Joel Wolff Meyer

joel wolff meyer owned together with his uncle and brothers a silk factory which made him one of the richest jews in berlin at the time. he was appointed konsistorialrat to the prussian court (as were two of his brothers). he was a member of the verein fuer cultur und wissenschaft des judentums, and corresponded with its chairman leopold zunz. at the same time joel wolff meyer not only held excellent relations with the court, but fought for democratic rights for the jews. a speech held together with two friends after the dissolution of the frankfurt paliament in 1849 reveals his political line as a constitutional monarchist. joel wollf meyer was the chairman of the jewish community, and later on he became one of the initiators of the great synagogue in the oranienburgerstrasse in berlin. his son, siegmund joel meyer, would become later the chairman of the refom synagogue community at the oranienburgerstrasse. joel wolff meyer was a cousin of the kantian philosopher saul ascher, and of the composer giacomo meyerbeer. his villa in the tiergarten (where today the philharnoy of Berlin is situated) became famous because here one of his granddaughters, martha heymann, met the novelist robert musil, who in his early novel "the magic house" decribed the athmosphere at joel wolff meyer's villa. the novel became much more famous under the title "the seduction of the quite veronica". another granddaughter of joel wolff meyer, margarethe mauthner, has told the story of the villa in her memories: "the magic house".