It is a special occasion when a doctoral thesis is "defended" in front of the university public in a so-called disputation at the University of Music Würzburg. This is what happened in April: school music graduate Rudolf W. Haidu presents his dissertation in the subject of music education on the topic: "Jewish music education in 19th century Prussia. Singing lessons at Jewish reform schools as a facet of bourgeois acculturation". In his interdisciplinary research work, Haidu examined Jewish reform schools that were located in Prussia or its area of influence at the beginning of the 19th century. The focus of the research was primarily on singing lessons, their introduction and implementation, the reconstruction of singing lessons there in relation to the teaching staff and the content taught. Furthermore, the work, which is highly relevant in the field of historical music education and beyond, focused on the philosophical, political and pedagogical currents of its time that were significant for the Jewish middle classes. This field of research has not only been neglected in German-Jewish educational research. This work on music education offers valuable starting points, particularly with regard to 19th-century music education, which has so far been viewed from a purely Christian perspective. The supervising reviewers Prof. Dr. Gerhard Sammer and Univ. Prof. Dr. Bernd Clausen (Siegen) were able to award this outstanding work the top grade of "summa cum laude".

Congratulations to the doctoral candidate Rudolf W. Haidu for this special achievement!