GLUCKEL OF HAMELN was a memoirist, chronicler of life in central Europe.
Background
Born in Hamburg, Germany, she moved with her family to nearby Altona, then under Danish rule, when she was two years old and the Jews were expelled from Hamburg. Some ten years later, when Altona was overrun by Swedes, Gluckel’s father was the first Jew permitted resettlement in Hamburg.
Career
“In my great grief and for my heart’s ease, I begin this book the year of Creation 5451 [1690— 1691] — God soon rejoice and send us His redee¬mer!” is how Gliickel opens her memoirs. She explicitly states two reasons for writing: “I began writing it, dear children, upon the death of your good father, in the hope of distracting my soul from the burdens laid upon it,” and goes on to define her deep sense of loss and resultant insomnia.
Later, in spelling out details of her early childhood, she adds, “I am writing down these many details, dear children mine, so you may know from what sort of people you have sprung.” She denies any intention of moralizing for her children, but in fact cannot resist a good allegory or edifying tale, whether from contemporary, classical Greek, or Talmudic sources.
The value of her work lies in the picture of Jewish life three hundred years ago evoked by this witness of no mean descriptive skill. One of Gluck- el’s earliest memories is of the survivors of the 1648-1649 Chmielnicki massacres who sought retuge in her father’s house. She records memories of life in a town where Jews have “no right of residence,” of the gates of the Jewish section, of the dangers of travel between communities and of the dread of plague. Shabbetai Tzevi was no remote figure to her — he was the precursor of the Messiah whose call her in-laws awaited momentarily. They had their belongings packed in barrels, ready for the voyage to the Holy Land.
On positive features of her childhood, Gluckel asserts, “My father gave his children, girls and boys, a secular as well as a religious education.” Indeed, Gliickel’s descriptions call into question the assumption of the inferior status of traditional Jewish women of the past. An assertive woman herself, she shared fully in her husband’s business enterprises, which were significant. Thus she obtained the background and confidence to manage on her own business after his death.
Marrying her children off well was the focus of her life. The intricacies of finding and securing the right match for each of them required all her care. Supporting the young couple in the earliest stages of their marriage added to the economic burdens she assumed with barely a complaint.
When it came to a second marriage for herself, however, she was less successful. The last two segments of the memoirs were penned after the bankruptcy and subsequent death of her second husband, with whom she had experienced a not so benign relationship.
Gliickel’s memoirs were passed down through the generations of her family. On the basis of acopy of her manuscript prepared by her son, Rabbi Moses Hameln of Baiersdorf, the memoirs were first published in their original Judeo-German in 1896.
Before I was twelve years old I was betrothed and the betrothal lasted two years. My wedding was celebrated in Hameln. My parents, accompanied by a party of twenty people, drove there with me. When we reached Hanover we wrote to Hameln for carriages to be sent to us. My mother imagined it to be a town like Hamburg and that, at the very least, a carriage would be sent for the bride and her parents. On the third day three or four farm wagons arrived, driven by such old horses that looked as if they themselves should have been given a lift in the wagons. My mother was greatly offended but as she could not change it, entrusting ourselves to the God of Israel, we seated ourselves in the carts and arrived in Hameln....
About the time we came to Hamburg, I became pregnant, and my mother was in the same condition. I was happy when the All Highest presented me with a beautiful healthy baby. My mother expected her child about the same time but was pleased that I had had mine first and that she could attend me and the child the first few days. Eight days later she also gave birth to a daughter so there was no envy or reproach between us. We lay in one room, beside each other, and had no peace from people who came running to see the wonder of mother and daughter lying in childbed together.
Connections
Gliickel celebrated her engagement to Chayim Hamcln, whom she had never met, at the age of twelve. She married him at the age of fourteen — and the union was apparently a highly successful one. When, after thirty years and twelve children, her husband died, she wrote: “I truly believe I shall never cease from mourning my dear friend.”