Simon Paulus, PD Dr.-Ing. habil.
Associate Professor, University of Stuttgart
Senior Scientist at the Leibniz University Hannover
Co-leader of the “Arbeitsgruppe Mittelalter im Netzwerk Jüdisches Kulturerbe”
(English/Deutsch)

Current projects:
Continue reading Meet the Board“As an architectural historian, I would like to bring interdisciplinary methodological approaches of history, archaeology, building history, history of technology and art history to Jewish Studies. Currently, I am dealing with research questions that have arisen from my dissertation work on medieval synagogue buildings in the Ashkenazic region (including northern France and England), which I completed in 2005. The focus is on topographical and infrastructural aspects of Jewish residential areas in the built space of the medieval city and its modes of perception (including sound history research). In recent years, new findings have significantly expanded our knowledge of such Jewish residential areas and their urban infrastructure. In comparison with the archival sources, the architectural archaeological insights into Jewish life in this era not only provide new information, but also raise new questions concerning a whole range of different aspects of Jewish and Christian coexistence: How was everyday religious life outside of ritual institutions such as the synagogue or the mikvah reflected in the internal structure of the Jewish quarter and its residential buildings? Can possible distinguishing characteristics be identified that indicate a specifically Jewish use? What forms of adaptation or modification of certain building types can be identified on the basis of the findings and sources?