RUEHS, CHRISTIAN FRIEDRICH°

RUEHS, CHRISTIAN FRIEDRICH° (1781–1820), nationalist professor of history and Scandinavian studies in Berlin. After the Congress of vienna , he opposed Jewish emancipation in a pamphlet entitled Ueber die Ansprueche der Juden an das deutsche Buergerrecht, which was answered by michael hess , saul ascher , and others. In this work, Ruehs maintains that Jewry already constitutes a nation complete with laws and aristocracy (rabbis) and therefore cannot be granted citizenship in a Christian state. An unbridgeable gap exists between Germans and Jews, stemming from their inherently opposing natures. Jews may be tolerated only as a subject nation and the medieval restrictions must be reapplied. The basic characteristics of Judaism being arrogance, authoritarianism, and abhorrence of work, only full conversion makes a Jew fit for equality. While Ruehs believed himself to be objective and free of prejudice, he took pride in never having had any social contact whatsoever with Jews. J.F. Fries published a favorable review of his work. -ADD. BIBLIOGRAPHY: G. Hubmann, "Voelkischer Nationalismus und Antisemitismus im frühen 19. Jahrhundert. Die Schriften von Ruehs und Fries zur Judenfrage," in: R. Heuer and R.-R. Wuthenow (eds.), Antisemitismus, Zionismus, Antizionismus 1850–1940, (1997), 10–34; E. Sterling, Judenhaß. Die Anfänge des politischen Antisemitismus in Deutschland 1815–1850 (1969); J. Katz, From Prejudice to Destruction. Anti-Semitism 1700–1933 (1980).