Actually, only one indication seems to connect the humanist Johannes Reuchlin with the city of Pforzheim.

All his life he bore the nickname "Phorcensis" ("coming from Pforzheim") and signed every letter with the supplement to his abbreviation.

Reuchlin, who campaigned for dealing with Jewish literature and thus helped shape the Reformation, was born in 1455 in the town on the northern edge of the Black Forest.

Writings, documents, books and personal belongings of the polymath have been preserved in Stuttgart and Tübingen, where he later worked as a journalist.

It was in these two cities in particular that he realized his main concern, to make the Latin, Greek and Hebrew religious texts accessible and to disseminate them through the printing press.

Little is known of the early phase of life in Pforzheim, and it seems

Pforzheim is to become a Reuchlin town again

Kevin Hanschke

volunteer.

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"That's deceptive," says Christoph Timm, who is organizing the Reuchlin commemoration this year.

The humanist died five hundred years ago, which is also a reason for Pforzheim to commemorate.

Timm wants to redefine Pforzheim as a Reuchlin city and “bring Reuchlin into urban society”, which is why he has developed a program with more than 100 events on his leitmotifs “tolerance, diversity and respect”.

The traces of the lawyer are pointed out during Reuchlin walks.

Light installations of his writings line the squares, and the Protestant parishes organize services where his ideas are brought to the faithful.

The commemoration should come primarily from society.

Pforzheim has 27.2 percent foreigners and is the most diverse city in Baden-Württemberg.

Reuchlin belongs to everyone

"We want to take that into account," says Timm.

There are discussions about Reuchlin in France, the social Pforzheim in the Renaissance period, a music evening "Reuchlin and the music of his time", intercultural salons and a photo exhibition that reflects Reuchlin's work in the cityscape of Pforzheim.

The planned Reuchlin Congress in June and the awarding of the Reuchlin Prize to the Islamic scholar Katajun Amirpur are intended to show how relevant Reuchlin's thoughts are today.

The fact that Reuchlin belongs to everyone, as Timm says, is also evident in his biography.

In 1470 he left Pforzheim to study at the Universities of Freiburg, Paris, Orléans and Poitiers.

Thirty years later he was elected judge of the Swabian League in Tübingen, where he published his first writings on the Hebrew language, such as the textbook "De rudimentis hebraicis".

In 1510, Emperor Maximilian asked him for a confidential legal opinion that would significantly shape European history: the "advice as to whether all the books of the Jews should be taken away, disposed of and burned".

Reuchlin answers with a resolute no - and in his letter of justification, which was published under the title "Augenspiegel", underlines the importance of Hebrew literature and the importance of religious tolerance in the Holy Roman Empire.