester 2015/16
Lecturer, Martin Buber Institute for Jewish Studies, University of Cologne.
2017-2020
Research Associate, Institute for Jewish Studies, University of Münster.
Since 2025
Research Associate, Retro Cataloging Project, Martin Buber Institute for Jewish Studies,
University of Cologne.
Lectures (selection)
Publications
Forthcoming
"Hebrew Manuscript Illumination in the Age of Print", in Handbook of Visual Culture in
Premodern Jewish Societies, ed. by Katrin Kogman-Appel and Steve Fine (Leiden: Brill).
2025
"Die Darstellung der Juden in den Gewölbemalereien der Kirche St. Maria Lyskirchen in Köln:
Eine kunsthistorische Betrachtung", lecture as part of the series Stadt-Punkte: Narrative
or discriminatory? Depictions of Jews in Cologne churches before and after the expulsion
of the Jewish community in 1424, Domforum Köln.
2024
"I am the scribe Joel bar Simeon (...) from the city of Cologne on the Rhine", International
Conference Up ewige Tzyden / For all eternity (November 3-5, 2024), Cologne.
2024
"Changes in Bookmaking: Joel ben Simeon's Manuscripts in the Tradition from Customized to
'Mass' Production", in Premodern Jewish Books and Readers in an Era of Media Change, ed.
by Katrin Kogman-Appel and Ilona Steimann (Turnhout: Brepols), pp. 19-47.
2023
"Manuscript Production: Jewish-Christian Interaction in Northern Italy in the Early Modern
Period", International Conference Jews, Christians, and Crafts in Pre-Modern Towns,
University of Cologne.
2020
"Joel ben Simeon und seine Handschriften: Eine Schicksals- und Migrationsgeschichte", in
Wandernde Objekte des Jüdischen (Jüdisches Kulturerbe, Vol. 3), ed. by Katrin Keßler et al.
(Braunschweig: Selbstverlag, 2022), pp. 49-65.
2019
"Changes in Bookmaking: Joel ben Simeon's Manuscripts in Transition between Tailor-Made
and Large-Scale Production", International Conference The Jewish Book 1400-1600: From
Production to Reception, University of Münster.
2018
"Joel ben Simeon - ein jüdischer Schreiber und Maler als Zeitzeuge der Entwicklung des
Buchdrucks", conference on book history and Jewish history in the early modern period,
Akademie der Diözese Rottenburg-Stuttgart.